9-13-2010

Family and friends, mark your calendars!! September 13, 2010 is the day that Baby #2 will arrive! It's scheduled and I'm not at all disappointed about missing out on the mystery surrounding when the baby will arrive. I'll settle for no labor and keeping the mystery surrounding whether this baby is a boy or a girl. I have no inkling, but everyone seems to think it's a boy. Although, a lot of people said the same thing about Kate, so I'm not putting TOO much stock in it!! We'll be thrilled either way. And, cousin Cindy, start channeling your energy toward the 13th so we can have babies with the same birth day!! Well, that's the happy and exciting news around here. Unfortunately, there is sad news as well. My grandpa on my dad's side passed away yesterday. He took a sudden turn for the worse, and passed quickly. Fortunately, though, my dad was able to get to North Carolina in time and he and my Uncle David were there holding their dad's hand as he passed on. He did not have to suffer through a lot of pain, for which we can all be thankful. He had such an interesting life, and many stories to tell from his 91 years. I imagine he's happy to be reunited with my grandma Marilyn, who was the love of his life and his wife for over 65 years. It has been a tough few weeks where my grandparents are concerned, but I suppose as I get older, the passing of their generation is something that I knew was coming. It really is heartening to me to know that Kate got to meet all of her great-grandparents and that new life is soon coming into this world. I know that all the great-grandparents will be somewhere watching.

My first attempt...

...at cutting Kate's hair! I did try once before, many months ago, but I couldn't even get close to her with the scissors. This time went much better. It's relatively even, and no blood was shed, so I think it was pretty much a success. I had a good run of taking her to the great kid's haircut place near my dad's house, but I'm not sure when our next trip to Portland will be and she was getting downright shaggy. There's only one kid's place in Bend, but I just couldn't bring myself to go there since it advertises "spa parties" for kids and offers highlights!! Highlights? For a child?? What is this world coming to? Sorry, Kate, you're not getting any sort of streaks until you're well past 10. The haircuts there were $16.50, so I figured I dutifully saved us that much...well, at least until I spend it on something else..... :)

Outwitted by a not-quite-two-year-old....

I've been wondering when some sort of organized discipline would begin in our household, and the answer became abundantly clear: YESTERDAY. Kate was at her absolute feistiest and was testing every boundary she could. I drew the line when she began throwing her number magnets around the kitchen. I asked her not to do it, and we discussed (as we've had to do a lot lately) that the only thing she may throw is a ball. She didn't stop. The act that brought about our first use of the "naughty step" time-out technique was when she threw a magnet and then looked at me and said, "I did it on purpose." Clear as a bell! I was thrown for a moment by this blatant call for discipline, so I carried her over to a stair and said that it was her "naughty step." She knows about this since one of her Olivia books involves a time out. I knew she wouldn't stay there, but I explained why she was there and when she could get up anyway. She got up, went right to the fridge and threw another one. Back to the step. Again, up she got, right to throwing another magnet. But this time, she quickly said, "I did it on purpose" and then proceeded to go to her favorite little red chair. She sat down, looked at me (almost sarcastically, I think) and said, "THIS can be my naughty chair instead." Seriously?! I've been outsmarted after just two tries at time out?? I guess I may have to figure out another system......Happily, though, today was MUCH, much better in the behavior department. The weather was horrible so Kate and I tested out an indoor play park called Kiddoz. It was just perfect: a large room filled with all the stuff you basically could have at home, but then your kid probably wouldn't be nearly as excited about it. There was also a big structure with slides and such, but mostly it was just little nooks with dollhouses, blocks, etc., etc. PLUS lots of couches for parents and a coffee bar! Can't beat that. Kate was happy playing by herself and with the other kids, mostly, so I took advantage of those couches! This might be a good outing for us as I get bigger and bigger and bigger, and tired-er and tired-er..... We stayed a good 2.5 hours and Kate was nowhere near over the novelty of the room. And, Starla, you'll chuckle to know that she spent a good deal of time in the kitchen area, where there was a little table with four different colored chairs. True to her daddy's genes, she dutifully matched all the plastic vegetables and fruits with their corresponding colored chair. The other kids weren't sure why she was stacking carrots on the orange chair and green peppers on the green chairs, but I definitely knew why!! We'll see where this drive to organize takes her!

New town, new house, first parade!

Getting her horses "Tuck" and "Slick" ready to watch the parade

Kate's next Halloween costume, perhaps?

We've made it to our new place!! We've been here a week now, and we've got a phone and the internet again, so now we can catch up with all the friends and family we've been missing! The move went well, and we are really loving our new town and our new house. Much to our relief, Kate didn't miss a beat settling in. She now has a "big girl" bed in her room, and her favorite thing is to stand on the bed and watch out her window. We're right next to an elementary school so she can watch all the "big kids" and school buses. She can also see a road and likes to watch for trucks. She'll spend quite a long time watching and exclaiming, "blue truck!" or "white truck!" or "motorcycle" as she seest them pass by. There's also a little door in the downstairs closet which conceals the house's crawl space, but it's the perfect place for Kate to hide and keep her toys. She's really enjoying making all the discoveries at her new house! She also discovered the tutu that Grandma Connie bought her when I was unpacking her clothes. She said, "I put that on right now!" and she's been wearing it a lot ever since. On our first day here, she was wandering around in her pink tutu dragging Ryan's hammer, which we thought pretty much summed her up! Ryan and I think we definitely made the right decision choosing to rent in Sisters to see if it's where we'd rather be. So far, it definitely is the place for us! We love that it's a small town, but has lots of amenities that a larger place would have (like a brewery, movie house, athletic club...) We can easily walk downtown, which we've done for morning coffee and to watch the Sisters Rodeo Parade yesterday. Sisters really must have the most festivals per capita of most any town. Just this weekend there is the big rodeo and an Arts in the Park festival. Next weekend, there's a Beer & Wine Fest and the Oregon Ballet Theatre is coming to town. Combine all that with an outstanding public school system and all the trails and outdoor activities we could ever ask for, and we think this will be our home for quite some time. We can't wait to host visitors....hint, hint!! :)

Moving day!

We're packing up and moving yet AGAIN today, but this time to a place of our own! We're renting, so this won't be the last time we pack up but I hope it's the last time for awhile. I'm sure Kate is going to be sad to be leaving all the good digging dirt behind, but I'm sure we'll have new adventures at our place--and I'm sure we'll be visiting Dusty Loop quite regularly! I don't know when we'll have internet again, but I'm sure we'll have plenty of tales to tell next time.....

I want 2, 3, 12, 37.....

Kate has discovered/learned three things that I have decided are not good in combination: tantrums, numbers and colors. Actually, I could do away with tantrums entirely, but I know this is just part of having a toddler, and an independent toddler at that. I'm happy she's confident in her numbers and colors, but this knowledge does not serve her (or me, really) well when she is in a tantrum-y mood. Most of her outbursts begin with her wanting 2 or more of something, sometimes in combination with a color (i.e. "I WANT 2 blue cups!!!" when I offer her a cup of milk). It gets way more complicated than this as she starts demanding 5 or more of things we don't even own, or demanding things that don't exist (i.e. the purple bagel she HAD TO HAVE at the store recently.) There's not much a mom can do to meet some demands, although we try compromise whenever possible. Hence, her hairdo today. She wanted 5 ponytails and she ended up with 3....strange to look at but MUCH easier on the ears than not meeting her part of the way there. I'm learning as I go......

Kate has little in the way of girly-girl tendencies (she does like heavy machinery, after all) but I think shoes may be her one girl-weakness so far. When she saw this pink pair of Keen sandals, she said, "I try them on RIGHT NOW!" At least they'll dry out faster than her rain boots!

First family photo

I just realized that this is the first photo of our family of four: daddy, mommy, Kate and baby bump at 25 weeks. I look at Kate and can't imagine having a little one who looks any different than her but, genetics being what they are, I have no idea what this active little bump might be like! Another redhead?? We'll see in just a few short months. As for the three of us who are already on the outside, we'll be moving into our new place in Sisters on Friday. It's been quite awhile since we've been on our own; we won't know what to do with ourselves without grandmas and grandpas around! We're SO incredibly thankful to have had such wonderful hosts this past month or so. I know they all say it will be too quiet without us there, but I imagine it might be nice to have their houses back! Fewer toys to step on, at least!! THANK YOU Bob, Starla, Connie, Bill and Mac--we couldn't have done it without you!