Catching Up

This is a long overdue post. Some pictures from Shawn's sister Chandra's wedding in April!
We flew into Oakland for a quick two day trip. We had fun staying with our friends Kiyo and Jenna. The day of the wedding we played all day at a park with cousins Caitlin and Timothy. All the kids were so exhausted they fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel where we needed to get ready for the big night. The outdoor ceremony was beautiful and we enjoyed a lovely reception with lots of champagne and tasty food. As you can see, Max tore it up on the dance floor!

Max at age 3 1/2

I really love this energetic, intelligent, challenging little boy. I can't believe he's 3 1/2. Really. He's grown up in a swirling blur of Max-tastic energy. He leaves me exhausted at the end of each day, but he's full of joy, questions, and strength. He constantly has the strength to challenge me, buck his horns at transitions, figure out new puzzles and games, console and cheer up his sister, encourage her to eat her veggies, make art project presents for his friends each afternoon, invite me into his cave of couch cushions and pillows that he elaborately constructs, and the list goes on. Tonight I had a few moments to sit back with Shawn and watch him read in Alicia's lap while Alice strummed a guitar with Loren. It's so fun to watch him with other people, to see the things he does. He is so engaged and engaging. Max, as much as you push my buttons, I sure do love you!

September

Max at the Carkeek Park Tot Trek checking out a spider web!

Alice and Aunt Ruth with the Fox's dog.

Happy Max playing on the ranch.

Handsome Max on Brian and Jamilah's deck.

Picking a plum for the birthday girl.

Alice enjoying playing in the dirt!

The month is flying by. The fall weather is upon us in a big way. This morning I took the kids to a Tot Trek at Carkeek Park, where we learned about spiders. We had fun looking at spider webs in the rain. It was really neat to watch Max watch the instructor talk.

It's been a busy month, earlier we spent a week down in Santa Cruz with family, and Alice was part of a 4 family member birthday celebration at the Fox's ranch. Both kids loved running around eating yummy ripe plums. ...I'm still in shock over this one, I couldn't find Max, several folks were helping me look all around, I eventually found him in the Fox's house. I could tell he needed to take care of business, so I left him alone, came back, got him cleaned up, and realized I needed to run out to the car for a diaper. I was gone about 5-10 minutes as I was saying goodbye to some family members who were taking off. When I returned to the house he had the fireplace broom in hand, and said to me calmly "don't worry, I'm cleaning up". He had broken several ceramic fireplace tiles with the fire poker!!! I felt horrible. I immediately called Shawn and asked him to tell his Aunt Tammi what had happened. We picked up the broken pieces and took Max back to where we were staying to go to bed. I regret not marching him down to where the party was to say sorry to Tammi and Tom. I can't believe he did so much demolition in such a short amount of time!!! Other than this shocker, the trip was fun. We got to spend a lot of time with family visiting from San Diego, and with some Santa Cruz friends. We had some great afternoons playing in tide pools and hanging on the beach.

Other September happenings, Alice turned 1 on the 7th! She's walking up a storm, and climbing and working on running. She's got a few words and just seems so much more grown up! At her 1 year appointment last week she weighed in at a petite 18.2 lbs and is 10th percentile in height and weight.

We are in the throws of potty training with Max and hope, really hope (pull-ups are $80 a month) that he gets it down soon. Frustrating and messy don't even begin to describe it.

I'm applying for half time work at UW. I really want better benefits for me and the kids, and I need a break, and some time to do some non-kid stuff. Fingers crossed I'll land one of these jobs!

I should go clean up, a pile of dirty dishes is looking at me from across the room. The kids are asleep and Shawn's downtown at a friends book reading. Speaking of books, this Friday is the SPL booksale at Magnuson! We bought a friends of the library membership so Shawn can go to the preview sale friday night. Can't wait to see what he'll come home with, he's always so happy after going to the library sale :)

One last thing. Shawn's company laid off three employees today. Fingers crossed, prayers, and positive vibes that Shawn will not lose his job!

Big changes this summer

Shawn and Max on the beach.
Three generations of Kilburns and Uncle Linsel enjoy the view

Hanging with my longtime friend Heidi on the Oregon coast.

Alice's first haircut! My stylist even cut her hair for free!

Max and Donovan enjoying the Cowen Park playground.



Here are some big changes that have happend this summer:

Max grew two clothing sizes and is now in 5T!

Alice has 8 teeth and took her first step. She also got her first real haircut and is now sporting a darling bob.

Shawn got a raise! And I'm quitting my apartment management job as of August 31. I'm so excited to just be home with the kids and not trying to fit that job into busy daily life.

Summer

Summer is continuing to fly by. I've got a brief window of quiet while Alice is napping and Max is at school. This banal post is more for myself. I want to remember later what we were up to in Summer of '10.

This weekend we hung out at Green Lake and caught the tail end of Shawn's company's milk carton derby boat race. Alice crawled around under the trees, and Max, Loren, and Shawn hung out on the dock cooling their toes in the water. Later that evening we had a fun super sunny picnic with Alicia and Loren at the Meadowbrook park up in Lake City. We fled when the mosquitoes came out at dusk.

Sunday morning we met our friends The Eriksens at Cal Anderson park and Max and Leaf played for a few hours while we enjoyed coffee and Top Pot Doughnuts. Alice napped for a few hours in the afternoon while Shawn and Max assembled the art easel from Grandma Rose out on the mage (Max's word for our small patio/deck). Max painted for less than 5 minutes and then painted on the exterior of our apartment building, staining it with acrylic red paint. Nice. Shawn went for a solo walk down to the library and I took the stir crazy kids to Fremont Peak Park. We finished the day with some book reading and looking at the huge pile of hand-me-down clothes we received from friends. Max likes his new duds!

June already!

It's June already and time has been whizzing by. One of the new things around here is Alice's "mad face". Max taught her how to scream which she used to do for fun, now she's figured out how to yell really loud and let us know when she is done eating, or if she wants something off of our plates. She's 9 months old now and very close to walking. She is holding on to things creeping around taking little steps, pulling herself up, and finally getting interested in crawling. Maybe she'll walk and then crawl?

I've been in a muddled state of mind the last several days. The kids, Max in particular, have been waking up EARLY. 5AM early. Max quietly stalks in to our room in the wee hours, asking to watch some cartoons, and I scramble out of bed, trying not to wake Shawn and Alice. Yes, Alice is back in our bed. About 2 months ago she started nursing 4-5 times a night. I couldn't hack all of the trips down the hall to the kids room, so I pulled her back into our bed. Now she doesn't want anything to do with her crib, and Shawn thinks Max is jealous. He's probably right. So, on our to do list is setting up the big crib in their room this weekend. We've had her in a "mini crib" and I think she doesn't like the small space as she rolls around in her sleep, or the crappy foam mattress. So, here's to hoping she'll like her new full size crib.

We drove to Portland Memorial Day weekend and enjoyed a fun bbq at Linsel's and were able to see my sister Grace and many friends. Our next out of town trip will be in July when we go to Portland and the OR coast for about a week. We just bought airline tickets for a Santa Cruz trip over labor day weekend. Can't wait for that :)

Well, must sign off with a crabby Alice needing my attention....more later!

April Happenings

My Dad took both of these photos last weekend. The kids are growing so fast! Max will be 3 next month, and Alice is 7 months now. We had a great visit with my Dad last weekend, we spent the morning at the zoo and went to the Santa Fe Cafe for a delicious lunch (the green chile stew is a steal at $8 and comes with hand made tortillas. Yum!). After lunch we played at a nearby park, we kicked a ball around with Max and Alice enjoyed the sunshine. On the walk home I stepped of a curb funny, it felt like I slightly sprained my ankle, but I was able to walk it off (or so I thought). My Dad and I even went on a short walk later and my ankle and foot felt fine. Fast forward about three hours... we went out to dinner with my brother and his family, and climbing the stairs up to the restaurant my foot felt really sore, and then after sitting at dinner for about an hour I was unable to stand up! With my Dad and brothers help I hobbled down the stairs, by the time I got to the curb my ankle and foot were throbbing and I couldn't walk. I had never sprained my ankle before and was wondering if I had broken my foot. My foot seriously hurt, almost as much as having contractions! My Dad offered to take me to urgent care, he went to get his truck and met us at our apartment. Turns out that it was only a sprain and I felt really foolish going to urgent care, and paying a $100 copay... but they did fit me with a brace and crutches. Dad saved the day and offered to take an extra day off work and help out around the house so Shawn could go to work. He was amazing, he cooked, cleaned, did laundry, and took Max to school! He even made us dinner and did the dishes while we put the kids to bed. I made a speedy recovery and a few days later my foot was back to normal. I have been battling bronchitis, I'm just finishing up a 10 day course of antibiotics and I am not convinced I've kicked it. So, I've kind of been slogging through the past two weeks. Today is the first day I've finally felt somewhat better. We had a great family day, some friends came over for a playdate this morning. Max was really excited to have a friend over. Alice and Shawn got to hang out with some friends who have a daughter 2 days younger than Alice at our local coffeeshop. After lunch Shawn and Max headed to Meridian Park, Max's favorite, for some outdoor fun. After Alice's nap she and I went to join them and I enjoyed playing some "baseball" with Max and watching him explore a birdbath and climb on his favorite tree stump. Shawn and Max were out for 4 hours total! We arrived home tired out and ended the day with some delicious delivery from Pagliacci Pizza, Max ate 2 slices of pizza! The same amount that Shawn and I each had for dinner. He's grown so much these past few months! ...And, knock on wood, I had both kids in bed by 7:10pm tonight! ...Now, what to do with my evening?!? :)

Look at that father daughter resemblence!

Spring!

I love this picture of Max. Shawn snapped it as we were finishing breakfast this morning. He loves his food, especially fruit. We had a fun, leisurely breakfast this morning. I cooked up some chicken breakfast sausages, Max loved them, and Alice really liked them too. She is such an eater, at 6 1/2 months she is eating solid meals 3 times a day, and loves having food to eat with us at meal times.

We've been so busy lately, the last two weeks we've dealt with Alice having a bad virus, resulting in a painful sore on the roof of her mouth, and she wouldn't nurse for 4-5 days. It was really stressful. We are thankful that a few days ago she returned to nursing and is back to her cheerful, talkative self.

The weather is lovely today, Shawn and Max are a the park and library, and after lunch we'll meet up at the zoo with some friends visiting from Portland. We're looking forward to more outdoor time as the weather improves. Max LOVES the park, our outings always end up being 3+ hours and I have to drag him home :). He's enjoying open play time at the Seattle Gymnastics Academy and we'll be enrolling him in a class soon. He is also enjoying preschool. Alice is not a big fan of tummy time, but she's getting better, rolling over a bit more. She wants to walk and does not seem to be the least bit interested in crawling. Yesterday during Max's bath she stood up by herself, leaning against the tub, happily playing with matchbox cars with her brother. They are starting to play together more, and Max loves to make his sister laugh.

In a few weeks we'll be flying to Oakland for Shawn's sisters wedding, Max will love being able to play with his cousins. My Dad is coming into town in mid April for a visit and Shawn's Dad will be visiting us in May for Max's birthday weekend. In July my good friend Heidi will be coming out from Ohio to ride the STP. After the ride we're going to spend some time in a beach house in the Oregon Coast, I've missed the OR coast so much and can't wait to have some fun there. We are looking forward to a fun spring and summer!

Baby Alice

Baby Alice turns 5 months old tomorrow. She's had a big week, on Thursday she rolled over for the first time, from front to back four times. She's working on two more teeth. At three months the first tooth showed up and she's got three teeth now! She's been watching us intensely while we eat for weeks. This afternoon I decided to give her some applesauce. She loved it! She ate it off the tip of my finger and didn't spit any of it out. She's really ready for food! Here is a photo from last weekend hanging out with her friend Cleo (2 days younger) at our local coffee shop. I just love her cute little face! She's such a joy. Happy and content the vast majority of the time. She and Max are starting to play together. Tonight we got out the highchair for her and Max came over to where she was sitting and helped her fish with his "fishing line" (a cord from a hooded sweatshirt). She kept dropping it and he patiently helped her grab it again several times. He is such a good big brother. It's been a great week with both kids.