Height: 25.39 in (68th percentile)
Weight: 14.2 lbs (35th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.7 in (57th percentile)
Ughhh! Trying desperately to catch up since at the time I'm writing about this event, Grey is already 8 months old! Am I cursed to perpetually be 4 months behind?! I just can't skip ahead and disregard all events that have happened in the past four months. That is a third of the year! Half of Grey's life (up to this point)!
Anyway, I can barely remember what was going on with Grey's development at 4 months. I do remember that he had already cut his first tooth (or bottom two teeth?) by this appointment. It was the source of some crappy sleep during the time. I can't remember if he was rolling over yet (or if he had fallen off the bed onto the hard wood floor...or off the couch onto the hard wood floor that one time I asked Lucy to "watch" him for a second). I'm pretty sure he was starting to fall more into a routine at this time which was nice.
His rate of growth is a little slower but he is very similar to Lucy at 4 months except that he is a little heavier and a little shorter. I was so good at getting Lucy's pictures done at this time - I need to work on this for Grey. While I reminisce about Lucy at 4 months, I see the similarities in both of my children - Grey is a very happy baby and always smiling at everyone, just like Lucy. If only I could get him to sleep better.
Oh, I wish I had a picture to commemorate 4 months for Grey but remembering to take pictures has never been my strong suit. Must recommit to do better!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Strawberry Patch Makeover - July 13 - August 27th
One of the problems for me with having a baby in March was that by the time spring and summer rolled around, I was itching to get out of the house and do yard work and gardening. But summer heat and sun aren't exactly amenable to new babies. That is why I was hoping for a fall baby - to get pregnant in the beginning of 2012 and have a baby around September, October, or November (like around the time my sister's had babies) so that whole newborn stage could be indoors when we had crappy weather anyway (although I guess we might be dealing with a whole different set of issues like RSV and such). But alas, we can't always control these things so we do the best with what we've got.
I have had a plethora of projects to do around the house and yard but there is so little time with a new baby. By July, I figured that despite the ridiculous heat, I would just do the best I could with what little time I had. So this little project took over a month and a half. I had been dying to turn this plot of grass into a strawberry patch for a while. I impulsively bought some strawberry plants from Lowe's earlier in the season and they were dying because it took my so long to get them in the ground. Before I planted them, I wanted to get rid of all the grass and prepare the whole bed. We had cut down the ugly bushes in April of 2012 for the previous year's neighborhood clean-up but we were left with ugly stumps which I wanted to dig up. Brandon kept bothering me about getting them planted but me with my OCD wanted the front bed perfect for them.
This is the best "before" picture I have. I really, really wanted to dig that stump up so that we could borrow our neighbor's rototiller without damaging it on the roots. So I spent a long time digging. I think I put a Grey in his rocker chair in the shade with an umbrella over him too, then Brandon would put him down for naps and I would either nurse him all sweaty or maybe Brandon just gave him a bottle. I can't remember exactly but I think that this little project took a long time. I had to dig a pretty big hole.
Fortunately, we were able to get the giant rock removed by the city when they happened to be doing some repair on our water line under the sidewalk. Brandon asked them if they could pull up and haul our two ugly rocks away with all the broken concrete and they did it in two seconds. That is why there is a smaller hole in the foreground of this next picture.
And here is that giant stump. It doesn't look nearly as big as it really was in this picture. I think I literally roared as I was tearing it from the earth. I insisted that Brandon take a picture of it.
Over the course of many more weekends, Brandon rototilled the front bed and I pulled out weeds and grass and raked it all down to try to even out the soil (it was not graded properly because the dirt sloped down toward the house). I even put some large stones down (from a different planter that I plan to eventually tear out) to kinda widen our driveway so we wouldn't be stepping on mud/plants when we got out of our car. Then Brandon finally planted those strawberry plants (I think we lost one or two to the heat/lack of water) and mulched it.
We obviously need just a few more strawberry plants to make it a proper strawberry patch. I really wanted to make the strawberry patch in this area because I heard that strawberries can spread like crazy and I wanted them to be in a confined space surrounded by concrete. And I actually think that strawberry plants make really pretty ground cover. Brandon did some research about other beneficial plants that you can inter-plant with strawberries to help them grown better and reduce pests so hopefully, we can do that all in 2014!
Unfortunately, within days, a very invasive wild morning glory weed (bindweed or convulvulous?) started popping up and spreading quickly despite my meticulous prior weeding (apparently, pulling up the weed is not enough because of the crazy root system). So my lovely front bed pretty much turned into a weed patch. We have it all over our yard and it keeps spreading. But at least the strawberries are doing well. Hopefully, the strawberries will win the battle next year.
I have had a plethora of projects to do around the house and yard but there is so little time with a new baby. By July, I figured that despite the ridiculous heat, I would just do the best I could with what little time I had. So this little project took over a month and a half. I had been dying to turn this plot of grass into a strawberry patch for a while. I impulsively bought some strawberry plants from Lowe's earlier in the season and they were dying because it took my so long to get them in the ground. Before I planted them, I wanted to get rid of all the grass and prepare the whole bed. We had cut down the ugly bushes in April of 2012 for the previous year's neighborhood clean-up but we were left with ugly stumps which I wanted to dig up. Brandon kept bothering me about getting them planted but me with my OCD wanted the front bed perfect for them.
This is the best "before" picture I have. I really, really wanted to dig that stump up so that we could borrow our neighbor's rototiller without damaging it on the roots. So I spent a long time digging. I think I put a Grey in his rocker chair in the shade with an umbrella over him too, then Brandon would put him down for naps and I would either nurse him all sweaty or maybe Brandon just gave him a bottle. I can't remember exactly but I think that this little project took a long time. I had to dig a pretty big hole.
Fortunately, we were able to get the giant rock removed by the city when they happened to be doing some repair on our water line under the sidewalk. Brandon asked them if they could pull up and haul our two ugly rocks away with all the broken concrete and they did it in two seconds. That is why there is a smaller hole in the foreground of this next picture.
And here is that giant stump. It doesn't look nearly as big as it really was in this picture. I think I literally roared as I was tearing it from the earth. I insisted that Brandon take a picture of it.
Over the course of many more weekends, Brandon rototilled the front bed and I pulled out weeds and grass and raked it all down to try to even out the soil (it was not graded properly because the dirt sloped down toward the house). I even put some large stones down (from a different planter that I plan to eventually tear out) to kinda widen our driveway so we wouldn't be stepping on mud/plants when we got out of our car. Then Brandon finally planted those strawberry plants (I think we lost one or two to the heat/lack of water) and mulched it.
We obviously need just a few more strawberry plants to make it a proper strawberry patch. I really wanted to make the strawberry patch in this area because I heard that strawberries can spread like crazy and I wanted them to be in a confined space surrounded by concrete. And I actually think that strawberry plants make really pretty ground cover. Brandon did some research about other beneficial plants that you can inter-plant with strawberries to help them grown better and reduce pests so hopefully, we can do that all in 2014!
Unfortunately, within days, a very invasive wild morning glory weed (bindweed or convulvulous?) started popping up and spreading quickly despite my meticulous prior weeding (apparently, pulling up the weed is not enough because of the crazy root system). So my lovely front bed pretty much turned into a weed patch. We have it all over our yard and it keeps spreading. But at least the strawberries are doing well. Hopefully, the strawberries will win the battle next year.
YNAB - July 11, 2013
Thursday, July 11th started out like any other summer day. Lucy had swim lessons in the morning and by the afternoon, I was wasting my time on facebook. Then I came upon a post by Brandon's cousin that would change my life. Okay, that is a little over dramatic. Here is a screen shot but I couldn't capture all of the comments.
Brandon and I decided to buy this budgeting software that his cousin recommended and figured that if it didn't work, it would just be $40 lost (plus, there was a sale and it was 33% off!). And we have wasted $40 on many a stupider thing. Not that we were in any financial crisis. But I managed the day to day finances while Brandon handled our longer term investments and I just wasn't doing that great of a job. We weren't going into debt or anything. We paid our credit card off every month but when the credit card bill was due, we were often surprised by how large it was and it wasn't uncommon for us dip into a savings a little bit to pay it off. And then there was always this unknown about if we could really afford some large purchases which was stressful.
Every once in a while we would sit down to have a budget meeting (and I mean, every few months or more) and I always stressed about it (thinking about how much money we didn't have - remember, Brandon was laid off from his job in May 2012). I actually usually felt better after budget meetings because I was more aware of our finances but although we vowed to have them more regularly, it just didn't happen. We signed up for Mint.com but then never looked at it. And we used spreadsheets and then they were outdated because our finances were always changing. Our problem was those irregular expenses that just come up every once in a while - like new tires for the car or some house repair. My sister-in-law was using the envelope method which I heard was very effective but seemed inconvenient to have to carry around so much cash. Plus, I really love using my credit card and getting points.
YNAB was described to us almost like an electronic envelope system where you can still use credit cards and just be more aware of what you are spending money on. So it is like a spreadsheet but better. It's hard to explain unless you actually use it. Fortunately, Brandon really took to it and now takes care of all the finances. I am involved but I should probably learn to use this software but Brandon is really good at it. And knowing exactly where your money is going is really empowering as most people described who actually keep track of their finances. It is a really flexible tool and interesting to look at over time where you are spending your money, thereby letting you figure out where you can save more money and cut back. For example, in September, we spent $237.32 on gas. It blew us away because Brandon works just 10 minutes away and my driving consists of going to the gym, dropping off Lucy to pre-K, going shopping, and visiting my sister. But those little trips add up and especially, we were using Brandon's dad's gas-guzzling Ford Expedition every once in a while (or so we thought). So in October, we were just more mindful of how we drove around and Brandon rode his bike to work and even dropped Lucy off at pre-K with the bike trailer and our fuel for the month was only $86.71. Isn't that amazing?
There is always room for improvement in our budget to find ways to spend less and save more. Thanks to Brandon and his research on-line (he likes reading the blog Mr. Money Mustache), we have switched from our expensive AT&T cell phone provider of paying over $100/month for cell phone service to $20/month from Airvoice Wireless. I was skeptical at first but it has worked out great and can't believe that we are saving over $80/month (which ended up going to life insurance premiums which we just started). We weren't under contract and I don't have a smart phone and we don't really use our phones for internet so it's pretty bare bones but it works for us. Now if only I can get our internet bill from Comcast a little lower...
Anyway, just had a give a shout out on my blog to YNAB (and the BYU graduate founder of it) for really working. I was in no way compensated for my post about it - just wanted to let people know that we found something great.
Brandon and I decided to buy this budgeting software that his cousin recommended and figured that if it didn't work, it would just be $40 lost (plus, there was a sale and it was 33% off!). And we have wasted $40 on many a stupider thing. Not that we were in any financial crisis. But I managed the day to day finances while Brandon handled our longer term investments and I just wasn't doing that great of a job. We weren't going into debt or anything. We paid our credit card off every month but when the credit card bill was due, we were often surprised by how large it was and it wasn't uncommon for us dip into a savings a little bit to pay it off. And then there was always this unknown about if we could really afford some large purchases which was stressful.
Every once in a while we would sit down to have a budget meeting (and I mean, every few months or more) and I always stressed about it (thinking about how much money we didn't have - remember, Brandon was laid off from his job in May 2012). I actually usually felt better after budget meetings because I was more aware of our finances but although we vowed to have them more regularly, it just didn't happen. We signed up for Mint.com but then never looked at it. And we used spreadsheets and then they were outdated because our finances were always changing. Our problem was those irregular expenses that just come up every once in a while - like new tires for the car or some house repair. My sister-in-law was using the envelope method which I heard was very effective but seemed inconvenient to have to carry around so much cash. Plus, I really love using my credit card and getting points.
YNAB was described to us almost like an electronic envelope system where you can still use credit cards and just be more aware of what you are spending money on. So it is like a spreadsheet but better. It's hard to explain unless you actually use it. Fortunately, Brandon really took to it and now takes care of all the finances. I am involved but I should probably learn to use this software but Brandon is really good at it. And knowing exactly where your money is going is really empowering as most people described who actually keep track of their finances. It is a really flexible tool and interesting to look at over time where you are spending your money, thereby letting you figure out where you can save more money and cut back. For example, in September, we spent $237.32 on gas. It blew us away because Brandon works just 10 minutes away and my driving consists of going to the gym, dropping off Lucy to pre-K, going shopping, and visiting my sister. But those little trips add up and especially, we were using Brandon's dad's gas-guzzling Ford Expedition every once in a while (or so we thought). So in October, we were just more mindful of how we drove around and Brandon rode his bike to work and even dropped Lucy off at pre-K with the bike trailer and our fuel for the month was only $86.71. Isn't that amazing?
There is always room for improvement in our budget to find ways to spend less and save more. Thanks to Brandon and his research on-line (he likes reading the blog Mr. Money Mustache), we have switched from our expensive AT&T cell phone provider of paying over $100/month for cell phone service to $20/month from Airvoice Wireless. I was skeptical at first but it has worked out great and can't believe that we are saving over $80/month (which ended up going to life insurance premiums which we just started). We weren't under contract and I don't have a smart phone and we don't really use our phones for internet so it's pretty bare bones but it works for us. Now if only I can get our internet bill from Comcast a little lower...
Anyway, just had a give a shout out on my blog to YNAB (and the BYU graduate founder of it) for really working. I was in no way compensated for my post about it - just wanted to let people know that we found something great.
Wednesday, November 06, 2013
Noel's 4th Birthday Party - July 9, 2013
What a sad day for our family! Lucy's friend, Noel, who lived just two houses away from us had a farewell birthday party because her family was moving to Texas.
Noel's parents, Karen and Todd, are some of the friendliest people we know. When we first moved into our home, they were our first friends. When I was bored, I would often walk over to their house and hang out and always felt so welcome. And of course, it was so great that the girls were close in age and could play with each other.
Here is one of the first pictures of the girls together. This was probably just a few months after we moved in. I think my mom was visiting and we were raking leaves and we put the girls inside the leaves container. What a fun memory - the girls were just 1 1/2 years old. I love Lucy's expression in this picture.
And here they are just hanging out at Karen's house on one of our many visits there. Lucy always loved (and still does) playing with other kids' toys and eating their snacks.
And this was Noel's 2nd birthday party at our local park. I didn't blog much during this time so it is interesting to look back at some of these pictures (I actually snagged these from Karen's facebook page).
I don't have as many pictures recently. The girls did go to preschool together last year and we carpooled which was wonderful. Best of luck to the Heaton family on their new adventures in Texas. Karen is expecting baby number FIVE in December!! We will certainly miss them in our neighborhood! Lucy still often talks about missing Noel. What lovely memories she has of her first friend outside of family. At least there is facebook to keep up with the latest happenings. Thanks for the great friendship, Heaton family!
Noel's parents, Karen and Todd, are some of the friendliest people we know. When we first moved into our home, they were our first friends. When I was bored, I would often walk over to their house and hang out and always felt so welcome. And of course, it was so great that the girls were close in age and could play with each other.
Here is one of the first pictures of the girls together. This was probably just a few months after we moved in. I think my mom was visiting and we were raking leaves and we put the girls inside the leaves container. What a fun memory - the girls were just 1 1/2 years old. I love Lucy's expression in this picture.
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| Fall 2010 |
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| January 2011 |
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| July 2011 |
I don't have as many pictures recently. The girls did go to preschool together last year and we carpooled which was wonderful. Best of luck to the Heaton family on their new adventures in Texas. Karen is expecting baby number FIVE in December!! We will certainly miss them in our neighborhood! Lucy still often talks about missing Noel. What lovely memories she has of her first friend outside of family. At least there is facebook to keep up with the latest happenings. Thanks for the great friendship, Heaton family!
Saturday, November 02, 2013
Dress-Up! - July 8, 2013
My girl Lucy - she would play with friends all day long if she could. While she was already doing swim lessons every morning with Aeli, she asked that I set up a play date with Mia, a friend from church, in the afternoon. Lucy played with Mia once at her house a long time ago (maybe a year ago) and remembered how much she liked her. Mia is actually one grade older than Lucy (in the same grade as Aeli) but having an October birthday, she is a year and half older. Mia is also the youngest of four children so she seems much more mature, maybe because she learns quickly from her older siblings. But that didn't stop the girls from having a blast playing dress up together and having a photo shoot.
Grey was just chillin' as always.
Lucy looks so small next to these girls who are just one grade old than her. Maybe she also looks young because her hair is so short and hasn't grown much either. I'm not sure if she will just be a petite girl or will have some growth spurt later. Hopefully, her hair will thicken up and grow some more too. Just so grateful that there are so many friends from church and the neighborhood for Lucy to play with.
What a mess the house was after these girls left but at least Lucy was entertained for the day. If only I could get her to help me clean up the mess as easily as she makes it.
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| Disney princesses. |
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| Pretty in Pink. |
Grey was just chillin' as always.
Lucy looks so small next to these girls who are just one grade old than her. Maybe she also looks young because her hair is so short and hasn't grown much either. I'm not sure if she will just be a petite girl or will have some growth spurt later. Hopefully, her hair will thicken up and grow some more too. Just so grateful that there are so many friends from church and the neighborhood for Lucy to play with.
Mosquito Bites! - July 5, 2013
With two kids, sometimes the only time you have to do any yard work is at 9:00 pm at night after the kids are in bed. I've been dying to do yard work all spring and summer but it's difficult with a new baby. So evening seems to be the best time when Brandon is home and it's not too hot and both kids are asleep. Unfortunately, mosquitoes really, really like me and I got attacked on my lower back (I was bending over a lot pulling weeds and my shirt rode up leaving a large slice of my skin exposed). So here is what I get for all my hard work. And these pictures don't even do it justice because the lighting was so bad and you can't see how swollen it all is.
Poor Lucy must have my blood too. While Brandon rarely gets bitten by mosquitoes, she was attacked on a late night out playing and looked quite similar to the above photos on her back and arms. Poor girl! You got it from your momma!!
Bath Time - July 5, 2013
I will admit, I was not very good about giving Grey a bath very regularly in his first few months of life. It just didn't seem like he was ever dirty. And it was so hard with him being so floppy and having to hold his head up. I used to have an infant bath for Lucy when she was a baby but I didn't like it (or didn't like how much space it took up or how short-lived its use was) so I sold it on Craigslist and I think I just gave her baths in the bathroom sink in our old home. But I wouldn't give Grey a bath in our bathroom or kitchen sink in our current home cause they are kinda gross. So I settled for a plastic storage bin. Is that weird?
Lucy wanted in on the action and she was actually quite helpful in holding Grey's head up above the water.
Maybe she was tickled by the novelty of taking a bath in a storage bin. Anyway, for your viewing pleasure.
Eventually, Rowe outgrew his infant bath so Emily passed it on to me. And now Grey has outgrown it but at least we have a basement to store it until the next baby comes along. And then, my friend, Candace gave me a different older infant bath sitter thing so Grey is using that now. So no more plastic storage bin - he outgrew it so quickly! Well, I guess now that he is sitting up we could still use it but double baths with Lucy seem to make more sense with them now.
Lucy wanted in on the action and she was actually quite helpful in holding Grey's head up above the water.
Maybe she was tickled by the novelty of taking a bath in a storage bin. Anyway, for your viewing pleasure.
Eventually, Rowe outgrew his infant bath so Emily passed it on to me. And now Grey has outgrown it but at least we have a basement to store it until the next baby comes along. And then, my friend, Candace gave me a different older infant bath sitter thing so Grey is using that now. So no more plastic storage bin - he outgrew it so quickly! Well, I guess now that he is sitting up we could still use it but double baths with Lucy seem to make more sense with them now.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
4th of July 2013
We are not huge Independence Day people. My favorite holidays are Christmas and Thanksgiving followed by Halloween and Valentine's Day. I've just never really gotten into the 4th of July. I don't have any special traditions for the day. But I guess it is never too late to start.
Lucy has really been into learning about the calendar. She loves to see the next event coming up and knowing what she has to look forward to like family birthdays and the holidays. I've been making an extra effort to send birthday cards to cousins living out of town. Since she is old enough to know what is going on and enjoy things more, I'm making an effort to make things special for her so we can create lots of fun memories.
This year for the 4th of July, we didn't make a huge effort but we actually woke up a little earlier instead of sleeping in to participate in our neighborhood parade and breakfast. Everyone meets up at the local library for the flag ceremony and then walks to the park for breakfast. People are encouraged to decorate their bikes and wagons and strollers. Fortunately for me, my friend Marnie bought lots of decorating supplies for her kids and shared them with Lucy so she could decorate her bike. I pretty much sat and chatted and held Grey while Marnie did all the work. She even bought Lucy and Aeli matching shirts and made matching headbands for them.
Here is Lucy in her new, matching shirt and "P-Day" shorts (as Brandon nicknamed them - they actually are part of a matching Boston Red Sox outfit that her Uncle Chris gave her), and her red glitter Target shoes. And of course, her birthday bike decorated not by me at all.
We decorated the stroller to the extent that it was already red...meaning we didn't decorate it at all. And I put Grey in a red onesie and navy pants. Aren't we so patriotic? He fell asleep on the walk from the library to the park and Brandon and I were able to eat our pancakes in some peace. However, I pride myself in our breakfasts at home so this giant community breakfast didn't really satisfy me. It's hard to compete with real maple syrup on your pancakes but at least we had some fun company of the whole neighborhood.
And Brandon, in his standard gray t-shirt and khaki shorts. There is a little blue in his sneakers, I guess.
Usually the one behind the camera, I had on a navy shirt and jean capris with a red scarf around my neck which Emily made fun of me for. We had a barbeque at Adam and Kim's house that afternoon and the girls had a blast playing together and swimming in the pool but I didn't get any pictures. Maybe someday, we will do a little more for the 4th but our level of effort this year was just fine for me.
Meanwhile, my cousin, Megumi from Japan who now lives in Utah really embraced this American holiday and she is not even a citizen! Check out these pictures she posted on facebook. She is actually one of those people who sees an idea on Pinterest and does it!
I'm in awe. Someday...maybe I will have a strawberry patch and raspberry & blueberry bushes by that time so I don't have to spend a small fortune on patriotic colored fruit. Or when my kids are old enough to help me instead of helping me now.
That night, we mooched off some fireworks that our neighbors bought (the Jacobsens and Jonssons) and watched them set them off in their backyard. I recommended that next year, that a bunch of us neighbors contribute money to buy a whole lot of fireworks to watch together. Lucy is terrified of holding sparklers so I didn't get any pictures of her holding one. She also kinda isn't crazy about the noise of fireworks in general either. Grey and Brandon stayed home.
Lucy has really been into learning about the calendar. She loves to see the next event coming up and knowing what she has to look forward to like family birthdays and the holidays. I've been making an extra effort to send birthday cards to cousins living out of town. Since she is old enough to know what is going on and enjoy things more, I'm making an effort to make things special for her so we can create lots of fun memories.
This year for the 4th of July, we didn't make a huge effort but we actually woke up a little earlier instead of sleeping in to participate in our neighborhood parade and breakfast. Everyone meets up at the local library for the flag ceremony and then walks to the park for breakfast. People are encouraged to decorate their bikes and wagons and strollers. Fortunately for me, my friend Marnie bought lots of decorating supplies for her kids and shared them with Lucy so she could decorate her bike. I pretty much sat and chatted and held Grey while Marnie did all the work. She even bought Lucy and Aeli matching shirts and made matching headbands for them.
Here is Lucy in her new, matching shirt and "P-Day" shorts (as Brandon nicknamed them - they actually are part of a matching Boston Red Sox outfit that her Uncle Chris gave her), and her red glitter Target shoes. And of course, her birthday bike decorated not by me at all.
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| Do you like the cupcake liners on her training wheals. I wish I actually used those to make cupcakes instead... |
And Brandon, in his standard gray t-shirt and khaki shorts. There is a little blue in his sneakers, I guess.
Usually the one behind the camera, I had on a navy shirt and jean capris with a red scarf around my neck which Emily made fun of me for. We had a barbeque at Adam and Kim's house that afternoon and the girls had a blast playing together and swimming in the pool but I didn't get any pictures. Maybe someday, we will do a little more for the 4th but our level of effort this year was just fine for me.
Meanwhile, my cousin, Megumi from Japan who now lives in Utah really embraced this American holiday and she is not even a citizen! Check out these pictures she posted on facebook. She is actually one of those people who sees an idea on Pinterest and does it!
I'm in awe. Someday...maybe I will have a strawberry patch and raspberry & blueberry bushes by that time so I don't have to spend a small fortune on patriotic colored fruit. Or when my kids are old enough to help me instead of helping me now.
That night, we mooched off some fireworks that our neighbors bought (the Jacobsens and Jonssons) and watched them set them off in their backyard. I recommended that next year, that a bunch of us neighbors contribute money to buy a whole lot of fireworks to watch together. Lucy is terrified of holding sparklers so I didn't get any pictures of her holding one. She also kinda isn't crazy about the noise of fireworks in general either. Grey and Brandon stayed home.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Fireworks - July 3, 2013
Since Grey was born, and even before then, Lucy has loved going over to Aeli's house to play. These two girls have become such good friends and just play together really well. It's so nice having Aeli just a few houses away for Lucy to play with. And Aeli's mom, Marnie, graciously takes Lucy on many of their family outings. Fireworks on July 3rd was no exception. Brandon and I were able to enjoy a relatively quiet night at home taking care of Grey while Lucy was able to fill her social quota. Marnie sent me these pictures from the park. She provided the kids with lots of glow necklaces and bracelets. I think I sent Lucy with some snacks like juice boxes and chips to share.
Marnie invited us along too but we thought it would be a bit much to bring a baby. And generally, I'm not a huge fan of fireworks (although I have lovely memories of fireworks in Japan). Lucy came home so late and was exhausted but I think that she love it. Thank goodness for wonderful neighbors and friends who provide entertainment for Lucy. I'm a little sad that we (Brandon, Lucy, & Grey) didn't share in this memory with her but so grateful that she can still enjoy these times even with our limitations of having a baby. Cause aren't fireworks so magical as a child? I love the little village that I live in that helps to raise my children.
Marnie invited us along too but we thought it would be a bit much to bring a baby. And generally, I'm not a huge fan of fireworks (although I have lovely memories of fireworks in Japan). Lucy came home so late and was exhausted but I think that she love it. Thank goodness for wonderful neighbors and friends who provide entertainment for Lucy. I'm a little sad that we (Brandon, Lucy, & Grey) didn't share in this memory with her but so grateful that she can still enjoy these times even with our limitations of having a baby. Cause aren't fireworks so magical as a child? I love the little village that I live in that helps to raise my children.
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Dancing Ham - July 3, 2013
Me: Ewww! You have an awful lot of boogers in your nose. Do you want me to pick them out.
Lucy: No.
Me: But they're gross!
Lucy: Every one wants to see them.
Me: Did you wash your hands?
Lucy: Yes.
Me: No you didn't - I didn't hear the water.
Lucy: I did in my imagination
Here is a picture of Lucy before her dance class. While Lucy was super excited about her swimming classes this past summer, she was not as happy about going to her dance class. We invited a friend from church to go along with us (Liani) since her mom has some vision problems and is not able to drive. The summer dance session was just six weeks from June 12-July 17. There were a few girls from her last class but a lot of new girls and a new teacher. I'm not sure what it was but Lucy often did not want to go. But she still looked super cute in her dance clothes and loved prancing around the house and posing for the camera.
I often resorted to pleas and threats to get Lucy to go to dance class since we had pre-paid for the class and I didn't want to money to be wasted. Also, I wanted to her to learn about commitment since she was the one that wanted to take dance and I wanted her to complete what she had started. Perhaps it was because we carpooled with not only Liani, but her mom and brother. Liani is supposed to be in Lucy's class at church but she has only come about twice in the beginning of the year because she doesn't like church and does not like to be separated from her parents, especially her mother. So when she started dance, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that she would have a hard time being separated from her mother. The teacher let Liani's mom stay in the class as long as she participated and danced too (parents are not allowed in the class except for the first and last day of class). This often made Lucy clingy and want me to stay in class (which I would not do because I had Grey and I often would run errands like going grocery shopping during the class).
There was also contention over car seats on the rides to and from dance class - I had an extra car seat for Liani and a booster seat for her brother but Liani's parents had already let her use a backless booster seat even though she was still three and even smaller than Lucy and her brother not use a booster at all. This made Lucy upset because she was dying to be a big girl in a booster seat and I was still firm that she had to be in a car seat (even though she was already four but not yet 40 lbs which is the recommendation). I think it was hard for her to see someone younger and smaller than her in the booster seat. There was also tension over where the children sat. Sometimes, Lucy wanted Liani to sit next to her but Liani wanted to sit next to her brother in the third row. This would cause Lucy to be really sad. Other times, Liani wanted to sit next to Lucy and Lucy would want space and Lucy would scream at Liani that she didn't want her next to her and then Liani would cry. Oh, the drama! Although Lucy loves going over to Liani's house to play, she only goes every other week or so and her friendship with her is much different than with Aeli who she sees multiple times a week and plays together with beautifully (although they have their tiffs every once in a while too.)
Needless to say, I think we were all happy when the dance class ended. Liani's mom told me that they would not continue in the fall because she felt like she could just dance with Liani herself at home. Another sigh of relief. As for us, we decided to take a break. Just recently, Lucy has expressed a desire to do dance again but not strongly. And with the start of pre-K and its additional cost, I'm not super interested in spending more time and money at this time. So I think we will wait a while...maybe a few months or next semester or next year.
Lucy: No.
Me: But they're gross!
Lucy: Every one wants to see them.
Me: Did you wash your hands?
Lucy: Yes.
Me: No you didn't - I didn't hear the water.
Lucy: I did in my imagination
Here is a picture of Lucy before her dance class. While Lucy was super excited about her swimming classes this past summer, she was not as happy about going to her dance class. We invited a friend from church to go along with us (Liani) since her mom has some vision problems and is not able to drive. The summer dance session was just six weeks from June 12-July 17. There were a few girls from her last class but a lot of new girls and a new teacher. I'm not sure what it was but Lucy often did not want to go. But she still looked super cute in her dance clothes and loved prancing around the house and posing for the camera.
I often resorted to pleas and threats to get Lucy to go to dance class since we had pre-paid for the class and I didn't want to money to be wasted. Also, I wanted to her to learn about commitment since she was the one that wanted to take dance and I wanted her to complete what she had started. Perhaps it was because we carpooled with not only Liani, but her mom and brother. Liani is supposed to be in Lucy's class at church but she has only come about twice in the beginning of the year because she doesn't like church and does not like to be separated from her parents, especially her mother. So when she started dance, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that she would have a hard time being separated from her mother. The teacher let Liani's mom stay in the class as long as she participated and danced too (parents are not allowed in the class except for the first and last day of class). This often made Lucy clingy and want me to stay in class (which I would not do because I had Grey and I often would run errands like going grocery shopping during the class).
There was also contention over car seats on the rides to and from dance class - I had an extra car seat for Liani and a booster seat for her brother but Liani's parents had already let her use a backless booster seat even though she was still three and even smaller than Lucy and her brother not use a booster at all. This made Lucy upset because she was dying to be a big girl in a booster seat and I was still firm that she had to be in a car seat (even though she was already four but not yet 40 lbs which is the recommendation). I think it was hard for her to see someone younger and smaller than her in the booster seat. There was also tension over where the children sat. Sometimes, Lucy wanted Liani to sit next to her but Liani wanted to sit next to her brother in the third row. This would cause Lucy to be really sad. Other times, Liani wanted to sit next to Lucy and Lucy would want space and Lucy would scream at Liani that she didn't want her next to her and then Liani would cry. Oh, the drama! Although Lucy loves going over to Liani's house to play, she only goes every other week or so and her friendship with her is much different than with Aeli who she sees multiple times a week and plays together with beautifully (although they have their tiffs every once in a while too.)
Needless to say, I think we were all happy when the dance class ended. Liani's mom told me that they would not continue in the fall because she felt like she could just dance with Liani herself at home. Another sigh of relief. As for us, we decided to take a break. Just recently, Lucy has expressed a desire to do dance again but not strongly. And with the start of pre-K and its additional cost, I'm not super interested in spending more time and money at this time. So I think we will wait a while...maybe a few months or next semester or next year.
Sunday, October 06, 2013
Lucy's Swim Lessons - June 24 - August 15, 2013
In addition to Lucy's dance class this summer, I signed Lucy up for swim lessons at the local recreation center. It's so nice to have a facility so close with so many offerings (literally, we can bike there). For the swim lessons, you can choose from doing it once a week every Saturday for eight weeks, twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday evenings for four weeks, or four times a week Monday-Thursdays in the morning for two weeks (for a combined eight classes per session). Since we didn't have much else going on, I figured we would do the Monday-Thursday class in the mornings so we could keep our evenings and weekends open.
The swim lessons just lasted half an hour so we could choose between a 9:00, 9:40, 10:20 or 11:00 am class. We ended up doing three two week sessions and mostly opted for the 10:20 am class so I could have time to get ready in the morning and do a chore or two.
This little guy was such a champ all summer. Sometimes, he would nap before the class, other times, he would fall asleep on the drive and nap during class, and then other times, I would have to rock him to sleep during the class or while Lucy was showering or getting dressed. As much as I would like my kids to have more of a schedule, we need some flexibility too and I was glad that he could just go with the flow.
Since thirty minutes isn't very much time to get anything productive done like run errands or go back home and it was hard to read while taking care of Grey, we kinda just hung out and watched Lucy.
Our recreation center's swim program offers the Starfish Swim School and has colored stages based on abilities. The program starts on white but Lucy started on the second stage which is red since she already loves the water. I just wanted to sign Lucy up to keep her busy but once I saw the quality of the program and how much the kids were learning about safety and building a foundation for swimming later in life, I was really satisfied in my small investment (just $24 for each 8-class session!).
The maximum number of students for each class is six and the ages of the kids can really vary. In Lucy's first session, there was one girl who was the same age as her and six and eight year old sisters and an eight year old boy. I'm glad I got her started early. My only problem with the swim lessons is that they had the kids wait on the side of the pool while working with each child individually and I could see Lucy shivering like crazy from being so cold!
Some of the skills they work on in the red stage is front and back floating and front and back streamline.
On the last day of class of the two-week session, the kids were rewarded by going on the big red slide. Unfortunately, Lucy was too scared to go on the slide so she missed out. Usually, she is so fearless but every once in a while, she lets her fear get the best of her. I know she would love it so much if she just tried it but I want her to make that decision of when she is comfortable on her own.
Here is the little evaluation we received at the end of her session. She wasn't able to master two of the skills for the red stage so she had to repeat it for the next session but I was fine with that. I would rather she is really comfortable with each foundation skill before she moves on to learn new things which build on that skill. And it didn't matter to her - she just had so much fun in class and didn't really think of it as "learning".
Since Lucy loved swim lessons so much for the first session, we decided to continue it and invited her good friend, Aeli to come along. Since Aeli's parents work, she usually goes to daycare down the street (where I used to send Lucy - that's how they became such good friends) but I just had her come to my house in the morning to play with Lucy until swim class and brought her to daycare after we were done (or sometimes, let her play all day at my house with Lucy which was actually great because it kept Lucy busy).
This picture makes me laugh because Aeli is so much taller than Lucy and they are only a year apart. I love what good friends they are.
This was the only other picture I got from the second session. It was the last day and Lucy finally went down the slide! Actually, her teacher for the second session (who is 17 and goes to our church and used to babysit her) kinda pushed her down. And she had so much fun! I'm so glad that I got a picture of it. Her old teacher from the first session was able to meet her at the bottom.
Here is her second evaluation. She passed all her skills and moved on to the yellow stage which I was so happy about because I was worried that Aeli would pass and Lucy wouldn't and that they wouldn't be in the same class anymore. There are multiple color stage classes going on at the same time so if they weren't in the same class, we would have to coordinate to find a time with both a yellow and red class. But fortunately, we didn't have to worry about that.
After the second two-week session of swim lessons, we took a break for a few weeks because we were going on vacation to California. But we started up again in the beginning of August right after we returned from out vacation and Aeli's older brother joined us (in a different class - so glad we could find a good time that offered both classes and wasn't too early at 9:40 am). Even though the classes were only half an hour, our excursion often ended up being closer to a full hour because the girls would take a shower together and then get changed and they took so long. Poor Willem (Aeli's brother) just had to wait in the lobby for us but I warned him it would be a while with these crazy girls.
Here is the third evaluation. I was a little confused because they used the same evaluation for the red stage and not for the yellow stage even though the girls were signed up for yellow stage. But it didn't really matter since it was the last session of the summer. I think that I will start her in yellow for her next class anyway since she will have had such a long break from it. The third session was a little crazy anyway because her normal instructor was not able to teach for most of the session because she suffered a crazy sunburn so there were different teachers all the time. So I think that made it difficult for the kids to learn having a substitute each day with a different teaching style they could never get used to. But they still loved it and had lots of fun.
I didn't take any pictures the last session but it was pretty much the same. Lucy looked forward to it so much but it was the last morning session of the summer since school was starting in a couple of weeks. I'm very happy with her improvement of swimming although her comfort level with the water worries me a little bit because she is so fearless now and I think it is a good thing to have a healthy amount of respect for the water. But we will definitely continue the swim classes next summer. The swim classes are offered during the school year as well, but only on Tuesday and Thursday nights or Saturday mornings and I'm on the fence about whether to sign up or not because I want to keep our evenings and weekends open. But for the summer, it's perfect.
Now Lucy wants to be a dancer and a swim teacher. Fortunately, I think with this swimming program, it will be easy for her to become a life guard and swim teacher when she is a teenager which will be the perfect job in high school for her. I can't believe that we are starting to plan that far ahead.
The swim lessons just lasted half an hour so we could choose between a 9:00, 9:40, 10:20 or 11:00 am class. We ended up doing three two week sessions and mostly opted for the 10:20 am class so I could have time to get ready in the morning and do a chore or two.
This little guy was such a champ all summer. Sometimes, he would nap before the class, other times, he would fall asleep on the drive and nap during class, and then other times, I would have to rock him to sleep during the class or while Lucy was showering or getting dressed. As much as I would like my kids to have more of a schedule, we need some flexibility too and I was glad that he could just go with the flow.
Our recreation center's swim program offers the Starfish Swim School and has colored stages based on abilities. The program starts on white but Lucy started on the second stage which is red since she already loves the water. I just wanted to sign Lucy up to keep her busy but once I saw the quality of the program and how much the kids were learning about safety and building a foundation for swimming later in life, I was really satisfied in my small investment (just $24 for each 8-class session!).
The maximum number of students for each class is six and the ages of the kids can really vary. In Lucy's first session, there was one girl who was the same age as her and six and eight year old sisters and an eight year old boy. I'm glad I got her started early. My only problem with the swim lessons is that they had the kids wait on the side of the pool while working with each child individually and I could see Lucy shivering like crazy from being so cold!
 |
| Lucy trying to keep warm! |
 |
| Lucy doing a back streamline. |
 |
| Waiting in line to practice jumping in the water and surfacing on her own. |
 |
| Absolutely no fear of jumping in the water (even though she can't reach the bottom and doesn't have any flotation device). |
Here is the little evaluation we received at the end of her session. She wasn't able to master two of the skills for the red stage so she had to repeat it for the next session but I was fine with that. I would rather she is really comfortable with each foundation skill before she moves on to learn new things which build on that skill. And it didn't matter to her - she just had so much fun in class and didn't really think of it as "learning".
Since Lucy loved swim lessons so much for the first session, we decided to continue it and invited her good friend, Aeli to come along. Since Aeli's parents work, she usually goes to daycare down the street (where I used to send Lucy - that's how they became such good friends) but I just had her come to my house in the morning to play with Lucy until swim class and brought her to daycare after we were done (or sometimes, let her play all day at my house with Lucy which was actually great because it kept Lucy busy).
This picture makes me laugh because Aeli is so much taller than Lucy and they are only a year apart. I love what good friends they are.
This was the only other picture I got from the second session. It was the last day and Lucy finally went down the slide! Actually, her teacher for the second session (who is 17 and goes to our church and used to babysit her) kinda pushed her down. And she had so much fun! I'm so glad that I got a picture of it. Her old teacher from the first session was able to meet her at the bottom.
Here is her second evaluation. She passed all her skills and moved on to the yellow stage which I was so happy about because I was worried that Aeli would pass and Lucy wouldn't and that they wouldn't be in the same class anymore. There are multiple color stage classes going on at the same time so if they weren't in the same class, we would have to coordinate to find a time with both a yellow and red class. But fortunately, we didn't have to worry about that.
After the second two-week session of swim lessons, we took a break for a few weeks because we were going on vacation to California. But we started up again in the beginning of August right after we returned from out vacation and Aeli's older brother joined us (in a different class - so glad we could find a good time that offered both classes and wasn't too early at 9:40 am). Even though the classes were only half an hour, our excursion often ended up being closer to a full hour because the girls would take a shower together and then get changed and they took so long. Poor Willem (Aeli's brother) just had to wait in the lobby for us but I warned him it would be a while with these crazy girls.
Here is the third evaluation. I was a little confused because they used the same evaluation for the red stage and not for the yellow stage even though the girls were signed up for yellow stage. But it didn't really matter since it was the last session of the summer. I think that I will start her in yellow for her next class anyway since she will have had such a long break from it. The third session was a little crazy anyway because her normal instructor was not able to teach for most of the session because she suffered a crazy sunburn so there were different teachers all the time. So I think that made it difficult for the kids to learn having a substitute each day with a different teaching style they could never get used to. But they still loved it and had lots of fun.
I didn't take any pictures the last session but it was pretty much the same. Lucy looked forward to it so much but it was the last morning session of the summer since school was starting in a couple of weeks. I'm very happy with her improvement of swimming although her comfort level with the water worries me a little bit because she is so fearless now and I think it is a good thing to have a healthy amount of respect for the water. But we will definitely continue the swim classes next summer. The swim classes are offered during the school year as well, but only on Tuesday and Thursday nights or Saturday mornings and I'm on the fence about whether to sign up or not because I want to keep our evenings and weekends open. But for the summer, it's perfect.
Now Lucy wants to be a dancer and a swim teacher. Fortunately, I think with this swimming program, it will be easy for her to become a life guard and swim teacher when she is a teenager which will be the perfect job in high school for her. I can't believe that we are starting to plan that far ahead.
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