Whistler

Kyle and I had the BEST weekend up at Whistler.  Unfortunately, I didn't take ANY pictures, but Kyle took a few from his phone.  We drove up Thursday and came home on Sunday.  It was a quick trip, but filled with a lot of fun.  We got in late on Thursday, so we took our time getting up on Friday.  Kyle and I headed up to the mountain - just the two of us.  What a treat!  The skiing was okay, but considering I hadn't skied in 3 years (since I was pregnant with Andy) and Kyle hadn't skied in 4 years...the skiing was PERFECT in our eyes.  We enjoyed some time together and were so appreciative of Ka and Bapa watching the kids while we enjoyed the morning snow.  Then we picked up the kids and Ka and Bapa went up on the mountain.  Kyle and I took the kids to Whistler Village where we enjoyed an apres ski beer and burger.  We sat with our kids at Longhorns and people watched.  Ironically, we chose "Greek Weekend" to be up there.  The last time I had been to Whistler to ski was in college for Greek Weekend.  My how times have changed.  Kyle and I just laughed as we sat in the "restaurant section" of Longhorns with our two kids and observed the scene.

Saturday, Ka stayed home with both kids and I was able to get up with my dad - which was a treat.  My dad and I weren't able to do our annual ski weekend in Sun Valley, so we enjoyed getting some turns in together.  The skiing was typical northwest skiing, but we enjoyed it.  After a morning of skiing, we took Andy out and put skis on him.  He didn't last long, but he was able to scoot around a little.  We just wanted to give him an introduction to the experience and he was a good sport.  He was very proud that he was "skiing" like Ka, Bapa, mama and dada.  We all headed to Whistler Village and then enjoyed another yummy meal out.  Thanks to Ka and Bapa for a very memorable weekend filled with laughter, mountain air, adventure, and good company.  AND - Happy Birthday Bapa - we love you!

Passed out after a stop at McDonalds

Enjoying the snow

Andy's New Favorite Word

Kyle's and my stomachs hurt from laughing so hard after this video. Kyle picked us up from the airport and my mom and I were talking about how much Andy enjoyed golf. Ka was explaining how Andy even was picking up on the golf swing and could cock his wrists in "proper" golf form. For some reason - Andy picked up on a piece of that sentence. It was dark in the car, so it's sound only. Andy's laughter is contagious! Silly dude. Luckily "cock" didn't stick in his vocabulary and Kyle and I need to work at not laughing at certain things!



Do you think they are related??

Andy - 6 months

Katie - 6 months

Andy man - 2 years, 5 months

At almost 2 1/2 years old, Andy officially has become a "big boy."  He's our buddy - talking a ton and quite the self-entertainer.  Two days ago, he started playing make-believe.  He mostly pulls stories from his favorite move, "Cars" and role plays between his stuffed animals, cars, trains, etc.  It's hilarious to listen to him narrate, especially when he doesn't know anyone is listening. 

Andy is starting to go to the bathroom on the potty, mostly because he is starting to understand that he gets chocolate if he does.  I still am not ready for potty training, so we're just going with the flo and encouraging him when he asks. 

Andy LOVES sports.  Football, baseball, soccer, tennis, GOLF.  He would rather watch sports than cartoons and will stop in his tracks if he sees something sports related on TV, in the car, etc.  He points out every soccer field, "Husky" stadium (because they all are related to the Huskies - yep, we've trained him well!), and will kick, throw or hit any ball he can get his hands on.  He also LOVES trains, cars, boats, planes and anything that moves.  His favorite activity is playing with his train tracks.  This may be tied with reading books.  He could read books ALL DAY LONG.  He loves to point out all of the characters and re-tell the story after he has heard it once before.  Andy still loves his oatmeal in the morning and will eat applesauce all day long (especially if it's from Trader Joes).  His favorite food is anything that he can dip (into "dip-dip" as he calls it), pizza, mac n cheese, any type of pasta, strawberries, popcorn, and candy.  He has quite a sweet tooth! 

I LOVE my little buddy and am enjoying him so much these days.  He is quite a little ham and trouble maker - but he makes us laugh and smile all day long.

Andy could have played golf every second of the day down in Palm Desert - and especially likes to compliment his own form by saying - "nice shot Andy!"

Katie girl - 6 1/2 months

It has been a busy fall/winter and I haven't been very good at posting updates on the kids.  Here is my attempt.  Katie continues to be a great baby.  She is a solid sleeper - sleeping from about 7PM - 8AM and taking two naps - from around 10 - 11AM and 1 - 3PM.  I had to ask my pediatrician if she is sleeping too much.  I don't share this information with other moms as I know this is quite unusual and nothing is harder to hear when you aren't getting any sleep.  I know it's nothing I am doing or not doing - it's a bunch of luck - and I am SO thankful.  While we were in Palm Desert, she woke up every 2-3 hours to eat, and that little reminder made me appreciate her sleeping patters that much more. 

She is a happy girl and smiles with her eyes.  When people walk in the room, she locks eyes with you and them gives you a big smile and a giggle.  She loves her back and is perfectly content playing with her toes and toys while on her back.  She'll spend time on her tummy, but mostly likes her back and will roll to her back after some time.  If she's not chewing on something, she is sucking her right thumb.  She loves her monkey pacifier, her "dolly," and her blankie that has rubber parts to chew.  It's funny how kids pick their favorite toys. 

Katie squeals, giggles, and "talks" threw high pitched chatter.  She has been eating solids for about a month - mostly vegetables - and she is great at eating.  The biggest struggle is that she has decided she doesn't like the bottle in the past week - so I have lost a little freedom in that department.  We're hoping she takes to the bottle again soon!  Katie loves the exersaucer and jumpy seat.  She also is thoroughly entertained by her big brother who now talks to her in baby talk.

We LOVE our baby girl and the joy she brings into our lives.  I can't imagine our family without her! 

Katie Stats - 6 months

Healthy Report!

Weight:  14 lbs, 9 ounces - 25%

Height:  26 1/4 inches - 75% - 90%

Head: 16 1/2 cm - 25% - 50%

Here are some pictures of her at 6 1/2 months

Palm Desert

We had a great escape down to Palm Desert.  We were told on Christmas day that we would not be able to travel due to Katie's RSV.  We put Christmas away, cleaned, organized, and headed to Katie's follow up appointment expecting to hear again that we should stay home.  Our pediatrician said that Katie sounded GREAT and a little sunshine might be good for all of us.  So...we called the airlines and got tickets on the next flight out of town!  The weather was "cool" for Palm Desert, but perfect for us.  We walked, worked out, played in the hot tub, had yummy meals, drank wine, golfed, read books, and enjoyed time with Ka and Bapa.  Both kids started the trip off with RSV and Andy was still crawling with his boot.  We came home with two healthy kids and a running Andy!  Hooray!

Every night, Andy read with his Bapa (thanks Baps!).  Andy's current favorite book is "Caps for Sale"

Katie now is a pro solids eater.  Thanks Ka for all of your help feeding our Katie girl

Happy New Year!  Only Kyle made it until midnight - the rest of us celebrated with New York and London : )

More books...

Hey Mama : )

Andy LOVED his golf cart rides

Once Andy was on his feet, he re-discovered his love for golf.  He would line up the balls and hit them...over and over.

So proud

And so not into getting his picture taken

Showing off his boot

And the new habit he picked up - nice Andy

Sadly, I didn't get any pictures with Ka.  She was so wonderful and hands-on.  Thank you for helping me enjoy some time away and for co-parenting with me while Kyle was back home.  We love you!

The many Christmas celebrations

We started celebrating Christmas with the Campbell family on the 19th of December.  It was fun and crazy with the 8 kids.  This year we decided that instead of purchasing gifts for each other, we would sponsor a family.  I love the idea of having our kids get some level of understanding of the magic of giving to those who especially are in need.  But, it's also so much fun to watch the kids rip into their own gifts and squeal in pure delight (sometimes not even understanding what they received!).  Or to see the shock on their face as they open the same gift that their cousin just opened...still as surprised as ever. 

Katie in the bouncy seat in her Christmas best

Sisters

Cousins

On December 23rd we hosted the Anderson family and enjoyed the tradition of gathering everyone together and enjoying a positive evening together.  We drank wine, had a delicious ham (thanks Uncle Dave!) and had good conversation.  It's so fun to have 4 little ones now so close in age.  Even though Andy wasn't walking, he and Ellis were buddies with matching penguin jammies.  I was horrible about getting my camera out - but here are the two buddies.

Connie stayed with us after the Anderson's were over and we enjoyed a lazy day at home on Christmas eve - it was great!  We were able to talk to Gumpa on the phone, which was a relief.  Thanks Gamma for spoiling and loving our kids!

Christmas day, we started off by opening presents from Santa.  Andy was super excited and couldn't decided which present to play with first.  His favorite was Katie's new door/house.  Watching Andy with his big eyes and his excitement was a highlight of the season for me.  I didn't take any pictures of Katie because she slept most of the morning because she was sick.  Then, we we decided she was sick enough to take her to the hospital - it was a mad rush to get out the door.  The rest of the day was spent at Children's - Kyle at home with Andy and me with Katie.  I was so glad to be able to bring Katie home that night - but was exhausted!



Merry Christmas!