October 2009 in Review

2nd – Aaron found John in the kitchen, on the counter, trying to scoop ice cream onto a plate… with his backpack on.

5th – Lydia started whining in her crib. When I got to the closet (her door was closed) I flipped on the light… she stopped crying. I flipped off the light… she started crying… I flipped on the light… she stopped… I flipped off… she started… hehehe

6th – John no longer takes naps. But during Lydia’s nap time he has quiet room time. Well, he just came out of his room with a pj top on (he was wearing his school clothes when I put him in his room), a poopy bottom and holding a pull-up. He said, “poopy, mommy, potty.” So, he ran to the bathroom, and I found him putting the poop that was in the pull-up in the toilet. So, apparently, John changed out of his clothes, put a pajama top on, put a pull-up, pooped in the pull-up, then took the pull-up off so he could put the poop in the potty where it belongs.

1oth – I got home from our Vintage girl’s overnight and Lydia comes running, “Daddy!” And John hears her so he comes running around the corner, “Mommy!” and gives me a hug. As I sit on the couch, I sniff the air smelling poop. As John turns around I see his poopy bottom.

12th – Got permanent eyeliner.

15th – Lydia finds joy in just about everything. Even using  mixing bowl as a hat!

18th – We celebrated out 6th anniversary!

19th – Cassie and I are somewhat famous. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/19/AR2009101902130.html

20th – Tammy always tells kids to go find the chicken as to distract them, since there are no chickens. Well, later today John said, “Where chicken? Twerp twerp. Where chicken?” I think the twerp, is his sound for a chicken.

21st – Lydia does “pushups” (nodding her head up and down) with Aaron’s Perfect Pushups.

23rd – Woke up this morning to the water running in the kitchen. I sneaked in and saw John trying to empty the ice trays. When he couldn’t he took them out and climbed onto the counter with them to try and fill them up. Good this I stopped him because the water was really hot and would have melted all my ice!

24th – House is taken over with the nice furniture and all my old boxes from my childhood that my parents brought.

25th - John’s first night in his new bunk bed!

29th – Just woke up, and I got Lydia from her crib. I came back into the bedroom to grab her clothes and a diaper, and realized the diapers were downstairs. She was talking gibberish and then tooted and she said, “yucky.”

30th – John finds a toy camera at Omi’s. He proceeds to “take pictures” of everything (sometimes rearranging things to make them just right) then “looks” at the picture and declares, “Oh so cute!”

31st – There’s a sink in the kids’ room at my parents. John pulled the stopper up and filled the sink with water. The hot handle broke off and the sink overflowed, flooded the area and leaked into my parent’s kitchen.

September 2009 in Review

1st – Lydia had been taking John’s fruit loops and bringing them to me and feeding me. Well, then both John and Lyddie were coming at me. Lyddie put hers in her mouth, but after seeing John Caleb feed me she took it out of her mouth and tried to feed me!

- Took John to his very first Cubbies (Awana) meeting. When we left he asked, “Where’s Ly-ie?” “She’s staying here with daddy.” To which I received the BIGGEST puppy dog lip I have recently seen from him.

2nd – Simply enjoyed the sounds and laughter of my children playing together.

3rd – We have this fake cat on a ledge. Lyddie, wanting to see that “Titty Tat” (in John’s words), pointed and said, “neow, neow.”

4th – Aaron woke up to the sound of John walking out the front door. I got up to find him playing t-ball.

- Lydia’s practicing for college life. I found her eating cold left over pizza.

5th – John memorized his first Bible verse, “God loved us… and sent his son.”

- Lydia’s wearing her first set of full pigtails!

6th – Lyddie found herself the goldfish and the portable DVD player and gave herself a movie time.

8th – John’s first day of preschool!

10th – John put on Aaron’s gardening/work gloves and started to “pull weeds.”

12th – Everyone knows the cleanup song right? “Clean up clean up everybody everywhere. Clean up Clean up everybody do your share.” Well I was singing that with John yesterday and Lydia started to pick up toys and say, “nee-na e-ba-dee, nee-na e-ba-dee” (Clean up. Everybody.) My baby girl is learning how to talk really quickly!

13th – John and Aaron were drying my car after washing it. John, being the smart little boy he is, knew that the top of it needed drying too. So, he just climbed right on top of the car and dried it off!

14th – John wanted to watch a DVD so I said, “How about Barney?” And he said, “How about no.”

- Aaron took John’s hand and put it to his face and said “Beard. Beard.” And John said, “That not beard. You’re not Papa.”

- John does NOT like sharing his pillow. But Aaron was trying to get him to. “Will you share your pillow with me?” “No.” “Pease” “No.” “Peeeeeeease.” “I said no.”"

15th – John wanted juice to drink. So, he pulled out the juice from the fridge, uncapped it, and… sprinkled in some hamburger seasoning.

17th – Made pigs in a blanket for lunch. Gave Lydia a plate with cut up pieces. Gave John a plate with some ketchup. Lyddie decided she didn’t want any and walked away. John decided he wanted Lydia’s and ate all of hers, bringing me the empty plate asking for more. So, I took his plate and cut up the one that was one it. I brought it to the table just in time for Lydia to find out her food was missing. So, I put a couple of pieces on her plate. But John wanted all of the pieces on her plate. So, he ate off Lydia’s plate and dipped them in his plate.

18th – John and Lyddie have this set of play food. One piece is a can of peas. Well, John just held it on my head and said, “bow.” (as in Lydia wears a bow.)

19th – Lydia took her dress off during “nap” time.

- My children have gotten into LITERALLY, EVERY SINGLE toy that we have in this house.

20th – John turns into a teenager as he lays on my bed without his shirt on, watching the Ipod.

23rd – Lydia has her first cookie batter beater.

24th – At the airport waiting on Rachael’s flight, John is mesmerized with the escalator. At one point he grabs onto the black hand rail, which starts to carry him up as he’s hanging on the outside…

25th – Rachael and I took Lydia on her first girls’ day shopping trip!

26th – Garry and Aaron put up our new swingset.

27th – Had to call search and rescue, because Aaron and Garry took WAY too long to get back from their overnight backpacking trip. On the way down, they were encountered by a bear. Story to come soon. Glad my husband and father-in-law are alive and well!

29th – John got a smiley face stamp on his hand because he had such a good day at preschool!!!

30th – Found John and Lydia in my bathroom getting into things. Lydia had my makeup brush and powder and had spilled the powder all over the floor. She’s was putting the brush on her face. She really is all girl!

A Merry-Go-Round Fiasco

As I returned home from my first Saturday tutoring session, I sat on the couch and thought: I want to do something fun today! So, I stared looking things up online and one thing lead to another and we decided to go to Park City. They have an alpine slide, alpine coaster, zip line, etc. They also have minigolf and 3 little kid rides. So, we decided to introduce John to the world of miniature golf.

He didn’t quite get the concept, as you might have guessed! He’d hit the ball, walk to the other end pick it up and set it closer to the hole. Once, he started playing on the wrong hole, so we were trying to redirect him to the right one. He was too busy caught up in playing, however, when we told him to come he picked up the ball, stuck it in the hole, brought it back out and ran to us! Silly boy.

Then we decided to take the kids on the merry-go-round. A wonderful idea, especially as John noticed the horses and wanted to ride them! So, we took the kids over, and of course they were too small to ride on their own, so I took Lydia and Aaron took John. They sat next to each other and round and round and up and down we went. Lydia giggled, filled with joy at the fun ride. John loved it too, waving “Hi everybody!” Then after a couple rounds, “Bye! Bye! Bye!”

As we began to slow down, I made a point of saying to John, “We’re almost done.” But it wasn’t enough time for him to process, plus he was having fun! So, the ride came to a stop and I took Lydia off. She wasn’t too happy about leaving, but you know the normal kid complaint. Well, I turn around and John’s still on the horse… holding on for dear life. And Aaron looks surprised and somewhat “What am I supposed to do?” Aaron finally is able to get John off the horse kicking and screaming, but they were on the inside and as they walk by another pole, John seizes the opportunity. He grabs it and literally wraps his body around it. I kid you not, Aaron could have let go and John wouldn’t have moved an inch down that pole his grip was so tight.

So now, picture John gripping this pole, screaming, not wanting to get off this magnificent ride, and  Aaron pulls back on his body a bit. Now, instead of letting go, John curls his feet and hands up even more so now he’s in the pike position, still wrapped to the pole. I look around at the (thankfully) small group of people. All are laughing, which is nice, since, while this is hilarious, it’s also humiliating.

Aaron lifts up one hand, he goes for the other hand, the first hand is back on the pole. Aaron goes for that first hand again and the second gets back on the pole. Time for reinforcements.  I walk over and hold one arm as Aaron gets the other. John’s finally free of the merry-go-round. We walk outside the gate and the next ride can commence. However, the kicking and screaming lasts ALL the way to the car.

Man, oh man, he can be just about the absolute sweetest boy in the world, but when he wants something…. watch out!

Lunchtime with John and Katrina

So… I kind of walked out of the house today, just needing some time off. I decided to go have my favorite salad at Applebee’s for lunch.

As I walked up to the restaurant I realized that this was the place Katrina and I had first really talked by ourselves and it reminded me of something funny that happened.

So, I’m not quite sure when, in the timeline of our adoption, this happened. But… I’m sitting at the table with Katrina eating lunch. I think she had already chosen us for her adoptive family, but I’m not sure. Anyhow, it was really the first time us hanging out by ourselves and our relationship was still very new. John was probably about 19 or 20 months old and he has always been a very active, busy little boy. The previous Christmas he had learned the joy of dipping foods, like chips into dip or french fries into ketchup. What ended up happening more often than not, however, is that he would lick the dip off the chip or french fry and plunge the food item back in with all his little slobbery germs.

Well, he was in a stage where he wan’t eating much and so I wasn’t pressuring him, but gave him some french fries and ketchup. When Katrina’s food was brought out, she had a side of Ranch dressing. John wanted that Ranch dressing more than anything, so she gave him a little bit. He had also been obsessed with our drinks and so he had a straw all of his own. Within minutes my son mixed the ranch and ketchup and was licking it off the dipped straw.

You can imagine my thoughts as a hopeful adoptive parent… “There is no way she’s going to want me to raise her baby, as I sit here and let my son eat ranch and ketchup for lunch!”

Our little bundle of joy

Thank the Lord Katrina did chose us as the adoptive parents for her daughter. Lydia has been such a joy to us and I’m constantly amazed at how overwhlmingly beautiful she is! As I smile at the memory of this story I send my thanks, again, to Katrina for our darling little Lyddiebug.

John’s First Day of Preschool

Today was John’s first day of preschool. He goes twice a week for 2 1/2 hours at a local Christian school. I’ve been very excited about it. I’m hoping that John will learn more social skills; how to follow directions, share, talk, interact, etc. etc.

I got him up and changed his clothes, put his new tennis shoes on him, gave him his backpack and headed out the door… with the camera of course! We took a few cute pictures and headed off to preschool. Yay!

John's First Day of Preschool

At John’s preschool, we don’t have to get out of the car, an adult comes to get him, and then snaps him back in his carseat at the end of the day (which is actually quite convenient when having a toddler in the backseat.) Anyhow, as I waited in the line of cars, John kept up a constant jibber-jabber. He was counting, singing, reciting his Bible verse and just talking. He got out of the car put on his backpack and just trotted on into his classroom (with a little help.) As I started to drive away I realized that I was enveloped in absolute silence. Whoa! That was a total change! Silence. And as the silence crept in the tears started coming.

What was I doing? My little boy. I had just dropped him off. Wait! Can I get him back? Maybe I’m not ready! It’s too quiet. I need my little ray of sunshine, my little ball of energy. My little baby boy is growing up way too quick! Where has the time gone?

But I continued to drive and simply enjoyed the silence and the easy quick trip to the store to grab the eggs and butter I forgot yesterday.

As the 2 1/2 hours progressed I enjoyed myself with my precious daughter and then gave her a quick nap. The house was amazingly peaceful, but interrupted by the laundry buzzing and cell phone ringing. I was still contemplating that my little boy was old enough for preschool. Amazing.

At 11:15 I jumped into the car to go back and get John Caleb. The teacher brought him out and said, “We worked on teaching our routine today because when we start to play, no one wants to stop.” [Is she saying this to every parent, or is it just a polite way of telling me that John didn't want to stop his play time and gave them trouble?...] “So, we’re teaching them play time, table time, rug time, potty time, play time again.” And asked me to reenforce it at home.

As I drove away and onto an long errand, my car, of course, became noisy once again with John’s jibber-jabber and the kids’ laughter  as they entertain each other. I talked to John. I wanted to know how his first day went.

“John Caleb, did you have fun at preschool?”

“No.”

“What did you learn?”

“No.”

“Did you see Chloe and James?” (His friends from church in the same preschool class.)

“No.”

“Did you play?”

“No.”

“Did you sing songs?”

“No.”

“Did you color?” (As I’m looking at his colored page)

“No.”

“Did you eat a snack?”

“No.”

“Did you go down the slide?”

“Um….. OK!!!!” (This is the only thing that he didn’t do!)

So, I guess I’ll never know exactly what happened on his first day of preschool or how he felt about it, but I’m pretty sure he had fun. Maybe by the end of the school year he’ll talk to me more about his day.

I love my little boy!

Baaaah-bie’s being naughty?

We have been dealing with a very obstinate child lately. For some reason the last few days my son has been overly disobedient, especially when in public. So, we’ve cracked down on him. We’ve also started “The Naughty Chair.” The Naughty Chair, is a kitchen chair that faces the wall. He hates it… but that’s another story.

John has Bobby and Lydia has Betty.

Anyhow, after being in the naughty chair today John was playing. A little bit later he went and put Baaah-bie (further known as Bobby, my son’s lovie) in the naughty chair. When he came over to me I said, “John, did Bobby do something naughty?” Gibberish. “Well, John, I don’t think Bobby did anything naughty, why don’t you get him out of the Naughty Chair.”

So, John goes over there and says, “Bobby, Listen.” More gibberish.

He then brings Bobby over to me. I said, “Oh, thank you Bobby for being such a good boy and sitting in the Naughty Chair so quietly. That was very good of you.”

So, then John takes him and hugs him and says, “HUG!”

Now, I don’t know what this means psychologically or whatever, but it was cute.

August 2009 in Review

1st - Aaron and John lay in lawn chairs and let the water from the sprinklers come down on them.

5th - John figured out how to stick his foot in the toliet while he peed, and peed on his foot.

6-7th – We survived an 18-hour power outage.

8th - You can see Midvale’s firework show from our north windows. John LOVED watching them yelling, “FIREWORKS!” It was a cold evening so it was nice to be able to watch them inside.

10th – Went on a reconnaissance mission for Lydia’s bottles.

11th - Was at the park with friends for Park Day. I had my eye on Lydia but asked my friend, “Do you know where John is?” She said, glancing my way, “Oh, I think he’s over there playing with James.” A good 30 seconds to a minute later, I realized my almost-40-pound son was sitting on my lap drinking his sippy cup.

13th – I changed John’s shirt before going somewhere and asked him to put the stained shirt in the laundry as I went to change Lydia. Instead, he walked in with his yellow shirt on inside-out over the blue shirt I had just put on him. He was so proud of dressing himself.

17th – So, I decided to stop for a breakfast burrito at a local place where they’re amazing. So, we’re in the drive thru and John says, “Fry, fry!”

“No, sweetheart, we’re not getting fries.”

“Why?”

Umm… “Because they don’t serve them.”

“Why?”

Umm… “Because this is a Mexican restaurant.”

“Why?”

Ummmmmmmmmmmm…. “Because sometimes people like a different kind of food.”

Luckily the guy came out the window just then and saved me from another why?!

19th – Went to Lagoon (an amusement park) with the youth. Cassie screamed so hard/loud that I laughed so hard I cried.

20th – Woke up t othe police calling me to make sure my car wasn’t stolen. It had been parked in the middle of  the parking lot for a late night game of Ghost in the Graveyard.

- The kids and I had a dance/jam session in the car.

- John and Lyddie tag-team kissed me!

22nd – I was taking a nap and woke up when John did but was still in bed. A bit later he came into the room and put me down for night-night and even sang, “I love mommy I do, I do. I love mommy I do. She is a sweet and precious mommy. I love mommy I do.”  (I sing John Caleb to him.)

24th – I found John at 2:30 am watching Curious George eating Goldfish and Apple Jacks.

- I finished knitting my first dress!

25th – John asked, “Mommy what’s that?” I said, “They’re coupons.” He responds, “Yeah. Poop-ons.”

26th – Lydia swivels her hips better than Elvis.

27th – John’s obessed with the toaster.

- John made a peanut butter sandwich by himself, with his hands.

29th – John, out of no where, started singing Happy Birthday!

30th – After trimming John’s nails, I told him, “Go wash your hands.” Somehow he interpreted that as, “Take a can of non-stick butter spray and spray it all over your arms, the bathroom sink, and the the floor.” Next time… I’m using visuauls. –Aaron.

31st – After watching John play, Lydia picks up the wiffle ball, puts it on the T-stand, and hits it off, all by herself.

Bibs

I finished these a while ago, I don’t know why I never blogged it. These are excellent short, cute projects, it also taught me a lot about shaping.

Anyhow, here are two bibs. The first is the original the dinosaur bib which you can find here.

The second I took the basic pattern of the dino bib and made a heart design for the middle.

Dinosaur Bib

Find the pattern here.

Heart Bib

The owner of the bib pattern asked me to simply post the adjusted part. So for all other rows please visit her site here.

Row 16: k1, p1, for 9 sts.; p 20 sts.; p1, k1 for 9 sts.

Row 17: p1, k1, for 8 sts.; k 22 sts.; p1, k1 for 8 sts.

Row 18: k1, p1, for 7 sts.; p 24 sts.; p1, k1 for 7 sts.

Row 19: p1, k1, for 6 sts.; k 26 sts.; p1, k1 for 6 sts.

Row 20: k1, p1, for 5 sts.; p 28 sts.; p1, k1 for 5 sts.

(Note: From this point on, the first and last five stitches are the seed stitch border.

(B5) It might be helpful to place a marker for these stitches.)

Row 21: B5, k28, B5.

Row 22: B5, p28, B5.

Row 23: B5, k13, p2, k13, B5.

Row 24: B5, p12, k4, p12, B5.

Row 25: B5, k11, p6, k11, B5.

Row 26: B5, p10, k8, p10, B5.

Row 27: B5, k9, p10, k9, B5.

Row 28: B5, p8, k12, p8, B5.

Row 29: B5, k7, p14, k7, B5.

Row 30: B5, p6, k16, p6, B5.

Row 31: B5, k5, p18, k5, B5.

Row 32: B5, p4, k20, p4, B5.

Row 33: B5, k3, p22, k3, B5.

Row 34: B5, p2, k24, p2, B5.

Row 35: B5, k1, p26, k1, B5.

Row 36: B5, p1, k26, p1, B5.

Row 37: B5, k1, p26, k1, B5.

Row 38: B5, p2, k24, p2, B5.

Row 39: B5, k3, p22, k3, B5.

Row 40: B5, p4, k9, p2, k9, p4, B5.

Row 41: B5, k5, p7, k4, p7, k5, B5.

Row 42: B5, p6, k5, p6, k5, p6 B5.

Row 43: B5, k7, p3, k8, p3, k7, B5.

Row 44: Pick up the original pattern at Row 54.

Lydia’s Christmas Dress

So I decided I wanted to make a dress for Lydia for Christmas, and I accomplished the task!

I got the pattern out of Debbie Bliss’s Special Knits: 22 Gorgeous Handknits for Babies and Toddlers.

Here’s the dress!

The dress is by far not perfect. But I’m proud of myself and the job I did. I learned how to piece together with this project and how to change colors. It was a little boring in the knit pattern, but what stockinette pattern isn’t after a while?! It’s also a little big for Lydia right now, I’m wondering if she’ll be able to fit into it this Christmas, but also be able to wear it next year too. That wouldn’t be too bad.

Sead – Leaf Scarf

I made this scarf for Cassie McLaughlin as a gifty. I used the Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool. I loved the yarn, I think it’dmake an excellent sweater.

Here’s the link to the original pattern. But of course I made some changes. I basically repeated the pattern to make it wider.

Here’s the pattern.

Seed stich first 5 rows.

Row 6: P1, k1, p1, k1, p across to last 4 sts, p1, k1, p1, k1

Maitain 4 seed st on each side of panel now begins leaf pattern.

Pattern Row 1 (row 7): Seed st border, p1, k3, k2tog, k1, yo, p2, yo, k1, ssk, k3, p2, k3, ssk, k1, yo, p2, yo, k1, k2tog, k3, p1, border.

Pattern Row 2 and every even pattern row: Border, k1, p6, k2, p6, k2, p6, k2, p6, k1, border.

Patter Row 3: Border, p1, k2, k2tog, k1, yo, k1, p2, k1, yo, k1, ssk, k2, p2, k2, ssk, k1, yo, k1, p2, k1, yo, k1, k2tog, k2, p1, border.

Pattern Row 5: Border, p1, k1, k2tog, k1, yo, k2, p2, k2, yo, k1, ssk, k1, p2, k1, ssk, k1, yo, k2, p2, k2, yo, k1, k2tog, k1, p1, border.

Pattern Row 7: Border, p1, k2tog, k1, yo, k3, p2, k3, yo, k1, ssk, p2, ssk, k1, yo, k3, p2, k3, yo, k1, k2tog, p1, border.

Pattern Row 8: Same as 2.

Repeat these 8 rows until desired length. End with 5 more seed st rows.