December update

So way back from October, here are the kids at S's school Halloween party

P went as a scarecrow--the same costume I made for S for her first Halloween. R was a pilot.

R enjoying a trick or treat sucker

Daddy taking some creative photos of S playing on the back patio

This is one of the most common poses for R--staring up into the sky at a plane passing overhead, often a big transport plane from nearby Travis Air Force Base.

Boo!

Our smiley girl...

which is why we did a smiley face theme for her first birthday, in November.

"I'm ONE!"

Grammy and Grampy were here for the party, from IL. Grammy made the dress P is wearing!

A few weeks later was Thanksgiving, and family from Ohio were here to visit. Our church hosts a "Turkey Bowl" football game early on Thanksgiving Day. P wasn't too thrilled to be there...

R wasn't too thrilled either, but only b/c he was too little to play football with all the big people. So sad.

But S had a ball cheering for Dad.
So, as a reference point, take a good look at S's bangs in this picture of her jumping at the bounce house place, earlier in the week. Now you see 'em...

...now you don't.

That's right, Thanksgiving Day she found the hair-cutting scissors sitting on the bathroom counter, and decided to give her bangs a trim, down to the scalp. Good thing the rest of her hair was in braids!

And finally, here is P with her latest accomplishment, climbing the stairs...hooray P!

Baby P makes 3

11-27

11-28

12-06

So it's been awhile since I've been on here...P will be 1 month old by the time most of you read this...I can't believe it! Here are a few pics...guess I'll have to take pictures of her looking cute while I still can--in the days since these were taken, S has knocked a storage tub off a cabinet onto P's head and this afternoon R swiped a toddler fork off the dining room table and was trying to stick it into P's head. Not to mention S trying to sit on her and R wanting to push her while she's in the baby swing...

HOT

My friends living outside of California are posting lovely pictures and comments about their fall weather--it sounds so wonderful to be starting to pull out cozy sweaters and drinking hot chocolate at night (sigh) since it's 98 degrees here in Dixon, with a "6 weeks from my due date heat factor" of about 198 degrees. I've managed to make it through the whole summer with only 3 pairs of maternity shorts, and i'm growing quite weary of them.
Lest there was ever any doubt, it does cement in my mind the fact that were I alive 150 years ago, I would NOT have been one of those brave pioneer women crossing the plains in a covered wagon. Guess I'm more Little House in Civilization than Little House on the Prairie :)
P.S. Have I mentioned that R has condensed his vocabulary into 3 essential words? "UP" for up and down, "HI" for hi and bye, and "WATER" for every single other thing under the sun. However, he recently learned a new word besides "water"...he loves the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar--which he now calls a "waterpillar." (perhaps he's destined to be a plumber??)

Birthday Boy

We've had lots of company visiting us during the last 3 weeks, thus the lack of posts lately, but here are some good pics to catch up. We celebrated R's first birthday, and also took the birthday boy to the Folsom City Zoo.

Here he is chasing the chickens that run free about the grounds.

3 Bears (shouldn't they be in a cage?!)
The peacocks were in all their glory

This is R "kissing" the bunny, which then turned into trying to eat the bunny.

For the big 01, we had a fire truck cake in honor of firefighter Uncle Nate (who was visiting from Ohio.)

He dug in with great gusto!

And was cramming the next bite in before he had finished chewing the first one.

No explanation needed.

Did you get enough sugar yet?

"Hey, bring back the cake!"

Exclusive video footage

Here it is - video proof that R really can walk.

Still down, but out to Seattle

My internet access is still quite limited, but hoping to get it all worked out this week. In the meantime, the kids and I took a sidetrip to Washington! A few weeks ago we received an invitation from John D. to fly to Seattle and stay with Rachel and the kids while he would be away on business for several days. We had SUCH a great time visiting them as well as the Keith Klan who just happen to live 3 houses down the street. Andrew is such a big boy now and so funny saying things like, “Why him crying?” or “Her likes that!” and finishing nearly every meal by saying “Wow, that was a good dinner Mom.” And R definitely seemed to take a shine to little Sierra—several times he crawled over to her and gently “kissed” her face with his—she’s such a sweetheart, how can you blame him? And how I loved seeing the Keiths after saying goodbye more than 2 years ago! I will say it’s a bit chillier up there, and although Mt. Rainier is practically in their back yard it was foggy most of the time and so we only caught a glimpse of the snow-covered base of the enormous mountain. But since we were more interested in just enjoying each other’s company, the trip was a definite success. Thanks Rach for your wonderful hospitality, (and I put all these pics and more on a cd in the mail to you today! :)

Here's R, not afraid to be picking on the big boys.

Can you believe how cute she is at only 6 months old?
R playing the flute, er, Lincoln Log, in an attempt to win Sierra's heart? It doesn't look like she's too impressed!
2 Sheldons, 2 D's, and 3 Keiths

Andrew and S on the viewing box at Northwest Trek animal park-a very cool place near the D's. I think they were looking at a mountain lion here.

S saw this guy in the gift shop and kept saying, "teddy bear" over and over while she gave it hugs.

Drew smiled for the camera even though he wasn't feeling good this day.

S's turn.

Buddies--and yes, Andrew is wearing S's pink gloves :)

In other news, we now have a "walker." R took 3 steps Sunday morning after we got home, then 6 more in the afternoon. He's not attempting his new trick very frequently yet, but it won't be long I'm sure!

Teeth Nubs

Granna & Papa arrived New Year's Eve for a short visit on their way to Papa's business meetings in Southern CA. Here they are Sunday morning with the kids

(p.s. thanks to Great-Gramma Mary for another cute dress for S.)

R cut 7 teeth in a short period of time, and the top 4 are all descending at about the same rate, which has him looking a bit goofy when he smiles his big grin:

I guess this one would be my fault

Ranger's been itching to climb the stairs for awhile-he stands at the bottom of the stairs and bounces up and down while watching his sister (who cruises up and down constantly.) He's tried several times to figure out how to get a knee up, but without success. The other day however, I was sitting with him on the landing at the top of the stairs, and I helped him crawl up the final step into the loft. Well, apparently that was all the lesson he needed. Later that day I took Saylor out to the garage and strapped her into the stroller for a walk. I came back inside and Ranger was standing on the bottom stairstep just grinning away at me. So we had to get out the gate...unfortunately, the next morning we hadn't yet put it in place...

Mr. Smiley here was incredibly quiet when he was sneaking up those stairs!

Keepers

It appears that once R discovered the concept of moving around, he didn't want to waste anymore time just sitting around. He is pulling up and shuffling along on anything he can now-his favorite being the bottom stair here:

Here he is working his way around the dining chair

the blue tape line in the background above is supposed to keep R from crossing into the kitchen. So far it's not been as successful as it was with S...of course she didn't even really crawl until she was a year old. Did I mention these 2 are a little different?

Trying "homemade" green beans--not a fan! I think it's the texture...

When she's happy, he's not...

When he's happy, she's not...

Ok, we'll settle for this one.