Grandma and Grandpa Visit

For a kid, what can be better than your grandparents coming to visit?  You get spoiled and loved on for days on end.  I mean, sure, parents are fun, but grandparents are where it's at.  We were lucky to have John and Trudy stay with us for a long weekend and we had a blast.  

Our first stop: The Potty Train.  Apparently this is somewhat of a tradition in Paul's family.  Once you get potty trained, you get rewarded by going for a ride on the "potty train."  At this point, I am confident in saying that Parker is potty trained.  Right from the start he had no issue going #1 in the potty (there were a few accidents at sleeping times, but that was short lived).  #2 however, was a different story.  From the day we started potty training to his next bowel movement was four days.  You're probably okay without the details, but let's just say that there were several similar instances over the course of the following month.  And during those times, he was sooooo cranky.  I can't say I blame him, if I were that uncomfortable I would be cranky too.  We decided that something had to change and so we instituted a consequence.  A week ago, he had been holding his #2 for several days, and it finally came out in his undies.  So, I took away seven of his favorite toys and put them on top of the kitchen cupboards where he can see them every day.  The rule is that he has to go doodoo in the toilet everyday and if he does, then he gets one toy back, but if he doesn't, I have to take two toys away.  So far this has worked and we've avoided the nasty attitude that accompanies his constipation.  (That was kind of a long aside, but I do want to remember this first experience with potty training when we're in the throws of it with our other children.  It didn't happen overnight, which I was really hoping it would, but it is happening.)

Anyway, back to the potty train.  We rode the train in Balboa Park and Parker loved it!  

While we were at Balboa Park we also went to the train museum, the botanical building, rode the carousel, listened to the band practice in the amphitheater and went to a marionette puppet show.  It was a full day!

While we were looking through these photos, Paul was sort of in awe at this one.  When I asked why he said, "You don't see anything unusual in this picture?!  You and Kate look like the same person!"  I'm still not sure I see it quite like that, but I can see the family resemblance.

We had this bit of deliciousness one night:

As always, we had a great time with John and Trudy.  

Fourth of July

When we lived in Tustin we had a storage closet at the back of our covered parking spot, but a lot of things (like our bikes) that would normally be stored in a garage ended up on our patio.  We learned that even in paradisaical Southern California, some things are just not meant to be stored outdoors.  Like for instance, our bike trailer.  After being outside for a year, the safety traps and buckles disintegrated.  I spent several hours on the 4th sewing on new straps. After the trailer was done, we had a barbecue with friends and then came home to put Kate to bed.  Paul and Parker headed out to a park (with bike and trailer) to watch the big show and I stayed home with my babe.  Surprisingly, I actually had a great view of the fireworks from our living room.  Parker loved the fireworks (unlike last year) and he loved waving his American flag all day long.  Since then he has told me nearly every day that he lives in the United States of America and then he asks me where I live.    

Beach Day

We let Kate loose on the sand awhile ago.  We'd been with her to the beach before, but never let her get out of the stroller.  I set out a towel for her to sit on, but she was off it and crawling on the sand in no time.  She also loved eating the sand.  Parker did a great job building sand castles.  I think his favorite part was smashing them at the end.

First Bath Together

Parker was pretty uninterested in Kate until she started crawling around and taking his toys, then he was less than thrilled with her presence.  I don't know what did it, but he's actually learning to play with her and I love it!  It's so fun to hear them giggling together from the other room.  They don't always take baths together, but when they do they have a fun time splashing and being silly.  

Happy Easter

Better late than never?

I hope Parker is/will be someday grateful for Paul and his love of holidays.  If it were up to me, very little would be done to celebrate the commercial side of holidays.  I guess I'm a bit of a Scrooge, so Paul took it upon himself to dye the eggs, buy candy and hide Easter eggs.  I think we had something good for dinner, but I can't remember what.  I do however, remember one of the talks given that day in church.  It was one that I hope stays with me forever.  What a blessing to know that our Savior lives, knows us and cares for us more than we can comprehend.  

New Crib

Up until a month or so ago, Kate had been sleeping exclusively in our closet in a Pack 'n Play.  I'd been toying around with the idea of moving her into Parker's room for nighttime, but I thought it would be easier to keep her in our closet for at least her afternoon nap while Parker naps in his own room.  Rather than having to lug the portable crib up and down the stairs every day, I decided to buy a real crib to put in Parker's room and leave the Pack 'n Play in our room.  I bought one off Craigslist that was a shiny, dark wood color with lots of dents and scuffs.  I sanded out all the dents, painted it teal and made a crib skirt.  I love how it turned out, but Kate's really the one who makes it look good.

Farewell, Old Friend

Well, we sold The Jetta.  She's been with us as long as Paul and I have been married.  I remember the day he bought it while he was living at home the summer before we got married.  It was so exciting to have our first car!  He emailed me some pictures along with a message that the backseat was "plenty big."  Oh, to be engaged.

We've been through a lot with that car.  On my last count, we'd been hit eight times.  A few just in parking lots and a few scary encounters.  We got rear ended on the freeway in LA and once by a semi during a snow storm on the way to Boise for Christmas.  One time I got side-swiped in Hollywood coming home from a haircut and we got $2000 from the insurance settlement (truly a tender mercy for poor students).  Even through all of these incidents, The Jetta was never mortally wounded and didn't seem to mind too much the cosmetic damage.

But, she was getting on in years and Paul was tired of nursing her along, so we parted ways and passed  her on to a dentista from Mexico.  I'm sure she's living up her life sun bathing on the Mexican Riviera, or, more likely, assisting with the trafficking of drugs into the US.

Palm Desert Reunion

We're still here. Our laptop keyboard went kaput (I guess that's what happens when you spill water on it) and the last several post were done toggling between composing the text on the iPad (not easy unless you have micro fingers) and uploading the pictures from our computer. Sure, I want to preserve our special family memories, but I got lazy and waited until I could do it all on the computer.  Someday we'll buy a new one, but for now we bought a cheap-o wireless keyboard and it's resting on top of our laptop keyboard. Ghetto fabulous.

We had an awesome family reunion over the Memorial Day weekend in Palm Springs. It was H-O-T, but we were well equipped to beat the heat. The home we stayed in had a pool and Kate went for her very first dip, ever.

One day we went to a private lake.  There was also a pond, pool and cabin.

(I love that Kate is looking up at me in this picture.  That's because I'm her favorite. :)  And look at how Parker hooked his arm around Chloe's.  He was enamored with his cousins!)

On Sunday Grandpa Norm and Grandma Sue came over for the afternoon.  It was so fun to hear about some of the things they've accomplished in their lives.

As I recall, it was hard to get Parker to stand still- he just wanted to run away and play with friends, Chloe and Mae.  His shirt stayed tucked in for all of 20 seconds.

We brought Parker's Like-A-Bike and Chloe and Mae brought theirs too.  They were so fast and taught Parker how to balance and push off with his legs.  Since we've been home, he's really starting to get the hang of it.

The adults rode on bikes of a different flavor.  Paul has been wanting to rent Segways for years.  Leave it to John to fulfill our every wish!

Having a tea party:

Grandma gave the kiddos a special present- their very own bags (Angela made the girls' bags!) with lots of fun things inside.

Gathering around for a story before bedtime:

The cutest baby ever!  Since this picture, she's gotten THREE more teeth!

Looking through these pictures makes me think it's time for another vacation.  Maybe next time we can bring the party to England?!