"Festival" of Trees

Last night, we went to the "Festival of Trees" in Bennington - the little community just north of us. We went with our friends Jeff and Stephanie, Doug and Christen, and Carrie was there husband-less (he's in law school and has a big paper due next week). It was technically a fundraiser for the library, and since my kids go every week and it was just a buck to get in, we decided to go!

It was fun - nothing like the Festival of Trees on the Grove in Boise, but it was so quaint! I thought it was cute. The local preschool did a tree, as did the volunteer fire department and other local clubs/groups. There was even a visit from SANTA!

We wanted to get a picture of the kids by one of the trees.
Addison WAS looking at the camera, but turned her head at the last minute. OK, let's try again....

Okay, seriously?!? She DID look at the camera, but turned at the last minute again! Alright, this is ridiculous. I will just get down there and take the picture with them - even though I'm not a big fan of having my picture taken.
I give up.

And don't even ASK about Santa - is it like genetically encoded for toddlers to absolutely HATE him?? Jeremy didn't get within twenty feet of him when she started screaming "NO" and freaking out!

Getting ready to hit the road at the beginning of next week, so probably won't be posting much until I get out there. Wish us luck!!!

Pictures, Pictures

As promised, here are a few photos of our day at the zoo and an impromptu playdate we had last week. My camera is acting funny (and I'm sure Addison had NOTHING to do with that!) and has like a three-second delay between when I push the stinkin' button and when it actually takes the photo. Anyway, enjoy!

Davis was a little tired - can you tell??? I finally just tilted the seat back and he just sat there. He really is so mellow most of the time.

So, I mentioned in the last post that the animals seemed to walk right up to where we were standing! Here's this elephant walking towards us. (I felt bad for the elephants - the zoo is building a whole new exhibit for them and so they are in this sort of makeshift spot in the back of the zoo and it doesn't look very appealing.)

See?!?

This bear also came right up to us. It was small, as bears go, but when they get that close you realize how scary it would be to see one of these things in the wild!

It really liked Dillon.

So did this gorilla. (Sorry for the blurry-ness...)

Here's Davis and Bentley - you wouldn't know it by this photo but Bentley is almost two months older than him. She's just a little pixie but she can move! She even started climbing my stairs, which she had never even attempted before. Wow! She was wearing a super cute headband, but Davis couldn't keep his hands off it and he kept almost crushing her.

These two were moving so fast, this was about the only photo of them I got! :) They were having fun playing in and on Addie's toddler bed. They would shut the door and we would just hear lots of laughing, so fun.

Jeremy

We've been so busy with life lately - I'm sure most of us are! I've been getting the house ready to be without us for a month and a half, freezing dinners for Jeremy (although, he assures me, he's totally capable to cooking for himself - I still want something here for him!), getting Addison's wrist fixed :), working on Katelin's shower and reception, etc.

Although I'm so excited to get to spend the next several weeks with friends and family, I am starting to realize how much I'll miss hanging out with Jeremy!

He always helps with Davis (we even argue over who gets to hold him during church, but that's probably because whoever doesn't have him has to entertain Addie!!) and Addie, and always offers to let me have "me" time. Last Saturday, I went to the SALON (gasp! an actual salon) to get my hair cut and colored and was gone almost all morning - and not only did he not complain, he ENCOURAGED me to go even though I thought I should just stay home. (Maybe that's just a sign of how badly I needed my hair done. "No, honey, REALLY, you should GO!")

He's almost done with his first semester and is adjusting to school really well. I have been pleasantly surprised by his schedule. He manages to have more than decent grades and has got some great comments from instructors. Besides that, he has kept the importance of having a balance of family and personal time in his schedule. He has been totally dedicated to working out before school, and most nights he is home by 5:30 pm, which means we are able to actually hang out together after the kids are asleep. I'm so glad he is trying to stay level-headed and well-rounded. (So, don't let this post go to your head, Jeremy!)

Anyway, really going to miss him not only for his help with the kiddos, but mainly just being able to hang out at night. There is nothing better than watching The Office with Jeremy!!!

~~~~

In other news, Davis has started babbling more coherent sounds. He says "da da da" quite a bit and is attempting to stand when he crawls to a sofa or the stairs. He's growing up way too fast.

For those that have asked, Addie is doing QUITE well with her splint. She has only thrown a fit one time, after I took it off to get her dressed for the day and tried to put it back on! So now I'm trying to coordinate outfits that can just stretch OVER the splint, which is interesting.

It was so nice here yesterday - like 57 degrees and sunny with practically NO wind. So I figured a trip to the zoo was in order. My friend Christen came with her cutie daughter, Dillon and we had a lot of fun. The animals almost seemed happy to have people visit at the zoo, a lot of them actually came right up to us!

I have pictures from the zoo and some random playdates I'll post later. Kids are up and it's time to hit the gym!

Here we go....

....so all day today Addison has been staying away from putting any kind of stress or strain on her right wrist. I noticed when I would help her up or down from things she would get upset. We also had some friends come over this morning for a playdate and Addie tripped and fell (like always) and when she put her hands out to catch herself, she immediately started crying and winced, etc. So I knew something was wrong. I called our doctor, who told me to take her to the Children's Urgent Care that night because they have an X-Ray Tech on staff.

So, off we go to the urgent care. Of course, we get to urgent care and she was perfectly happy when the doctor examined her, which made me feel like an idiot mom. But I knew it was bugging her so asked for the X-Rays anyway. (What do these doctors know anyway??? Ha ha. Love you, Jeremy.) Took the X-Rays and guess what....a buckle fracture on her right wrist. She has to wear a splint for three weeks and if she can't keep it on (I'll be shocked if she can) she will HAVE TO GET A CAST!!!!!

Here are a few pictures for posterities sake:

Some Perspective....

Since I never really leave the house, the only difference I can tell environment-wise that we are living in the Midwest is the lack of family nearby. But other than that, it's easy to forget that we are thousands of miles away.

That is, until recently - when Jeremy and I sat down to devise a plan of attack for the marathon road-trip back home for Thanksgiving. We weren't going to drive home for Thanksgiving, but since I'm staying behind to help with my sister's showers and receptions, we decided to drive since I will need the car. Anyway....some perspective of where we are living:

Mileage from Omaha to Nampa, ID (home): 1,250 miles

I thought it would be interesting to see where that would distance would take us if we were to head east instead of west:

Mileage from Omaha to New York, NY: 1,257 miles

What?!?!?

So we played around with it a little more, just for fun:

Mileage from Omaha to Charleston, SC: 1,300 miles
Mileage from Omaha to Chicago, IL: 481 (Super close relatively; we will have to do a weekend trip here sometime)
Mileage from Omaha to New Orleans, LA: 1,120 miles

Anyway, Jeremy and I were getting a kick out of figuring out that we are practically smack-dab in the middle of the country.

My favorite:

Omaha to Washington, DC: 1,153 miles. (If we survive this trip with the kids, we are SO going there next Thanksgiving. Just kidding mom and dad!!! Maybe!!!)

New Photos, Courtesy of Addie

I haven't taken any new photos of the kids in a while, and I need to because **BIG NEWS** Davis got his first tooth!!! It was a little rough on him for one night, but he seems to have settled down. It is totally impossible to even SEE it, though, because he has this amazing reflex with his tongue where I can never get him to move it out of the way long enough to see his new tooth. So just trust me, it's there.

Anyway, Jeremy was looking through our camera the other day and saw this picture:
That's Davis (obviously) and my feet in the background. Jeremy KNEW he didn't take the photo, and that from the placement of my feet it was physically impossible for me to take the photo. Addie was our little culprit! Here are some of the other pictures we found on the camera, courtesy of Addie:

Davis coming....




....Davis going...

And the always popular shot of your own chubby toes. (These are ADDISON'S before I get any wisecracks about my own chubby toes.)

Life with a toddler never ceases to surprise me.

What We've Been Up To Lately...

So, sorry for the lack of Halloween pictures (*ahem* Dad *ahem*), but here are a few random photos of what we have been up to lately.

The weather does NOT kid around here in Nebraska. On Halloween it was 65 degrees, then a week after that it dropped to almost 35 degrees!!!! And the cold is a humid cold - with a wind that just takes your breath away. Whenever I take Davis from the car into the store, he does that sad little gasp-y thing that babies do whenever they try to breathe in the wind.

So, knowing that the weather only gets worse from here, and that I have an active toddler AND a baby that still naps twice a day, Jeremy and I found a steal of a deal on Craigslist for a playcube/slide. It was outside in our backyard and now it is in the basement.


Pretty good deal, right? It was pretty dirty, so we cleaned it up and that took a lot of effort, and then taking it apart to put it in the car, then reassembling in the backyard, then taking it down to bring inside and reassembling has given Jeremy quite the workout. But Addie likes it and it gives her something active to do without getting frostbite and allows Davis to get a good morning nap.


See? Except after we got it set up, I could smell this not-so-great smell. Those of you who know me well know I can get obsessive about making sure my house always smells clean and fresh. This slide reminds me of that hilarious Seinfeld episode where the valet that parks Jerry's car has B.O. and they can't get it out no matter what they try (Brit knows what I'm talking about....anyway). Jeremy's hoping that it dissipates quickly or else the slide is getting disassembled for yet another trek out the backyard.

So the slide takes up my basement, which before we moved in was the designated kids' toy room. I was so excited to be able to keep all of the toys contained in one area and have a decent-looking living space that was toy-free. (All of you veteran moms know better.) Yeah, right! That lasted through the first week, maybe.

The toys have creeped up the stairs to the living room.


And now I have a box of things for the kids to play with in the dining room/kitchen area since that is where I spend most of my time cleaning/working on projects. (Actually, for mom's of toddlers, that was a great idea from my Toddler's Busy Book. I have actual packages from food (clean, of course) like old butter or egg cartons, yogurt containers, etc. in the box and Addie loves going "shopping" in the box and putting her finds in a bag like at the grocery store. Sometimes she just likes taking them out and using them as drums, etc.)

So now my kids have officially taken over all three levels of our house. But it's great and I love looking around at night (after they are quiet in bed and things are relatively organized) and seeing signs of them everywhere. They are total sweethearts and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Halloween Tradition

I think this is becoming a Halloween tradition....

Davis Laughs

So I generally don't like posting bath pictures, but this was just too cute not to share. This has become a nightly ritual in the bath - we figured out how to make Davis laugh by dropping bath toys in front of him. I have to hold him steady because he cracks up so hard it makes him tip backward. I LOVE baby belly laughs. So fun! P.S. When you hear Addison say what sounds like "Diis..." that's how she says "Davis".

Some Thoughts....

...before I post the Halloween pictures. Watching the election and it looks like Obama is on his way to victory. Once again, I have to echo the thoughts of Peggy Noonan about this election. (And if, by some chance, the election goes another way after I have gone to bed then I still want to echo the sentiments.)

On Feb. 5, Super Tuesday, Mr. Obama won the Alabama primary with 56% to Hillary Clinton's 42%. That evening, a friend watched the victory speech on TV in his suburban den. His 10-year-old daughter walked in, saw on the screen "Obama Wins" and "Alabama." She said, "Daddy, we saw a documentary on Martin Luther King Day in school." She said, "That's where they used the hoses." Suddenly my friend saw it new. Birmingham, 1963, and the water hoses used against the civil rights demonstrators. And now look, the black man thanking Alabama for his victory.

This means nothing? This means a great deal.

It IS a big deal and I think that putting politics and differences (and there ARE differences, believe me) aside, sitting down tonight seeing everything unfold did feel a little like watching history happen, because it was.

So whether you supported him or not, seeing all of these African Americans, especially older African Americans who can REMEMBER when they couldn't even VOTE, seeing Barack Obama become the President-Elect has to be amazing. (Even though Charlie Gibson needs to lay off - it's like he's trying to make it about him that HE got to be there for this night. Get over yourself.)

Last part of Peggy Noonan's article that I really loved. It gives great perspective.

But let's be frank. Something new is happening in America. It is the imminent arrival of a new liberal moment. History happens, it makes its turns, you hold on for dear life. Life moves.

And now it's time for conservatives to hold on for dear life - but to unite and move on as life moves on. (As opposed to those like, say, Heidi Klum, who warned of leaving the country if the opposite party would have won tonight.) Because at the end of the day, we are all so lucky to live in this country. I'm actually way more interested in some congressional races in Idaho, here in Nebraska and propositions in California.

Thanks for listening....I will now reward you with some Halloween pictures of my kidlets!

(OK, it's one picture, the rest of the pictures are on my parent's camera and I will post them as soon as I get them.)

Here is Addie and super-cutie Dillon at our ward's chili cookoff and trunk or treat the night before Halloween. Davis had an ear infection so stayed home with me, but Jeremy took her and they had a fun time.

Will post more pictures later. Onward!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here He Goes!!!

Davis FINALLY put two and two together and officially crawled today! My mom and dad were in town this weekend to visit for Halloween which was so fun and it was great they were able to be here for his first little crawl!

I have pictures from Halloween, which was so fun, but wanted to post this video first. Davis actually has an ear infection, poor kid. We all got a cold this week, but Addie got over it pretty quickly. Davis was still acting sick yesterday, so Jeremy and I took him in to get checked and he had the beginning of an ear infection in his left ear. (We have been really lucky with our kids so far, NO ear infections in either of them. Jeremy shadows a pediatrician for school and can't believe the number of kids who have chronic ear infections. So sad!) Anyway, after he started his meds he has started acting like our sweet little guy again.

Enjoy the video!