Anali Update

Anali is quite a character. She keeps us entertained from the moment she whacks us in the face with her teddy bear in the morning to the moment she crawls into her book-laden bed at night.

Some of her most recent sayings include:
"Jesus make it feel better." - He made my owie better!
"You probably want a sweater." - "Probably" is a new favorite word
"No, Asher, you hurt yourself!"
"Uh oh, Daddy made a mess. A big mess."
"Cheers! [as she clinks our glasses together] Just like Papa. Papa teach me that."

This evening, as I was telling her about tomorrow's trip to the aquarium to "look at the fish." She excitedly remarked, "Grab them! Reach my hand in and grab them! Just like Papa." Dad has a pond so plump with fish it's an unnecessary bother to use a pole and a reel to catch them. Apparently, he taught her another method!

Asher Update

It has been a delight to hear family and friends remark on Asher's easy smile. In naming him, I think we really captured this kid's character: happy! This afternoon, during our nearly four hour drive across the state, he made little more than a peep. Even in the final hour of the trip, he was sitting in a dirty diaper and allowing his sister to haphazardly feed him a cold bottle. No complaints. This sweet baby is such a blessing to us. I marvel at how he reminds us daily of the wonders of God's love.

Anali to Asher:

Asher sat beside the bathtub while I bathed Anali this evening. I kept trying to get him to smile, saying, "Asher Isaak. Asher Isaak." Then Anali decided to join in and really get him to smile. She cooed at him, then called, "Asher Isaak...I love you." It was SOOOOOO CUTE! She has never volunteered an "I love you!" before without our prompting. She says it to us when we ask her, but Asher was the first to receive her spontaneous "I love you!" It was priceless!

Slowing Down

Here is one way to delight in the little things. Anali enjoys watching the clothes wash, like in the Corduroy book.

I love it when babies learn to sit up! Asher is pretty steady now, so he can sit and play, choosing the toys he likes from his basket.

He's five months old today!

Bubbles

Grammy taught Anali how to "blow bubbles" on her I-Phone. You can make them float and pop them with your finger. It's incredible. The crazy thing is...she wasn't the only toddler in the room doing it. Her cousin had her own grandma's I-Phone doing the SAME THING! Pretty soon bubbles requiring soapy substances and sticky wands will become obsolete. What will they think of next?

Confessions of a Grump

I haven't been very fun to live with lately. I finally have a couple of weeks to enjoy with my family, and I'm finding that it's hard to learn to slow down. The result. I'm a grump.

I try to blame the four foot by five foot holes in my walls (Brandon just finished my beautiful laundry room cupboards, and now he is itching for more sawdust. So, we're getting new windows. I should be happy, but I can't use my bathroom because it's covered in sheet rock, and he didn't even move the clean laundry before he began attacking my wall!). Yeah, I could blame that, but I think it's me.

I think that I have allowed the pace of life to become so extraordinary that I get antsy when I have a day just for rest. I see all of the things I need to catch up with, and I know I can't fit them all in. How do women prioritize? Because I couldn't decide where to start I reverted to my old coping mechanism and READ. I gave myself permission to read a 972 page novel since all I've been reading lately are research studies. That won't happen again. I completely ignored my family. It's a wonder I bathed before I finished it. Next, I organized my closet. But I got distracted before I finished, so we're worse off than we started. I baked cookies. That was fun. But Anali couldn't help me because she wouldn't clean her peas off the floor.

Today, I put Anali in a timeout four times before I realized how completely ineffective I was being and how she is two, and of course she doesn't want to pick up the thirty peas she poured on the kitchen floor because her dollhouse is calling, and she wants me to read her a book. Then, I stopped and looked at her and realized that I had been with her all day but not with her. Asher, too. I tended to Asher's needs and tried to get him to smile every hour, but I wasn't making him a priority. I was waiting for nap time.

As I was putting my babies to bed tonight, I got it. I miss them. I miss being with them without listing in my head all of the things I'm supposed to be doing.

I'm grumpy because I've forgotten how to just be. I've been plowing through each day in survival mode, and I've forgotten how to look at my husband and appreciate that he thinks our bathroom needs more light. And I've forgotten how to hold my tongue (Let's pretend I once knew!), so I speak my mind, and I'm not often thoughtful enough about what he is doing right.

Maybe this is normal for mothers. I think it must be. To become so caught up in seeing to basic needs that we don't see to those other equally important needs. To see the crumbs on the counter and not the flowers in the vase. And get grumpy.

Well, cut it out for crying out loud! The whiny-bed-wetter-nag-woman stops here!

I love being a mother. And I love being a wife (Six years next Sunday!). So I'd better stop being a grump or saying "I love you" to my family won't mean much. I'm going to practice slowing down and loving well. Ask me how it's going.

A Trip to the Ocean

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Seabrook, WA.

View Album

Get your own

Brandon built these cabinets for our laundry room. They're BEAUTIFUL! The only problem is the boost of confidence they gave him. I came home a few days later to a giant hole in my bathroom wall. Apparently, we're getting more windows too!

Asher - Four Months

Asher will be four months old on Thursday.

Favorite Toy: A pink butterfly with crackley wings
Favorite Time of Day: Toss up between "time to eat" and the moment he wakes up from a nap
Favorite Food: Milk
Favorite Color: If the pink butterfly is any indication...
Newest Noise: A little growl
Weight: TBD but we're guessing pushing 17 pounds

Jasmine, Anali, and Hannah painting pots for June's "Art Day"

Anali at the park

Asher, while Anali played at the park

Trying valiantly to sit up

Tea for Two

Happy Birthday, Anali!

Anali turned two yesterday! For months, her favorite song has been Happy Birthday. We'd sing it at the car. She'd push the buttons on the CD player until it moved to track 4: Happy Birthday. She'd request it at bedtime. Everything with over 10 grams of sugar was coined "Happy Birthday" in her mind. "Happy birthday?" meant, "Can I have a cookie?" As the days to her birthday approached, she became even more excited. Dozens of times a day, I'd hear, "Do my birthday! My birthday!" She learned to say, "I'm two," and the countdown began. I decided to throw her a little tea party because she loves to dress up with heels and purses and sit down at the table and pretend to serve us tea. It was such great fun to see her and her little friends delight in being little girls with feathers and tutus and lots and lots of pink. I never thought I'd encourage such displays of feminity, but Anali takes such joy in it. God made us feminine for a reason, I suppose. You could tell she knew the day was hers when we brought out the cupcakes and sang her favorite song...just...for...her (That's her reaction in the second picture; it was priceless!). She was so sweet and thankful and truly, purely happy. I love being her mama.

All the girls admiring their new dress up shoes.

"My birthday!"

Kimberly, Ava, Hannah, Jasmine, and Anali, and lots of feather boas

Kid Pictures

I thought I would try to see things from Asher's perspective. Pretty boring.

Three months old
We think he looks like Brandon.

Two years old next week!
Looks like her mama.

Anali's First Haircut

I'm not so sure this was a good idea.

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Word to the wise:
Moms probably shouldn't cut baby's curly hair at home.

I Like You

Because I don't tell him privately often enough, I thought I'd celebrate publicly all of the qualities that I like about my husband. Though I'm technically still on maternity leave from work, I'm still a full-time graduate student, and that takes me away from home a few days each week. Brandon never complains. Not once has he whispered that he's too tired from work to care for the kids all by himself while I finish up this crazy dream of mine (Granted, they're pleasant kids, but repeated evenings of single-parenting are tough.). It's easy to brag about my kids, but it's high time Brandon gets the credit he deserves. Below, the Why-I-Like-Brandon list continues:
- Though he doesn't always see the crumbs on the floor or the tupperware on the counter, he cleans the kitchen more often than most men.
- He may leave wet bottles on the counter, but he voluntarily empties. the dishwasher, more often than I do
- He scrubs our shower, and I've never asked him to.
- He loves to vacuum, and he doesn't skip the hard to reach spots.
- He waters my plants (and even though I take no part in their care, I still call them MY plants).
- He weeds MY garden.
- He takes Anali to the swings so I can have a few quiet moments.
- He supports me when I'm disciplining Anali.
- He puts the kids down to sleep whenever I ask and often without my asking.
- He tries valiantly to make Anali's hair look decent
- He does the laundry. It may never get put away, but it's clean alright!
- He likes to learn new skills from his friends.
- He uses those skills to build things, like a laundry chute or new cabinets.
- He keeps an impeccable lawn.
- He likes my friends and encourages me to return phone calls.
- He lets me watch movies in bed even though he has to get up at 4:00 in the morning.
- He encourages me to be active and is patient when I'm slow.
- He doesn't sell my mountain bike to buy the kayak he wants, even though I haven't ridden my bike for three years.
- He expects me to speak kindly and is patient when I don't.
- He teaches our children how to play.
- I almost never have to pump my own gas.
- He knows how to fix things; he has this amazing mind to fix things he was never trained to fix. How do men do that?
- He just installed a new kitchen sink for me. Do you know how hard that is?
- Last Tuesday evening, he wrote, "I love you, Rach" on our bathroom mirror.
- He likes alone time - he's his own person - but he doesn't demand it.
- He likes being home.
- He has a strong work ethic and is NEVER late to work, never calls in, and rarely complains.
- He thanks me for working, never takes it for granted.
- He cooks dinner OFTEN.
- He makes pancakes on Sunday mornings.
- He is well-groomed, but not high-maintenance.
- He comes home and changes his shoes and into a sweater - OK, a flannel - like Mr. Rogers. I tell you, it's the tackiest outfit, but somehow endearing.
- I have never had to wash the windows in our house; he does it.
- He mops, too!
- He helps my friends do yard work and landscaping projects.
- He reads me small snippets of the articles he's reading because he thinks they're interesting and I might like them.
- He clips coupons.

Somehow Brandon does all of these things, many of which are stereotypically female tasks, and makes them seem ultra-masculine. It makes me wonder how women ever got away with doing the laundry, minding the children, mopping the floor, and baking peach crisp! He is a HOTTY and a HELPER!

Brandon, I see you.

We're Back in Action

We finally bought a new camera, so the baby picture updates will be back. These pictures are of my experimenting in different modes. I've got a lot of learning to do, but it's fun. Feels nice to have a hobby again.

Anali, 23 months, Asher 10 weeks

The concentrated artist.

Anali's version of hide-n-seek: stand out in the open and hope Mama doesn't look my way.

Recent Family Photos

Hiking at Skookum Flats

Rachel and Asher on the White River

Brandon and Anali at his sister Bryn's wedding

Asher, nine weeks old

Stick with me; our camera's broken. What at time in life to have a broken camera! Our kids change every day! I'm shopping for new one, so you'll have updated pictures soon.

I wish I had a digital recorder to capture the hilarious things Anali has started saying. This week, she's getting closer to sentences. Our pastor is preaching on Jesus' "I am" statements of recent. Anali must be taking God's own syntax to heart, because she's started speaking "sentences" with subjects and "to be" verbs, but she's leaving off the object, or THE POINT, of the sentence. She'll say "Ani, too, is..." or "That truck is..." and leave it at that. It gets me every time. I keep wondering, "What? What is the truck?" It's fun to see her express what's on her mind. It will be more fun when that expression is fully coherent.

Recently, we've been enjoying new activities. She's taken up painting with watercolors, and she's quite good for a toddler. She can even make circles, which is a big accomplishment, I assure you. All I've been studying about literacy for my Masters is making me thoroughly enjoy Anali's emerging literacy skills. I have to make myself not document every minor stage of her reading and writing development.

In the meantime, if I could only document the other things. She'll be two in June and I haven't put a single picture in a single album for her, except to send to family. My friend Michelle made me the most precious scrapbook for her and I'm so indecisive about what perfect pictures to put in it, it's still empty (Forgive me, Michelle. Then, come HELP ME!). I write sloppy notes in a ten-cent spiral notebook, thinking I'll spend one day transferring all of my notes to a lovelier journal I bought TWO YEARS AGO!

Asher is six, no, SEVEN weeks old now. Let's just say he's developing. I'm not really sure what he's doing, but he's growing - BIG. He makes googly eyes at me and smiles with his whole face, though his lips only turn up slightly. He really responds to Anali, who loves to get right up to his face and exclaim, "Hi! Hi, Ash! Hi!" or say very matter-of-factly as I change his diaper, "Yellow poo-poo. Yellow poo-poo" or "Penny, out! Penny, out!" to which I have to remind her, "No, sweetie. YOU swallowed the penny, and I hope it's already out!" Not real sure when it came out, but after TWO WEEKS of scavenging through her diapers with popsicle sticks and Ziploc baggies, I gave up looking. A metal detector at the doctor's office said, "Yep, it's there," but not 30 minutes later, an X-ray revealed, "Nope, no penny." I'm thinking it's a miracle; Brandon thinks she never swallowed it. She had better have swallowed it, or what was the two weeks' diaper diving all about?

Ahhhh, motherhood! There's really nothing danty about it. But every day, I look at my kids and think, "Man, I LIKE YOU. And I'd like you even if you weren't mine!"

Gotta get the whole-body shot!

Anali had adored reading lately. She cuddles with books as if they are teddy bears. She'll get out of bed and get a pile of books and entertain herself some mornings. I like those mornings. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever!

When the Boppy Comes Out: Beware

Brandon and the Kids

Is it just me, or is nursing time full of danger? Anali, 21 months old, is not disobedient, and she is not unwary. She is a thoughtful and responsible kid. YET, suddenly, I find myself praying for a protective bubble to surround her when I'm nursing Asher.

In the past week, she has swallowed a penny; found her fluoride drops, opened them (despite the security cap), and sucked on the dropper like a lollipop; and found a pencil in a drawer, run with it, tripped, and nearly poked her eye out. Two of those three she performed just this afternoon. I am beginning to feel like a neglectful mother. How do moms-of-two-or-more do it? How can I keep her safe AND feed my son?

I try to keep her in my sight and read to her or draw flowers for her on her magnadoodle (which is probably being recalled as I write), but then I forget to pay attention to Asher's nursing and I can't tell if the little lad has gotten enough to eat, OR, as was the case, also today, the magnadoodle and/or book is thrust through the air and lands on the baby's head.

Anali seems to be adjusting beautifully to having her little brother around. She runs to get him his blanket or his Soothie. She tries to share her crackers. She lays beside him and coos at him as she sees Mama doing. She is still greeting him every morning with her precious, squeaky, "Hi, baby Ash."

Perhaps, all of this endearing behavior is masking how she really feels: "PAY ATTENTION TO ME." Moms-of-two-or-more-children, is there ever a night you go to bed without feeling you've overlooked something, or someone?