What have YOU eaten lately?

A cottage cheese container

A kickball...not the whole thing, just enough to throw up. (Outside you ask? Have you EVER had a dog actually go OUTSIDE to puke? Me either)

A stick of butter (do I still feed him breakfast after such antics??)

Fresh paint off the walls. Yup, I was painting and he was licking.

An assortment of children's toys, too many to list here.

Dog food.

And this is just this week.

Rudder, Thank god you listen when you are outside and are (for the most part) well behaved. If you weren't you might get sent to the farm. Just kidding. We love you. (And Madeline would kill me)

Oh Allie

With how much you've been growing lately I have a feeling the days of carrying you and the laundry upstairs in the basket are numbered. I looked down today while carrying this up from the basement and just had to start laughing. She is GIGANTIC!

3.30.10

P.S. Happy Birthday Spamburger Hamburger...A full fledged adult!

It's a Wonder!

Not many toys stick around for GENERATIONS of kids but this horse, AKA the Wonder Horse has. Totally dangerous and totally the perfect toy for "danger city" Madeline Anne. Fortunately the springs are super quiet so when she gallops along we can maintain a conversation without having to use megaphones.

Thank you Aunt Joyce and sorry we've been so late in posting this.

Still

Loves Thomas and Loves her wrist.

8 Months!

I cannot believe it. 8 months old. Where has the time gone? Allie Pallie (never just Allie around here) is still incredibly easy going but I am starting to see little bits of her personality shine through. She is stubborn and impatient. PLEASE, for your own safety do not take a toy from her that she is playing with. (Madeline, I'm mostly talking to you here)

She's cautious, but then again I don't think I really have an average person to compare her to. How about this: She's more cautious than her big sister.

I've posted on the blog two times that she has accomplished rolling over. Both times she stopped right after I wrote it so I am NOT mentioning that she's been rolling again for all of 24 hours. Kip thinks I put her in tummy time boot camp because we have her 9 month appointment coming up. Kip knows me very well.

Homemade apple sauce is her FAVORITE dish. I tried some homemade veggies but she looked at me like I was crazy when I tried to feed them to her. Went back to Earth's Best organic veggies. Apparently they do a better job than I do in that department.

I got her bangs trimmed yesterday. She looked adorable for the entire 3 seconds it took the lady to cut them. Are they crooked? I am not sure yet. I do know Kip made me feel guilty about doing it so we won't discuss them any longer.

Sleep is also another scary one to write about. I don't want to jinx myself but we've been relatively consistent in going to bed around 6:30 and waking up around 4:00. Unfortunately I need some sleep training to do the same.

Back to the Pal: Rudder is starting to really get her to laugh. She loves watching him run around the house and yard. As much as it drives me crazy to straighten out the rugs 1000xs per day hearing her laugh makes it worth it. When he's in the car with us he always hangs his head over the seats to look at her (or maybe to try and get his head out the window) and this too is hilarious.

Speaking of hilarious, Madeline was never your "typical" baby in that she didn't laugh if you made silly faces or noises. The other day Allie coughed and I fake coughed back. I might has well have been Chelsea Handler. Any kind of silly noises or funny faces induces the cutest gut rolling laughter that you have ever heard.

And finally, two little teeth on the bottom are in.

Allie, thank you so much for being such a sweet little baby. You are the best!

Rain, Rain go Away

Even though she's still too short to actually pedal this is one of Maddie's favorite modes of transportation around the yard. She just stand up, straddles the trike and off she goes. Either that or she carries it.

We are loving our outdoor time. Madeline has been quite the help with Allie on the swings, even though some of her pushes bring her dangerously close to hitting her head. I promise if you see a lump on Allie's forehead it WASN'T ME.
3.25.10

Jack is dead

Kip, can you please get him out of the tank when you get home?

Poor, poor Jack. Hopefully wherever you are you get your eyeballs back.

What's been happening?

Madeline has a new digger. She loves to dig up house plants.
I am still obsessed with feet. So is Allie.
We all look forward to Kip coming home from work.
Bob's and Hadley's birthday party was on Saturday. The girls picked out a lot of books for Zaide to read pre-nap.
Allie still smiles all of the time.
Beautiful weather and March madness equals lots of fun at the park.
An attempt at a self portrait with Allie and I.
How cute are the girls snuggling together this morning?
And I end again, with the digger. It's really annoying. :-)
3/19/10

Your Favorite Fan

One speed. Doesn't matter if it's flat, up or down all you have is one speed. But that's okay right? You voluntarily (gasp!) signed up for a running race (double gasp) without me even mentioning a word.

Okay, okay so there was definitely a carrot dangling (beer people, come on) at the finish line for you but who cares. You ran the whole way and even managed to beat a few people along the way.

We're all very proud of you. Good work.
3.18.2010

Wanted: Skis and Bindings

So today I had this awesome run around Seward Park. In the one lap that I did this girl lapped me three freaking times. I mentioned how depressing this was to Sonja. Unfortunately she pointed out the OLD man who had his running shorts pulled over his belly button and black socks up to his knees who had gone around TWICE during our one lap. I contend I had a LOT of blanket adjusting and poop picking up to do.

What does this all have to do with skis and boots?

Well, since I was already almost at I-90 (we ran around Seward Park) I figured it would be the perfect time to hold Sonja hostage so she could help with the girls while I purchased a helmet for Madeline. Unfortunately for me I left there with boots, a very cute jacket and said $30 helmet. So much for not spending so much $ this month. Also unfortunately all three girls (Sonja too) were crabby and I had to pack everyone up in a hurry. We didn't buy any skis or bindings. All I have to say to Madeline is happy freaking birthday. Skiing is expensive.

And Allie, sorry to say but unless you start growing RAPIDLY, you're in for a world of hand-me-downs.

The daily snapshot

I always try and send Kip a picture during the day of Allie and Madeline. Here's Allie's picture for today, 3.12.10, just before her nap.

Whack-A-Mole

It's hard to get two little ones in sync with their naps. I swear, some days it's like whack-a-mole around here. Today Maddie slept and Allie was up. I couldn't resist checking in on Madeline. Often quiet time in her room does not equal sleeping.

There's something about Madeline.

I swear, I did NOT put that wave in her hair, nor the mousse. All on her own.

Every Monday

This little bean sits on her carpet square and hangs out for story time. She Loves it. So does her sister but you wouldn't know it once we got there. B-Z, was Kip a shy toddler?

3.8.2010

Well he is a catfish afterall

Maybe he's used up 3/9 lives now. I don't know. The fish is still alive. I don't do well with pulling dead fish out of the tank. I always try and save it for Kip. I especially don't do well with pulling almost dead fish out, so I left him. He hid in a corner for 24 hours, laid on his back and gasped for breath. I tried not to look as the guilt was too much. Today as I cleaned the tank he popped out and swam along normally. Well, as normally as one can who has recently had his eyeballs eaten.

Sorry I am a bad fish mother Jack, he's got no eyes, and sorry I wrote your obituary a tad early.

Meet Jack

3.1.2010

For a long time, well no, for a short time now I have wanted to introduce you to Jack, he's one eyed. That's his name: Jack, he's one eyed. The problem started two years ago when my mom noticing Madeline's love of the Seattle Aquarium decided to bring the aquarium home to us. Then Kip decided to bring us home an ever bigger aquarium when he cracked our very manageable 10 gallon tank. For over a year I dealt with a monstrous 55 gallon tank that not only was a lot of work (funny I accidentally typed alone instead of only...yup, it was me cleaning it. alone.) but also an eyesore. Now we have a very cute bow front 35 gallon tank.

Except...it's the tank of death. I guess that's not true. We've had a lot of death due to complete ineptitude. This time I should have known better. One of Madeline's catfish died. She had two. Catfish, according to research done on fish forums by "fishrookie" (I can't let the Internet world know my true identity!) are social fish. Our lone catfish needed a friend. Off to the pet store I went.

On that day I splurged. Bought a fake plant, fun! And 7 neon tetras, pretty! Two danios (also a single fish who looked like he needed some friends) and 2 catfish. 12 hours later? 2 tetras, 1 danio, and Jack, but with one eye. Holy cow, someone ate $20 worth of fish. I should have just saved the gas and flushed a $20 down the toilet. It would have been less traumatic for me and the fish.

So Jack, he's one eyed, appeared to be a trooper. Every morning when I turned on the light I searched him out and tried not to look at the gaping hole in his head where his eye should have been. Every morning until yesterday Jack, he's one eyed, was there and getting along fine. Yesterday Jack be came Jack, he's got no eyes. Today Jack will join his friends in the ocean via the Kohler express. I am sorry Jack. I am a horrible fish mother and until I figure out who the killer is I promise not to buy any more of your brothers or sisters.

OK Kip, you win on this one

When we were designing our new master bath during our remodel Kip insisted on two things. One, that the toilet was in a separate room and two that we had a large shower with a bench in it. I kind of scoffed at number two. I wanted a tub. Today I decided Kip was correct.

I never get to take showers alone. Always, always, always there is someone in my arms or someone who is hogging the water. Not in this 8,000 square foot palace. We have three shower heads, two temperature controls and a convenient bumbo/Allie holder.

She didn't need a shower nor did she get one. But I had one. Alone. (sort of) and with hot water.

Okay Kip, you win on this one.

Alley Czar

He is famous