Which Project Today?

It has been very fun to see Ryan's interests changing the past few months. I believe that much if it has to do with our preschool swaps and the activities he is doing on a regular basis. That being said, each day he asks me "What are we going to make for our project today mom?" Most days I don't have a "project" planned and Ryan decided he wasn't having any of that. He is now telling me exactly what project we will be doing.

Some examples: a telescope (out of an empty toilet paper roll), a kazoo (out of an empty toilet paper roll and wax paper), musical instruments (out of two paper plates taped together with beans inside), a paper crown, a sock puppet ("I'll get out the yarn and the buttons Mom"), a newspaper airplane, a model of how the earth has day on one side and night on the other (out of an orange, a glued on leaf, and a flashlight), and MANY spaceships, boats, rockets, airplanes, bulldozers, etc out of Legos.

It is usually his idea of what to make and how to go about making it. I will ask him what materials we need to make a _____ and he'll tell me. Sometimes he needs a bit of redirecting in order to make something work in a practical manner, but I like to see the creativity and problem solving at work.

That all being said, he recently decided that he wanted to make a pair of binoculars. He decided this while using the "facilities" and he and Katie figured that they'd need 2 toilet paper rolls in order to make the binoculars. He didn't realize that I had been saving toilet paper rolls for weeks and already had a few to use. So, they emptied all of that pesky toilet paper off of the roll for me so that we'd be able to make the binoculars.

Yep, it all went into a plastic bag and that bathroom didn't have a roll of toilet paper in it for a good 2 weeks. I had to force everyone to use the non-rolled bunch first. In my attempt to thwart future piles of toilet paper on the bathroom floor, I quickly confiscated the empty roll and didn't allow them to use it for their binoculars. Those binoculars have yet to be made - but I know what we're making tomorrow...

Her Father's Daughter

Sometimes Katie has the hardest time winding down when it's time for a nap. We'll read books together and then Ryan just turns over and falls asleep. Katie needs to spend some time either wandering around or flipping through books quietly before she finally hits the pillow. A few weeks ago I was on the computer as she was winding down and I looked over and noticed what book she had picked.

I had an initial thought, "Uh oh, Derek wouldn't want the kids messing up the pages in his Physics book." And then I realized, "Wait a minute, it would make him pleased as punch to see his two year old daughter interested in Physics." So then I grabbed the camera. She really was methodically flipping through the pages and pointing at pictures etc. Truly, it was a proud moment when I showed the pictures to her daddy.

I have now come to realize that if I spend about 90 seconds rocking Katie in her bed after we read books, she'll stay there and fall asleep within 5 or 10 minutes. It's worth it to me. She used to spend close to an hour looking through books.

BOY!!!!

...was I wrong. :)

I hate blogging.

I don't really, but right now it is far from my priority. I appologize to everyone who waits anxiously for updates.

Tomorrow is our 20 week ultrasound. I'm not QUITE 20 weeks along, but pretty close. We're really looking forward to it. Derek and I are both betting that this child is a boy. From the beginning we have referred to the baby as "him" or "he." I was pretty convinced that Ryan was a boy. Come to think about it, I was pretty convinced Katie was a boy. We'll see.

She Said It.

Derek and the kids were playing on our bed last night and Derek told Katie, "I'm going to eat you," and started going for her tummy. Katie was shrieking, "no, no, no" and putting her hands in the air and giggling desperately to stop him. As a last minute attempt she yelled, "No Dad, we eat in the kitchen!"

A Day to Remember

A Most Beautiful Day

Today my (current) baby turned two years old. How could I possibly go through the day without remembering the beautiful day that she was born? If only I could recreate that moment over and over again. I adore this child.

The videos usually give me trouble for a little while. This time the only way I could get it to work was to post the video as a seperate post. The video is Katie's birth slideshow which many of you have already seen.

Houston, We Have Movement

I have a little person inside of me. Yesterday was the first distinct wiggle that I've felt.

Happy Birthday to Will

Let's try that again.



Let me know if you need a translation Jana. I think he's easy enough to understand - but I'm his Mom.

Too Late?

It's almost 10:00pm and I think it's almost 11:00pm in Arizona where my nephew, Will, lives. Do you think it's too late to call and sing "Happy Birthday" to him? I had actually planned to record a video of us singing to him and posting it on the blog. Check on Tuesday and we'll make it up to you Will bat. I hope it was a fun day!