Common sense

I love watching kids to see how they play, think, act, behave, etc.  We learn a lot from them and we are amazed by them constantly.  The pool we went to had a lot of plastic toys in it for the toddlers to play with.  I guess enough toys are left behind so they decided to keep it out every day for the kids to play with.  I was watching Ava to see how she was going to carry all the toys and then pick up the last item with her hands already full. 

Isn't that ingenious?  Why didn't I think of that?  
Sebastian had a pool day with one of his daycare buddies.  They were in the same daycare four years ago.  They attended pre-school together.  This was the first time they have seen each other in about two years.
All that pool water tuckered the kids out!  It was a peaceful car ride home ;-)

Family history

My brother had a large ceramic elephant on his deck.  Every time I go over to his house, the elephant brings back childhood memories.   We originally had a pair of the elephants.  I don't know what happened to the other one.  But they have traveled all over the world with us for the past 40 plus years.  They originally came from Vietnam.  The belly is hollow and there is a hole on under side.  I remember our cats use to crawl into the elephants and we would try to coax them out with string and all you saw were the paws poking out of the elephant.  

Seeing Ava on top reminded me of myself when I was her size.  I use to sit on top and pretend they were my "pet" elephants and they would take me on an adventure.  I wonder what Ava thinks?  
Is she my little Buddha belly?

Sebastian's "first"

While we were at my brother's house a few weeks back, Sebastian got to practice on his cousin's old bicycle on the long driveway. We've been trying for the past two years to get Sebastian to ride his bike and he showed no interest. His bike has been sitting in the garage collecting dust. I finally took off the training wheels this summer and the bike still sat in the garage. Until a few weeks ago. Now he finally gets the hang of it and wants to practice every chance he gets.

Hey, my bike doesn't have pedals!

Lazy summer afternoon

We went over to my brother's house a few weeks ago for dinner.  He has a great big yard and after taking a few pictures, I should call it the "tranquility garden".  

Yes, I even tortured my cousin from The Netherlands.  He hates having his picture taken but I begged until he had to shut me up ;-)

As you can tell, the kids were very antsy and had to take a quick snapshot.
Okay, lost one child...maybe my oldest will sit with Mommy.
Doesn't she look pensive?
Until you see that smile :-)

Set by example

Ava understands the selt belt law.  I think I have sat in the driver's seat in the car and have forgotten to buckle her in the carseat.  She will let me know by yelling, "uh oh Mommy!".  The other morning, Ava got out of her carseat to go to the daycare and I told her she had to leave her "baby" in the car.  I promised her that Mommy would make sure the baby was safe.  She wasn't completely sure so she turned around and buckled the baby in.  Even completed with a kiss goodbye.  

Love that face!

Forget about the baby being able to see...cracked me up!
Don't forget the bottom part.  I don't think the baby makes the height requirement.
Bye Bye Baby....love you.

Graduation week

Ava slept on a twin bed during our week long vacation at the shore. She was already climbing out of her crib so we figured we would take the railing off when we returned from vacation. I think we will be shopping for her big girl bed in the next two months.


Ava "graduated" from the Hippo room to the Monkey room at daycare . There really is no difference betw. the two rooms. The rooms are connected together. When she moves to the next room, she will have to be potty trained. I think that's one step away from pre-school. One step at a time! ;-)

At the shore condo.

Maybe Ava thinks she can use her magic wand to convert the crib to a big girl bed.
Look Mommy, no shoes! Making sure everything is put back properly.
Testing out the bed.
Sweet dreams my "baby".

Watch out for the bunny hole

So much has happened in August. We have had family visit us from The Netherlands, we had two family vacations, the kids have had a lot of "firsts" this summer and the new school year is about to start on Tuesday (9/1/09)!

I have a lot of posts to catch up on so I'm starting my posts backwards starting from this afternoon. While we were away on vacation for a week, my brother and nephew came over to mow our grass. We were told there was a bunny nest (hole) in our yard and to watch out for it the next time we mowed. Of course being a Mommy, I had to investigate the nest and wanted to mark the area.

When I got to the nest, you could definitely see where it was from five feet away. I was really surprised how shallow the hole was. They don't dig very deep and just use grass to cover up the holes. Now I understand why my brother is very cautious when he mows his client's properties. Some bunny holes aren't so lucky.

Potty Tutor Class

Step 1: Feed and burp the baby (I'm not sure which one is the teacher and which one is the student). Make sure tummy and bladder is quite full.

Step 2: Remove bottoms to make sure baby doesn't get wet.

Step 3: Sit on the potty.

Step 4: Make sure bottom is clean.

Step 5: Get on step stool and wash hands.

Enough said! Class dismissed.

Health Check

Our first baby had to go to the vet the other day because he had an accident on the basement floor and I wanted to get his stool speciman analyzed. Unfortunately, since Marley hasn't been to the vet in eight years, I had to take him in. He wasn't sick, he didn't throw up and he didn't have a fever. As it turns out, he got a rabies shot and a clean bill of health. The "accident" may have been to a food allergy and was put on some antibiotics for five days.

When I checked Marley in at the front desk, I had to fill out some paperwork. The lady at the front desk asked me if Marley was 21 yrs old. I said I put down the wrong year for his birthdate. I wrote 1988 instead of 1998. The lady said she could have sworn I told her he was 11 yrs old when I called to make an apptmt. But they have had 21 yr old cats brought in before. I told her I hoped Marley would live to a healthy old age because I couldn't bear to think of the year we would lose him. He is our baby (before kids) after all! He has been with us ever since Michael and I have been together. We adopted him the first year we were together. It will definitely change the family dynamic after he's gone (another chapter in our lives).


What's this lady doing to me!!

Well at least we know how much he weighs!

Poor Marley. He wasn't "worse for wear" except his one whisker was pointing up. It cracked me up.

Marley expressing his "complaint to the management"

Mommy giving Marley a hug after all the poking and prodding. Yep, just like one of my kids. He's such a gentle (docile) creature. He's such a big "lug". He didn't even flinch when the vet took his temperature and gave hime the rabies shot. Most cats would have to be peeeled from the ceiling. Marley didn't even know what hit him.

Little Miss Magic

Sebastian made a Magic Wand for his baby sister.
I think she liked it!

Our little Princesses

Michael holding Allison and Ava in 2008.

Michael holding Allison and Ava in 2009.

Ava and Allison - Ho Chi Minh, 2007.

Ava and Allison - Reunion, 2009

Did you notice there's a recurring theme in this post? Well in case I haven't mentioned it in previous posts, Allison and Ava are from the same orphange (Tam Binh). Logan and Max came from two separate orphanages.

Michael and I have a special place in our hearts for Allison since she and Ava were "crib mates" at one time or another. The babies were often times placed in one crib together so they wouldn't get lonely. We didn't get to see that at the Tam Binh orphanage when we were there, but that is what we had read or heard. The caretakers couldn't give individual attention to the babies so the babies were often times left in the cribs for hours at a time. I try not to think about it too long because reality does hurt sometimes.

Allison came down with pneumonia the day after she left the orphanage. I remember getting a call at the hotel in the middle of the night from Allison's parents. They were letting us know that Allison was taken to the hospital and wanted to know if we had an extra pacifier for Allison to help her calm down. My heart just dropped because I knew what they were going through. Sebastian had pneumonia when he was 14 mths old and was hospitalized for three days. He had to stay in an oxygen tent the entire time. The major difference is that Allison was only six mths old, there was no medical history AND in a foreign country! Pneumonia had almost taken Sebastian's life and Allison's life. Our first daughter, who was referred to us in December, 2006 had died of pneumonia before we could come and get her. So we are no strangers to pneumonia.

Post Reunion Pics (Part 3)

The bronze lion(s) at the hotel entrance.
Sebastian outside the National Washington Zoo.

A family portrait outside the panda exhibit (we are sitting on a bronze panda statue but you can't see it).

Uh....boys, what does the sign say behind you?

Ava has this new thing. Whenever we are walking outside and the sun is in her face, she will yell "Sun, sun!" That's her way of saying "where's my sunglasses?". She HAS to wear her sunglasses when it's sunny outside. Oh boy! ;-)