A Little of This

Lots of snow the last couple of days. I heard that it was going to be a crazy blizzard so I was expecting insane amounts of snow. There is a lot but I wanted more for some reason. Pictures from Chicago looked pretty awesome. I tried to take better pictures but my camera died. I will try to snap some tomorrow, but here is a huge mound in front of our house. Eric has been doing a lot of shoveling, but I think he secretly likes it. We were driving in the car today and Blake said "Look Mommy, sprinkles!" I looked over and saw the snow sparkling in the sun.

We went to a new place called Sports Fit today. We all loved it and I am so excited to have somewhere else to go on cold snow days. There is a long trampoline that leads into a huge foam pit. Stevensville, MI rocks.

Today

Today Janie had two diaper blowouts. She took two baths and Blake was my helper. We played with friends at a gym. Played with spices and finger painted with pudding. Worked on not hitting. Worked on not screaming. We all took naps. Played dominos and trains. Read some books. Took Blake to the store and he got a free sugar cookie. He ran up and down the aisles and got his drink of water from the fountain. He tackled Daddy and played with cars on the floor. Janie learned how to blow a kiss.

Buds

Lately Blake asks to have "a party in the tub" with Janie. While I was getting ready they were taking turns screaming high pitch to each other. They were laughing so hard. I love it.

Blake - 2.5 Years

- Blake has has a thing with monsters. He is always talking, reading, and playing with them. But he is so scared of them. He woke up one night over Christmas break and ran screaming out of our room. He said that a monster was trying to bite his finger. Now he is scared when he goes to bed. I went to kiss him goodnight and found this dinosaur on his bed. Eric had been in before me. When I walked in Blake said "Monsters don't like dinosaurs." He wasn't scared anymore and felt confident that his dinosaur would protect him. Good job Eric.
- We were making crafts yesterday and playing with pipe cleaners. He couldn't poke them through the paper so he said and I quote, "Maybe when I'm stronger or shorter I will learn how to do this."
- Blake doesn't love the idea of nursery. He told us many times in California, "The doctor said I don't have to go to nursery in Michigan."
- The other day he wanted to watch a movie. I told him to wait a minute. He opened the case and said while looking at the CD, "See this says I can watch the movie right now."

Janie - 11 Months

- Is walking more every day.

- Points to nose, lights, Dada.
- Said "uh oh" today. Can say "dada." Lots of babbling.

- Waves bye bye

- Has become more shy. Smiles at people and then leans her head into mom.

- Signs "more" and "all done"

- Screams when someone isn't sharing their food with her. She really screams for anything that she wants and doesn't get

- Is pretty tough and lets Blake climb, roll, and knock her over all the time.

Crazy House

We flew out to California and I stayed there with the Blake and Janie for almost 3 weeks. Eric left the day after Christmas. It was very fun and very nuts. There were 10 adults and 7 kids living in one house. 5 of those kids were in diapers.

My mom has made all our stockings but had to make a bunch for all the new babies. They looked great. Way to go Mom!

We always have to dress these girls up matching.

Bentley and Blake in their sports pajamas.

Megan and Blake became buddies. One night they were eating and coloring together at the counter. Blake bit his cheek while chewing and started screaming. Megan didn't like how loud he was crying and said to me "Sometimes I get hurt, and I don't even cry."

Bowling

We went to a play place called Super Franks.

* Janie had an ear infection and got really sick one day so we needed to take her to urgent care so we could get antibiotics. We were frantically trying to find where to go and only had an hour before it closed. Just as we were leaving, Amy's daughter Jill knocked her whole tooth out. She was bleeding and screaming. Amy said that at first she thought the tooth was a piece of candy cane. I guess you have about a one hour window to reinsert the tooth into the hole and hope that it takes. It worked and Jill has her tooth again! It was an intense night. Janie had a double ear infection and a few days later she was back to normal. A week later Jill went to urgent care for her ear infection.

* The first week we were there a 24 hour flu hit most everyone. After that cleared up almost everyone got a bad cold.

* We stayed up way to late every night playing Acquire, Telestrations, and Charades. It was so fun, but not so fun waking up five hours later for the day with Blake and Janie.

* I got to visit with some friends from high school and Sunnyvale.

* Janie started walking there! She got up to 20 steps. She is still inconsistent but is getting better.

* Family pictures were accomplished. A little fiasco at crowded San Jose Children's Discovery Museum. I went running with my sisters. Lots of trips to the mall.

* Thanks mom and dad for everything!

Christmas 2010

Christmas was great. All month Blake had been talking about a red ball that he wanted Santa to bring him. He was excited to find it. Blake helped everyone open their presents. My favorite was when he helped baby Bentley open his red vest. Blake saw it and excitedly yelled "Yarn! Yarn! Mom, I got yarn!" He later got his own vest and said it again. "Hey, I got more yarn!" He must have been worn out from the morning because he took a 3.5 hour nap and then I had to wake him up.