1st haircut!

We decided that Isaiah needed a haircut before Christmas, his first haircut! Ashley didn't get hers until 2 1/2, but Isaiah has a lot of hair and it was getting really long. Plus every time he woke up it was all over the place! He did really well, I was very impressed, especially since he's so busy! He sat up on the booster all by himself and only when she started to use the buzzer did he try to look around at what was making all that noise. The girl was really good and managed to cut his hair while he was standing and moving all over the place towards the end. He looks like such a handsome little man now, not a baby anymore.

Christmas Cookies

The weekend before Christmas we decided we needed to make cookies for Santa. So we used cookies cutters and baked our cookies before nap and then when the kids got up we got to decorate them! Ashley wanted purple frosting and Mama and Papa wanted red and green. We had so much fun decorating and making a mess. It was cute to see Ashley spend 15 minutes spreading the frosting on one cookie to get it just right and then dump the whole bottle of sprinkles on top! Just the way a kid should do it! Than she picked out FOUR cookies that Santa would want and wrapped them up to bring out Christmas Eve. She made sure to tell us that Santa was really going to like these!



He'll get to participate next year, but this kept him busy for about 2 minutes while I got one cookie decorated!

When they were done the entire surrounding area was covered with powered sugar!!!



Isaiah got bored and decided to play in the tupperware cupboard instead!

Brody won't go to sleep

Papa, Brody won't go to sleep...

... but I love him anyways!

Cutie Patutie

Gingerbread Houses

Grammy's birthday was on the 15th, so we decided to spend a day together making gingerbread houses. We had never done this with my parents before, so it was really fun to see them get into it as much as us. My Dad got creative with the licorice and candy canes for a fence and my mom had fun cheating by copying the picture on the box! Next year we're going to take it from her! Ashley got to participate this year, too, and loved it! She was in charge of gingerbread men... ate more candy than she put on, but at least she asked before she indulged! She's such a good girl! Isaiah was napping while our very messy project was going on, but as soon as he got up he wanted in! He helped a little, but next year will be better. When our gingerbread houses were done we had dinner and carrot cake for dessert (not that we needed any more sweets). I think she would say it was a very special birthday this year! She only celebrated for about 2 weeks! You are loved Grammy!

Ashley's gingerbread men. She was so proud of her "boot" she put on the one on the right.











Grammy's going to love this picture! Just wanted to demonstrate the mess we made.

"Rockin' around the Christmas Tree"

11 months!

How do I capture this last month in words! I think I said last month that Isaiah is a pretty happy little kid, well he is still that way but this month's been a rough one for him. He's cutting 4 teeth on top and they seem to be taking forever to come in. It's affected his sleep and then he gets tired and cranky and no one is happy! He's been getting very mad when we take things away or tell him no. I can't help but turn around and laugh because it's so dramatic. One thing that really makes him mad is when we take him away from playing in Brody's food and water dishes. He waits until he thinks we're not looking and then shoots over there as fast as he can. Luckily Brody is very good with the kids and could care less that they're near his food, but still it's not something we're not going to allow him to play with no matter how much of a fuss he makes. Diaper changes have also become a challenge and as I was reading back to Ashley's 11 month entry it seemed to happen with her too. Maybe it's something to do with this age? Distraction works for a short period, so we've gotten really fast! With this booming personality comes laughter as well. He babbles and head nods all the time. I would love to understand what he's saying. We've taught him baby signs and "please" is a new one. He still yells, though, to get your attention especially when you're not fast enough! He eats anything and everything in sight. No more baby food, he gets everything we eat minus the nuts and corn. He got his first haircut right before Christmas and doesn't look like a baby anymore. It makes me sad to see him growing so fast, but I'm excited to see the little person he's going to become. He giggles out of excitement when we bring out books to read and loves to give big wet kisses! I love you Isaiah and can't believe you're going to be ONE next month!

"Snoggy"

"Mommy, I can't see out the window because it's snoggy". Made us laugh so hard the other day, she cracks us up all the time. Oh, and there is at caccoon (raccoon) in the Christmas puzzle we're working on.

Santa we've been good this year

We dressed up the kids in their Christmas outfits and took them to see Santa last Monday to avoid the huge lines. I actually didn't think pictures with Santa was going to work this year because she had been at the mall with Brian the week before and when he asked if she wanted to see Santa this year a quick "No" came out. But... when I got out the Christmas decorations last weekend she saw a picture of her as a baby on Santa's lap. We started talking about Santa and she figured that if she did it as a baby (thank goodness she isn't screaming in that picture) she would be ok to see him again. So off we went after talking about Santa for days. We told her he has to wear that big red coat, boots and long beard because it's cold where he lives in the North Pole and that he has a big belly because he likes cookies, so that's why we set them out for him Christmas Eve. She thought that was pretty funny and pointed it out when we saw him. Both kids did great and do you know what Ashley asked for when she sat on his lap? "White gloves like you Santa" I guess all the talk about his outfit made an impression on her and she was really checking out his gloves and wanted some just like it!

Brother's not too excited about dressing the part

Thanksgiving 2010

We had Thanksgiving dinner over at Grammy and Grandpa's again this year. They have a perfect house for hosting everyone and added a serving area over the pool table this year that worked out great. We have so much to be thankful for, but most importantly is the wonderful family we have. We felt lucky to be able to celebrate with them this year. It was a little too crowded for a picture and everyone was ready to dig in, but we had my Mom and Dad of course, Brian and I and the kids, Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Al, Adam, Lucas and their friend Malcolm, Becki and Dallas, and Uncle Dan. Unfortunately Gram Timm wasn't able to make it because of bad weather and Grandpa Timm had to work. We missed them, but look forward to seeing them at Christmas.

"Hold on Brother"

Entertainment on long road trips

Snow Day

Brian came up with a great idea to drive up to the mountain a few weeks ago. They had been getting a ton of snow up there and we wanted to go play in it. We got all packed up with our gear, Brody, and lunches and headed up to the mountain. We were out in the snow for a couple of hours and had a ton of fun. We pulled the kids around the parking lot to get Ashley used the the sled. She did not want to participate until we showed her how fun it was and brought brother down a few times. Isiah loved it and any time he wasn't in the sled he was rocking back and forth trying to go down himself. We'll be going sledding up there a lot more.




look at those blue eyes!

We have two helpers now

Isaiah loves the vacuum. I have no idea where this came from because he couldn't even tolerate the blow dryer when he was a baby. So, while I vacuum Ashley is up on the couch because she is terrified of it and Isaiah is chasing me around the house and I'm trying not to run him over!

"Hello"

10 Months!

The first thing I noticed in these pictures is how little hair Ashley had and how much hair Isaiah has. He is in need of a haircut, but I'm terrified to take him for fear that he'll get cut because he's so quick! He has not slowed down one bit over the last month. I'm guessing he's not going to be walking any time soon because he is such an efficient crawler, but he has been pulling himself up on everything and walks while we're holding his hands so who knows. We'll find out soon enough. We've gotten good at learning what attracts him over the last month and removing it before he gets to it, so that's helped a little with unwanted accidents. He still gets plenty of them! We also figured out that if we don't draw too much attention to what he's doing he'll get bored and move on to the next thing. He loves to climb the stairs (quickly because he knows we're behind him about to grab him at any moment), then he tries to pull down the gate by shaking it and when we tell him "no" it only fuels his determination and shakes it harder. He already throws himself forward in protest for us not letting him do things and he'll let out a yell to make sure that if you didn't see him throw a fit you heard him! It makes us laugh because it's not a huge fit just a reminder that he's not happy with our discipline. He started saying his first word "uh-oh" a few days ago. He stands up in his crib after his nap, throws the binky on the floor and says "uh-oh" over and over again. Uh-oh is right when he realizes he can't get it from where's he's at. His favorite toys are sister's and we're having trouble sharing in our house right now. For some reason he loves to open and close the oven on Ashley's kitchen and inevitably when she sees brother playing with it, she wants to play with it too. Besides the occasional bickering over toys, though, they do play really well together and Isaiah still gets the biggest smile around her. He's taking a morning and afternoon nap and three 5 oz bottles at daycare or nursing when I'm home with him and then nursing morning and night. I think it's supposed to be less than that, but he's eating a ton of solids and doing well, so for now we've kept it the same. He's signing "more" more frantically now that he knows what comes after it and he started signing "milk". His second bottom tooth came in and I think the top far right is coming in as well. This makes for some very wet shirts by the end of the day! All in all he is such a happy, content little guy. Both kids make our hearts grow with love every day.

Giddy Up

One More Party

This was the last birthday party for Ashley this year, sad but true! She certainly had a very special 3rd birthday with so many people to celebrate with! This one was at Grammy and Grandpa's house and Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Al, Lucas and Uncle Dan. They all came over for dinner and ice cream sundae. It was sure yummy and Ashley went to town putting whatever she wanted on her sundae. I think hers was even bigger than mine and that says a lot!

Ashley with "Fancy Nancy" and their matching aprons, oh and not to forget her fancy high heels from Uncle Dan!



Ashley wanted to give Isaiah a ride on her horse.

My parents got Isaiah his own rocking horse.

Baby Ali

Sunday Morning on our way home we met up with Mike and Amanda at their house in Federal Way. We had brunch with them and got to play with baby Ali. It's so cute to see the kids play together. We wish we were closer so we could do it more often.

6 weeks apart!

Isaiah 9 months, Ashley 3 years, Ali 8 months.

Birthday Party

Ashley had a lot of Birthday Parties this year. This one was on her actual birthday the 5th. Brian had been in Vancouver, BC for a conference all week and was going to meet us in Seattle on Friday. Thursday morning he woke up and not much was going on at the conference so he drove all the way home in time to pick up the kids and have dinner ready when I got home. What a guy! He missed us and wanted to be home for Ashley's birthday, it was such a great surprise because we missed him too! So, Friday morning we woke Ashley up singing "Happy Birthday" and jumped in the car and headed to Seattle. I was really happy I didn't have to make that drive by myself with the kids. We stopped into the ultrasound department at UW when we got to Seattle to see everyone there since it had been awhile. Not too much has changed, but it was great to see everyone. Then we went over to Danielle and Hani's to put the kids down for a nap so they would be all rested for Ashley's birthday party later. Danielle made a Happy Birthday sign that she put in her room upstairs, it was really sweet and Ashley got really excited about it. When they woke up Joana, Steve and Nathan came over to play. We had dinner and cake and then opened up presents. It was a great birthday for her!





A very special cake made by D!

opening her presents. She got some clothes, a puppy she named "Jothie" that came with a little purse to carry her in, an apron, a water bottle and purple kitty purse, a bath time baby and a baby changing kit.

Isaiah 9 months, Nathan 13 months.

Isaiah's laugh

This is at the end of our drive to Seattle, he had slept a good hour, was bored with his toys and had already eaten, so what was left to entertain him??? Well, lets just say I got a little creative!

PEPS Birthday

I can't believe the kids are 3 already! We got to together with some of our PEPS group while we were up in Seattle Saturday morning at Sara's house. She is so sweet and always offers up her house for us all to get together. Not everyone was available, but we got to see Amy and her two kids Sophia and Logan, Cress and her two kids Ryder and Sorah, and Sara and her two kids Tallyn and Harper. It was a bit crazy with 8 kids running around, but so fun to see everyone! We had pizza and cupcakes. The kids were so cute, they wanted us to sing "Happy Birthday" to them 3 times so they could blow out the candles 3 times. They were all tuned into how old they were turning this year!



we had to pretend they were a marching band playing all sorts of instruments to get them all up on the couch together.

Ashley and Ryder. I thought it was so cute how close they were sitting

I think she liked her cupcake a little too much, she stuffed the whole thing in her mouth at once.

Hotel Sleepover

We took advantage of my Dad's offer to use his Marriot points and got a hotel Saturday night up in Seattle so the kids could play in the pool. Brian worked at a Urology clinic that day, so after we met up with the PEPS group I took the kids to the hotel for a nap. That went better than expected, but I had to take one with them... darn! We picked Brian up and went out to eat. After dinner we took them to the pool. Ashley has really warmed up to the idea of swimming and loves jumping in and even floating on her back. I think Cabo broke her in. Isaiah had a blast and has always loved the water. That night we went to bed really early since we were all sleeping in the same room. We put Isaiah in the closet area so he couldn't see us and then turned the sofa bed towards the wall thinking it would be easier for Ashley to fall asleep if she couldn't see us. Well, she ended up popping her head up over the back of the couch. We ended up just turning the lights out early because she wouldn't go to sleep. Then because of the time change we were all up at 5:30am and had to wait until 7:30am for breakfast. We survived, but it was a long morning until we got some food in our bellies.

3 Years!

Happy Birthday my sweet baby girl! You have grown into such a wonderful little person, you make Mommy and Papa proud! We love your laugh and the funny things you say. Your precious voice melts our heart and we can't get enough of your hugs and kisses. You absolutely love your babies and make such a good mommy to them, putting them to bed and making sure they don't cry and are well fed. You offer us coffee from your kitchen that is so delicious. Your night time routine is very important to you and you make sure we get it right every night. Teeth brushed, hair brushed, potty, pj's, "let's talk about it" time, and blowing out the lights after spelling your name or counting to 10 in Spanish or English. We have to make sure you have your teddy bear and one blanket to cuddle with and the other folded on your pillow just right. You don't like a variety of foods, but we try and get you to try new things by having a "no-thank you bite". You are so sweet to your brother, giving him kisses and hugs before bed or when he's crying. You're wonderful at teaching him baby signs and what he can and can't play with. He gets the biggest smile when he sees you because he loves you so much. You would pick out your own clothes, get dressed and do everything by yourself if mommy let you, but on days where we have school there just isn't enough time. We try to make time other days, though, and you love to find outfits that "match". You still love to pick up rocks and put them in your pocket. Just when I though we've lost one, it shows up in a purse or pocket. You're 3 feet tall and 28 pounds, right in the middle of the growth charts. There isn't a day that goes by where someone doesn't comment on your beautiful curls. We feel so lucky to be your parents and spend every day with you. We love you Ashley Cakes!


Reading to her babies.



"The good fairy came down and SHE said, little bunny foo foo I don't want to see you, scooping up the field mice and boppin' ME on the head!"

Airplane

Peek A Boo

Costco

Halloween 2010

Halloween was sort of celebrated every day this past weekend. Friday Ashley had a Halloween party at her school that Brian and my mom got to go to. I was covering at work that day, so I miss out. Then on Saturday we went to a Halloween party at a farm near our house. They had games and prizes for the kids, so Ashley had a lot of fun. Then on Sunday we went over to Grammy and Grandpa's and saw Uncle Dan for a little while. He came in with this silly mask and Ashley just about flew into Grandpa's lap. She couldn't get off the floor and into safety fast enough. She wouldn't go near Dan with that face mask on. We had to take it off just to get a picture with him. Funny girl! Then we took off to the mall and went tick or treating there. It was a little disappointing since almost all of the stores were out by 5pm. I swear I read online they were having it from 5:30 to 7pm this year. Oh, well the kids didn't need all that candy anyways. It was still fun to dress up and see what all the other kids were. We played at the playground and rode on the firetruck (appropriate for their costumes) and then had dinner at Red Robbin. It was a really fun night.








Uncle Dan teaching Ashley how to play pool. She came very close to scratching the table before we decided she better use the guide for the stick