Making Kuchan at the Atkinson's

Daryl's parents invited us over to learn how to make a German dessert passed down from Arlie's side. Daryl's mom is 100% German, so it was really neat to learn how to make this. Plus, it is very yummy. We've had it before, but we never participated in the baking process and oh what a process it is. It took about 5 hrs from start to finish, but well worth it (I wrote down the recipe, so I will definitely be making this in the future with my family). We also had a yummy German dough ball dish for lunch (again from scratch). The kids also got to go swimming and hang out with a few of their cousins. It was an awesome day at Grandmommy and Papo's house!

Trinity Trike-a-Thon

Today Corbin and I spent the entire afternoon with Tatum's class. They are trying to raise money to add more playground equipment to the growing school. Corbin had an absolute meltdown during the race since he wasn't able to get out and participate. But he was fine once we got back in class for popsicles, singing and more snacks. It was really neat to watch the teacher do her thing. I was pretty impressed with Tatum and how much she knew about the bible when asked. She is still one of the loudest in her class and is not shy one bit. Corbin felt like a big boy getting to have circle time and hang out with the other kids today. I loved watching her recite the Pledge of Allegiance and then the Christian version. She kept looking back at me reminding me to keep my right hand on my heart lol. One of her best friends, Xavier, had his birthday today and we also got to celebrate that in class. It was definitely a fun day at Trinity!

Children's Expo at the BIG stadium

He now plugs his ears when he doesn't want to hear what's going on or if I am telling him it's naptime lol.

It's amazing to think the Super Bowl was here not too long ago and here we were, walking around at the bottom of this amazing stadium. We were truly in awe of it. I'm sure most of you are shocked I don't have more pictures since I tend to go in mamarazzi mode at events like this, but it just was not Corbin's day and Daryl was super claustrophobic, so we only lasted about 2 hrs. We still had fun, but I think it would have been easier without a stroller and without the mass crowd of people and booths crammed together.
One of the things I truly enjoy about being a parent is getting to experience things all over again. Things like petting a farm animal for the first time, going on a roller coaster ride and seeing one of your favorite characters come to life at places like Disneyland can be so magical and I love reliving the moment through my children and watching the expressions on their faces as they live them. I know it's going to keep getting better and I can't wait to be there to capture the moment and share them with you :).

"Yes, she does look like Bailey"...

Above are pictures from when Bailey was 8 wks and then then around 14 or 15 wks.

The bottom two are of Marley at 9 wks (notice the M on her chest). She looks about the same size as Bailey at 14 wks.

Corbin's first sports sampler class

I have been counting down the days until he turns three so we could sign him up for something other than an overpriced mommy and me class. I bumped into an old friend from high school the other day and she told me the Wed morning sports sampler will accept 2.5-6 (it's really supposed to be for 3-6). So on the first day she has everyone sit down on these colored circles and go around and have everyone introduce themselves (yeah right lol). Everyone talks in the class except for Corbin. Don't get me wrong, his vocabulary has grown tremendously, but still if I ask him his name, he will not answer me. He will say things like, "doggy...owie" and I get the idea that the dog probably scratched or bit him, so that has really helped things. I am able to understand him more, but it's harder for others since they are not used to him and the way he pronounces certain words (that can almost sound like gibberish). So the language barrier will be something they will have to work through and the fact that he does not like to wait for anything such as lines or turns (which again was not a problem with the other children). He's also always had sensory issues and I kept hoping things would get better, but I'm at the point now where I think I really need to get him checked out. Examples: constant head banging (still), walking on tip toes, can't stand having anything on his hands (i.e., food, mud..etc..), walking in sand, walkinbg on wet grass (even with his shoes on), not liking the way socks feel on his feet, not ever being that affectionate with anyone (even since birth). Two examples would be coming to get me out of my shower screaming his lungs off like the world was about to end just to show me that one noodle fell out of his bowl at lunch while he was eating. Once I put it back in, the tears immediately stopped and he put a huge smile on his face and was back to eating again. Another example would be we were at Costco today and a drop of water from his drink landed on his croc and he had an absolute melt down (I mean meltdown until I removed the bead of water from his shoe). I really was not planning on typing all of this, but that's what's so nice about having your own blog...you can write what you want when you want and if people don't care to read it, so be it.

We've had two classes so far and he loves it. He does not have separation anxiety like a few others in the class, so I guess everything is a trade off. I brought Tatum last time and she got to join in on some of the exercises with the kids, so she loved that. He's gone to so many of Tatum's functions and had to pretty much sit on the sidelines and watch...now it's his turn. :)

Au Revoir to the Mimi

This picture was actually taken the morning of the last day of his mimi. This was NOT planned and something I was NOT looking forward to doing. My rule with stuff like this I will breastfeed my children until they are done with it. By that I mean not weaning. I did the don't offer, don't refuse method around a year and at 14 months, both were done (and both still going strong up until the day they weaned...it just happened one day). Both my kids never did that well with bottles (especially Tatum), so that was never an issue. Pacifiers, my rule is at 3 years. Corbin has been so much more of a mimi baby than Tatum ever was and because of that, I was not looking forward to the day he turned three and secretly feared I would end up giving in and letting him have it until he was in high school lol. Attachments such as his blanket and blue bear would never be discouraged and something they can always have.

So I take this picture that morning and then that night, we were putting the kids to bed and Daryl goes in his room to finish the goodnight routine as I start to search the house for a mimi. Just then as I walk down the hall, Daryl closes his door and he proceeds to tell me the mimi was not asked for tonight. I was completely shocked, but figured I'd go with this one. Then the following day, he takes a nap and doesn't ask for one again. So a few days go by that he's been 'mimi free' that I'm beginning to wonder if this will actually work. Then he hurts his thumb (yesterday) and I comfort him and give him his blanket (which usually is always accompanied by 'mimi?') and he doesn't say it! But 5 min's later the all familiar word is in the air. Crap! I then proceeded to change the subject and he actually fell for it. One thing that really sucks about this is that his naps have dwindled from 3.5-4 hrs normally down to 2 hrs, 1.5,1 down to nothing today. Every day they have been getting shorter and shorter and it's starting to freak me out. I told Daryl we'd wait a few more days and see if he really isn't napping because of his binky and if that's the case.... It's just so hard because he is so not ready to be done with naps and I'm so not ready for him to be done with naps lol.

**I may need your suggestions for this one...

Since pulling off the side crib rail, he now gets out of his bed (especially at nap time since he can see in his room some) and brings things in. It all started out so innocent, like a small ball from his ball pit, but now it's escalated to the big bouncy ball kinds with handles on them bouncing with it on his mattress, his Nemo ride-on car (straddled on that with his legs thru the rails making the noises go)...the list goes on... I need to get over to IKEA and get that wall unit that Jenn H and the people from Jon & Kate plus Eight have in their playrooms. That way I can store his favorites for the crib up high and maybe that will help. My hallway usually gets pretty full at nap time, since every time I walk by his room, I have to go in and pull another toy out.**

Meet Marley (middle name yet to be determined).

We've been talking about getting a new dog for sometime now. We've always loved Boxers and knew eventually we would get another female. We still really miss our Bailey (who got lost when Daryl took her camping back a few years ago). Many of you know that we adopted Sophie out to a really good family a while back. She was just not a good fit for our family and pretty stubborn and set in her ways. I got on the Boxer rescue website and Daryl quickly nixed that idea. So I agreed we'd do the puppy thing. It's really not been that bad and each night she is getting easier and whining less and less. She has the sweetest disposition. I was really picky about where she came from and wanted to make sure we were able to pick from the liter, not just have the last one left. I wouldn't buy from the ones that weaned them at 2 or 3 wks and then were adopting them out at 5 wks because they were just money hungry. I also didn't want to adopt from the ones that left them outside in the dirt or kept in a kennel the whole time and not socialized with the family. Daryl really wanted AKC (I didn't care since we won't be breeding), but the AKC price has gone up so much that we didn't think we could afford it. The family that I fell in love with had AKC pups at a more reasonable price. They were free to run in the house and socialize, were weaned around 7 wks, fed high end dog food (which is important to us), vet checked and we were able to choose from three females (they also made us promise we bring her by to visit and when we go on vacation they will watch her for free..she was the favorite). Also, there is a 100% money back guarantee if there are health problems or if we decide down the road she wasn't a good fit. We had it narrowed down to 2, but ultimately decided on the more docile and smaller one. She's 8 wks, but much bigger than Bailey was (Bailey was the runt). Her mom is about 55 lbs, dad is about 68 lbs (he's a champion breeder). She's such a good fit already with our family and I'm so glad we have her. We love her so much already...I can't wait to see what kind of dog she will mature to be.

Tatum's first tea party

Tatum was invited to her first official tea party by a little girl from her class. About 6 girls from her class showed up along with a few others from the other classes and a few neighbors. They really did an amazing job. They had the older brothers dress up as princes and would bow down to the girls and call them my lady while offering them pastries and juice. Both parents dressed up as king and queen (the mother even converted her wedding dress for the party). They played tons of games, had a photo shoot, ate lots of good foods and went home with lots of neat things. Tatum is a lucky girl to have such fun friends!!

A few before and after pics of Tatum's new room :)

Tatum's "official" first day of Preschool

I LOVE her new teacher Mrs. Seabreeze and so does Tatum. There are only 3 boys in the class, which might make it nice since it might make for a "quieter" atmosphere amongst the craziness. Xavier is in her class this year which will be exciting for Melissa and I (and for the kids too of course). She also has a few other girls in her class from last year. I showed up about a half an hour early to see how things were and one of the students father is a fireman, so he talked to the class today about fire safety. How awesome was that on her first day. Only two kids wanted to try on the gear and Tatum was one of them. Mrs. Seabreeze has such a relaxed and fun atmosphere to learn in that I can't wait for what's to come. She told me I was more than welcome to come to the class whenever I wanted to help or just observe.
I posted a picture that Tatum had given to her teacher on meet your teacher day and she put it on the wall. I don't plan on sending her here next year for kindergarten...her kindergarten teacher will have a lot to live up to :).