She'll LOVE this when she's fifteen...

We had a very busy day yesterday -- two play date outings and then dinner with Ash near his office since he's been working 24/7 lately finishing up a project.  Tuesday, the deadline, can't come quick enough for all of us!

So, this story is going to take a turn, and if you're not into potty talk, stop reading here.  You've been warned.

Anyway, in the hustle and bustle Miss Helena had a bit of an accident which we ended up having to take care of in the bathroom at Ash's office.  It wasn't a huge deal, but it did require that she not wear underwear afterwards.  In the bathroom, she says to me..."I'll have to tell Dad that I had an accident."  I tell her that's fine, but to make sure to wait until it was just Daddy and her to tell him about it.  I know my kid all too well.  So we go to find Ash and he's talking to about eight people in his office near the lobby.  The minute we start to leave Helena YELLS to Ash...in earshot of several co-workers..."DADDY! I HAD A POOPY ACCIDENT AND I'M NOT WEARING ANY UNDERWEAR!" Oh. My. God. I'm mortified.  Ash is looking at me like what the hell is she talking about.  We walk away.

So then we go out to eat and Helena is still having some tummy troubles. Nothing catastrophic, but we did visit the bathroom like eight times during our meal.

So on the way home, she has another little incident in her pants and once we're home I proceed to sit her on the toilet for a few minutes while I get Harper to sleep.  Afterwards, she tells me this:
"Mom, it's kind of like my bum is spitting up.  But my bum doesn't have a face."

Well put.  And I'm glad tummy troubles don't affect her lovely sense of humor.

- Emily :)

Sundance

We decided to venture up to Park City with our friends Pete & Ja'Naye to participate in the mayhem that is the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday night.  We didn't have our 'ish together to actually see one of the film screenings, but we had a great time just shuffling about in the 15 degree weather and eating and drinking a lot. :)

Ash, Pete, and Ja'Naye.  Blurriness due to me taking it while drinking hot cider and whiskey.

 We ate some pretty good Thai food, got kicked out of the restaurant after an hour and a half (time limit!!??) then headed to the High West Distillery to get some whiskey drinks.  We arrive and are bummed that CNN has rented out the entire facility for a private party.  Wah Wah.  So, we are relegated to drinking outside at the ice bar.  There was a bonfire that made it bearable.  I tried (weakly) to get us into the private party, to no avail.

Ice sculpture at outside bar.

We decided after that to walk around and get our blood flowing and possibly see some famous peeps.  I wanted to find Oprah....but I figured Oprah probably wasn't going to be walking around out in the cold. Ended up not seeing anyone I recognized...bummer, huh?  But Oprah was there, some people sitting across from us at one of the restaurants we were at got a pic of the back of her head.

Anyway, we braved the busy-ness, had more drinks, dessert and some late-night nachos before heading home.  Thanks for getting us out of the house P & J!  :)  Next year, we should try to actually see a movie!

-Emily :)

Drooly, Babbly and Everything in Between

Harper is 7 months old today.   We started solid foods over Christmas break, which he is digging.  I think his least favorite so far is peas, which he most likely gets from his mom.  I ate a pile of peas the other day to set a good veggie eating example for Helena...something I don't think I've ever done in my entire life.  And it didn't get Helena to actually eat the peas, so I likely won't be doing it again any time soon.

I feel like we've really turned a corner in the past few weeks.  Or maybe I just needed a vacation.  Whatever the reason, little dude is getting more fun.

Drooly!  I've got my first 2 bottom teeth coming in!



Blue eyes, hair coming in curly....



He's been making lots of new sounds.  He actually says "Nay-Nah" all the time...for Helena.  Sometimes we get a mama or dada, but not very often.  I just can't believe his first word is his sister's name...craziness.  We must yell at her too much.  Ha!  But I don't think we're just hearing things because the first few times he did it even Helena noticed it!  Video/audio to come!  :)  Helena's first words was, "UH OH!!"

Harper also LOVES our cat Dill.  Squeals whenever he comes around and is very good at pulling out fur and sometimes getting his hand in Dill's mouth (somehow!!).  Dill is so good with the kids.  No biting, hissing or anything...just removes himself from the situation and goes on about life.

Happy 7 months, little buddy!

-Emily :)

Battle of the Heavyweights

I've been meaning to blog about this for months, but somehow I just keep forgetting.  Oh yes, the Ash vs. Emily great weight loss challenge of the past five months. 

Once I was able to exercise fully after having baby #2, we both decided to race each other to lose 20 pounds.  Ash had a bit of a head start on me...I think he had already lost eight pounds or so, but he cut me some slack since I was nursing and wasn't able to diet hardcore.  Unfortunately, I am not one of those people who lose all of my baby weight in the first two months postpartum.  Even if I'm nursing.  Which, honestly, just makes you hungrier.  Sorry to disappoint those of you who have yet to go experience the joy that is pregnancy and breastfeeding. ;)
Now a lot of people have said..."But you guys don't have 20 pounds to lose!"  Oh yes we do.  I promise.  Ash has orders from his doctor.  I have aspirations to not gain five to ten pounds with each pregnancy.  Anyway, besides the stern words from his doctor, Ash decided the only thing that would really motivate him to change his diet and go from zero to sixty with his exercise program would be a cash prize. I like cash too.  Especially when part of the deal is that we can do whatever we want to with said cash. The actual cash and our notebook tracking our weight have been hanging in our bathroom since August.

Ash's plan is basically this:  ride his bike a lot, drink tons of water and stop eating meat for lunch.  I followed suit, but instead of bike riding I ran a 5K in November and tried to do a lot of yoga.  And secretly hoped nursing would give me an edge.  It didn't.  And the holidays didn't do us any favors either.

Sidenote:  I'm really proud of Ash for not eating meat at lunch.  He almost always goes out to eat with his big brawny construction coworkers and was eating ribs, steak, you name it for lunch...a lot.  So switching to eating at his desk or ordering a salad with those guys was a big change. :)  And it's a big change for me to not eat every 2 hours because I'm physically nourishing someone else.  Eating all day long is so fun!!

So, here we are, in January, and we've hit a few plateaus since August.  Winter sucks for exercising, I think, but I'm confident we'll hit our goal very soon.  I think we both have seven pounds to go....so, the final countdown is on.  I'm also taking ideas of what to do with my pile of cash once it's in my hands. :)

-Emily :)

How We Roll

We got to go on a walk today...OUTSIDE.  Very exciting.  It's been way too long...and way too snowy on those sidewalks!  As an extra bonus, Helena sang Christmas songs to us during the entire walk.  Mostly just "Come on it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you!"...over, and over, and over, and over.  She only knows the one line of that song.  But, today, it was cute and very appropriate.  Let's just hope she drops the Christmas songs before summer rolls around.
-Emily :)

P.S. - My double stroller is awesome...I love it.  Harper wasn't too thrilled about sitting behind Helena for the first few times but he's on board now.  ;)

There's a Party in My Tummy!

I made these for breakfast this morning.  Fabulous.  Ash & I tested them before giving to Helena (wasn't in the mood for a giant food fight this morning...she ate just plain whole wheat pancakes)...but I think possibly she would eat them next time.  I grated the carrots on the smallest 'setting' on my grater to see if they would be virtually unnoticeable by a picky 3 year old's discerning eyes.  And I think they might pass the test.  Or not be noticed to test.  Whatever.  They're good.  Try them. :)

-Emily :)

More Christmas -- In Pictures

Helena excited about leaving cookies for Santa and his reindeer.

Harper with Great-Grandparents Harris & Sarah.

This is the best sequence of pics ever.  One of the better ways to get  them to sit still together is to have them all have the same toy. :)

The hats were causing a conundrum....

....and...sneak attack of the Jessie Doll!!!

....and...back to normal.  :)

Helena & Cousins at Ash's family Christmas in KC.  I am horrible about taking pics when we're in KC for some reason!  Promise to be better next time!

Helena & Ellie stoked about their matching princess pajamas.

-Emily :)

New Design

What do you guys think?  I think it's more fun, more current, and very cheerful.  :)  But if there are parts that are hard to read due to the font color/size...let me know!

-Emily :)

Expectations

I know, it's past Christmas, but just a few more Christmas-related posts.  Because nothing's going on in January so far.  Ha!  Christmas was really fun with Helena this year.  She totally bought into Santa Claus and was so cute opening her presents and generally being very excited about LIGHTS!, TREES!, etc.

That reminds me of a quick story.  When asked what Helena wanted from Santa this year, she kept changing her mind.  On the letter she wrote to Santa at school she said she wanted "A car...and that's it."  So, I got her some cars from Cars, the movie, and a cool track for them.  Then two days after I ordered that off the internet and had it shipped to my mom's house (you know, since it was 'from Santa') she started saying she wanted 'that game I saw at Walmart'.  Jeez.  So, I got that, too (it was only $10).  Then the answer changed a couple of more times and that's when I drew the line.  No more presents.  And no way would she remember what all she told me she wanted over the past two months.  I had inquired about the car request a little asking her what type of car she wanted...like a toy car or a real car...you know, since that was her official request in the actual letter to Santa.  She replied..."I want both."  I said, "Well, you can't drive a big car."  She replies, mater-of-factly, "Mommy, I'll let you drive it."  So sweet, I thought.  She hates the Cadillac too. :)  I made sure to tell Ash.

Anyway, Christmas morning we open presents, she's stoked about the cars and the cool track.  Slightly less stoked about the game from Walmart.  Ash, Evan and her play with the car track until the four D batteries it runs on poop out.

So later in the morning I am taking Helena to the bathroom and I ask her if she liked her presents from Santa.  She kind of hesitated and said, "Well...mom...I didn't get my car."  I say, "Helena, you got a Lightning McQueen and a 'Mater and a cool track!!  What do you mean?!?"  She replies, "My real car, Mom!  I wanted a white truck!"  I just started laughing.  She was clearly kind of bummed, but not in a bratty way.  I couldn't believe she actually thought she might get a real car for Christmas.  So....I immediately launched into my speech about how real cars cost a lot of money and how some kids don't even get presents for Christmas...yadda yadda yadda.  She tells me she has a lot of money in her piggy banks.  Yadda yadda yadda.  Ash later repeats the same line with her when she brings it up with him.  I'm pretty sure she understood her request was kind of silly by the end of it.

Lesson from Christmas #4 with Helena...don't buy 'Santa presents' until right before Christmas and try to adjust her expectations for next year.

-Emily :)

H Solo

Right before we left town for Christmas, I got Helena to sing her Christmas program songs solo accompanied (kind of) by her new guitar.  She was a little disappointed at first that the guitar didn't know Frosty the Snowman, but she made do.

Again, apologies for my obviously superior videographer skills...just didn't want to miss 'the moment'.  And oh what a cute moment it was.  Coincidentally, I unsuccessfully tried several times to get her to sing this for family when we were home.  One time she made an entire room of 15 people sit covering their eyes for about 10 minutes with the promise to sing, only to not perform.  :)  Fortunately, this video proves she's not really THAT shy.

Ya'll didn't know that somtimes rock stars have to pick their nose and then start the song over again, did you?  Oh, and I think the last few stanzas prove she's going to be an alto.

-Emily :)

First Post of 2011

Whoa, major hiatus from blogging there.  Sorry about that.  We were in Kansas for two weeks over Christmas, got back this past Sunday after possibly one of the more hectic days of travel we've ever had and then this week has been full of house reorganization and finding homes for all of the new toys Helena & Harper raked in. 

Our Kansas trip was great, good to get out of the grind for awhile.  Thanks to my mom and other relatives I actually got a few full nights sleep.  It was great to see everyone we were able to get around to...if we missed you, my apologies, as it seems like trekking around with two kids now is even more hectic than with one.  Who would have guessed?!?

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great holiday and happy new year.  More detailed posts on our holiday adventures to come!

-Emily ;)