Food Done Mama...

A few days ago I had some chips in the oven to "freshen" up. I set a timer so I wouldn't forget and burn them. When the timer went off... Lucas tore into the kitchen. I was busy at the moment so the timer continued to beep for a few minutes. Lucas proudly and excitedly declared, " I check food, mama!" I asked him if its was done. He said it was. When I went to in to turn off the timer, I saw he'd grabbed the towel on the oven handle and opened the oven several inches. That could have been bad- but thank God, it wasn't.

Got Milk??

Look at my hands!

Here we were trying to coax her to look up with a toy. She just took the toy and continued to look at her hands and feet and the toy too.
















Finally caught her looking up! Yeah!
She's 4 months old now. She discovered she could squeal last night. Too cute.

Look at my hands!

I was thinking I haven't put any pictures of just Abrianna on the blog in awhile. So, she was wearing cute Precious Moments p.j's. I propped her in the corner of the couch. The precious moment appliqué was far more interesting than mommy or the camera. After that it was her hands.










You can see Lucas' hand in the corner of this shot. He was trying to attract her attention upwards. It sort of worked as I put these pictures on in the order I took them.

Tales of Potty Training

Look at that concentration...

He puts his own underwear on. Notice the waist band. His right leg is through it.

For the past couple of weeks Lucas has been telling me, "I pooping mommy" or "Lucas gassy!" If he's that cognizant of his excretory system he's ready to do it in the pot. So, Saturday night I told him if he pooped and peed in the potty, he could pick a sticker. So Sunday morning we trekked down to K-mart to buy big boy underwear and pull-up. Whew! Pull-up are wicked expensive. I had know idea I'd pay $16.00 + for a single pack. It cheaper to outfit his in underwear.
The sticker idea worked for a short time. But I needed to come up with a better idea. Then it hit me. He absolutely loves the movie "cars". I told him that every time he used his potty he could watch 5 minutes. It worked. Except for maybe being a little damp in the morning ( not sure if he peed during the night or sweat ed ) he hasn't had an accident for the past 2+ days. Its going really good. I still don't trust taking him into social situations. I think that he'd be too distracted playing to remember when he had to go. Needless to say, I'm popping my buttons with my newly/ almost (fingers crossed) little 27 month old boy.

Bicycle riding

About 6 months ago, Rick and Reggie made a bet about whether Lucas would be able to ride a bike without training wheels by the time he was two and a half.
Yesterday, we decided to remove the training wheels and let him try. I made sure he was dressed in long pants, long sleeved shirt, and a snug fitting helmet.
I took the camera- just in case. Its scary to let your baby try something that could very well result in tears and scrapes.
The following pictures show the results. He never crashed. He did become intimidated when he realized what he had been doing. I imagine his courage will improve with experience and time.

By the way, Uncle Reggie... Lucas and Rick can't wait for that Iceburg milkshake:-)

Bicycle riding

I Love this picture! It reminds me of God with us. His hands around us to protect and guide but still allow us to try things out on our own in our growing up process.

Bicycle riding

Flying under his own power. (sigh... my baby's growing up too fast)

Helpin' Mom

The silk was by far the most fun part! He told me that it was his "food". He made it into "hair". He shoved a handful into baby sister's mouth when I wasn't looking - hey, she stopped crying, didn't she?

Can I eat it now, Mom?

Helpin' Mom

I had Lucas helping with supper preparation. I gave him the job of shucking the corn. Here he told me the silk was his hair.

Two in the exersaucer

Lucas insists on playing is in the exersaucer too. I drew the line with only allowing one child at a time after this took place. Little sister didn't appreciate the company.

This is Abrianna's first time in the Exersaucer.

She cried more than smiled. But here's a brave smile. She really likes it now.













Obviously, she wasn't too happy- notice the two tears trickling down her cheeks.
That curled lip is so sad looking.























Look at that tongue!

Hugging cousins

Here's Jadon and Lucas- for those who don't know my family... They're 7 months apart.

With Grandpa and Grandma

Lucas has conquered his fear of slides. This slide is really tall. He would either climb up the stairs or climb up the slide part and slide back down by himself. Boy, its nerve racking to watch my baby growing up. I kept wondering if this was too grown up for him to do by himself. He did fine.

First ice cream cone

I'll be some of you have a hard time believing that, huh?
I've never given Lucas an ice cream cone. I figure he doesn't need that much at once. He got this prize from his cousin Jadon ( also 2). Jadon was shivering while eating it. Then he was sharing it with Lucas. Finally he simply gave it to Lucas and went back to his house to warm up and clean up.

mosquito bites

Ahhhh.... The one thing I don't miss about Minnesota is the state bird.... The Mosquitoes! Lucas had huge welts on his head from their bites. This picture doesn't do them justice. He had goose egg sized lumps all over his head.

How to Make Play dough!Mixing the dry ingredients.

Tasting the dry ingredients.

Mommy and Aunty Genni helping with the boiling water.

The finished product.

More sprinkler pictures

These pictures are from before we went to Minnesota. Here's my naked farmer boy.

















Getting a drink


















Filling the watering can.

She's laughing

Hello All,

I don't have a picture or video of this... Abrianna started laughing last night. I was tickling her neck. It was so precious to hear those giggles. My baby will be 4 months old next week. She can reach for things now. She tries to shove peoples fingers in her mouth too.

Minnesota

Hello from the green

state of Minnesota!

My brother Kyle took these pictures of Lucas with his cousin Jadon. Alyssa is into Cowboys/horses and Kyle's into the Civil War- hence the hats.

I'm sure you've all heard through the grapevine by now, that Rick has a job in the tri-cities. He started a week ago.

My mother has a saying, "God is seldom early, but never late".

I had resigned myself to the fact that God must want us to move. Rick was to leave Thursday the 31st. He received a job offer from Vista Engineering on Wednesday. He hadn't heard back from the city of Walla Walla either. The city was supposed to call him back by Thursday. So, he called them and they said to call back Friday morning. That seemed to be cutting things really close to me. Long story short,Vista Engineering ( Rick worked there for several months as a temp. employee) offered Rick a job for $4,000 more per year.That ought to cover the extra commuting costs. We already have health, vision, and dental insurance. Hurrah! The vacation days and paid holidays are comparable too. We get to keep our house. My business will remain intact too:-)

The kids and I will be flying back to the state of Washington Thursday.

See you all soon.