Great Wolf Lodge

I have cabin fever. Which is weird because I love to be at home. But this winter, more than any other I’m ready to go somewhere. So a few weeks ago I suggested to Justin that we go on a little mini-vacation to the Great Wolf Lodge (an indoor waterpark and hotel). Since this is Carly’s year to have a family birthday, we decided to suggest it to her as an option. She of course was thrilled to accept. So on Monday we pulled Abigail out of school early and an hour later we were ready to dive in and have a great time. We were there just over 24 hours and the girls spent 12 hours of that time playing in the pools and going down the waterslides. Lots of fun, but too short… where to go next?

Abigail was awesome crossing the lily pads

Carly was fearless (as usual) she wanted to try everything and was disappointed she wasn't tall enough to ride the Tornado

Jason loves the water and had no problem laying down in the wave pool and getting water splashed in his face

All dried off and ready to head home

Updating the Blog

My Mom has this idea that the bloggers in my family haven’t been blogging as much lately because of facebook. Which I think might be true for some people, although not us. We've just been busy. My Mom’s been on a cruise this past week (I’m so jealous) and I know she’ll be checking our blog when she gets home to see if we’ve been updating. So here’s what we’ve been up to.

Sunshine

The weather was great last week. Although it was still cold, the sun came out so we were able to play outside a lot. Since there wasn’t any school the girls spent nearly every afternoon outside playing with the neighborhood kids. Their cousins played with us at the park one afternoon. Justin’s sister, Tami took some great pictures of the kids.

All the Fletcher grandkids

This guy loves his Mom!

Zoo

On Saturday we went to the zoo with our newly acquired Topeka Kansas Zoo membership - thanks to Tami’s research (see here for more info.) This was Jason’s first trip to the zoo. We thought he’d be super excited to see the tigers, walruses, and elephants - he loves animals, but instead he was quite reserved and saved his excitement for the boring, stinky fish in the disgusting aquarium. He also thought going down the slide was really cool.

Trying to keep up with his sisters

Abigail recently finished a whole penguin unit at school so she was really excited to see the penguins and tell us about that particular species.

Fire Station

On Tuesday Carly had a pre-school field trip to the fire station. Little trivia: Does anyone know the difference between a fire truck and a fire engine? We do. The firefighter that gave us a tour was awesome. The kids got to sit in the fire engine and even try on his gear. Carly was too timid to do either, but I did get a picture of Jason standing on the back of the fire engine.

Carly's pre-school class (minus the little guy in the middle) - there's only one other girl in her class.

Tis’ the Season

The sunshine disappeared this week and today we woke up to snow. The ¼” we had was enough to delay the start of school 2 hours. That combined with Jason waking up sick resulted in canceling all our plans today. I spent the morning sitting on the couch cuddling my little guy… definitely a perk for having sick kids (staying home & getting some cuddle time). Thankfully he’s still sleeping awesome; hopefully he’ll wake up from his 5+ hour nap happy and healthy.

Mid-Winter Break

This week is mid-winter break, not to be confused with spring break that will be in only six weeks. While I typically look forward to no-school days I would much rather trade mid-winter break to get out of school before the end of June. It seems only logical, right?

We don’t have any fun outings planned this week. We’ve worked on a few organizational activities (cleaning out the craft cupboard and shredding massive amounts of old documents from the file cabinet), but other than that it’s just nice to have the kids home and not have to wake up before 8am.

Last night I was sitting on the kitchen floor feeding Jason some leftover mashed potatoes. I have always loved potatoes; in fact my Grandpa called me the potato girl. To my shock, my firstborn detests potatoes (unless they’re fried or in the funeral potato form). None of my kids are picky-eaters so for potatoes to make the short list of disliked foods is disappointing. Anyhow, so I was very pleased that Jason kept wanting more and more mashed potatoes. He was acting goofy so I got out the video camera. Of course he insists on watching himself on the screen (way up close), leaving me to hope I’m pointing the camera in the right direction.

We’re very excited that Jason has started to make out some words. He’ll copy us now when we ask him to say Mama and Au-O. We’re still a ways from the 20+ words he “should” have, but we’re making progress.

This second clip was actually filmed first, but Jason got so excited watching himself that he stepped in his dinner.

Facebook

When we were in NYC in December, we had dinner with my favorite roommate from BYU. We’d hadn’t spoken in years so we had a lot to catch up on. She told me I needed to get a Facebook account so I could keep up with her busy life. I’ll admit to being somewhat reluctant. The idea of having 100’s of “friends” isn’t quite comfortable. And I worried about being mean by declining a request for my “friendship”. Do people really want to be your friend, or are they just trying to up their friend number? And what if you change your mind, can you really de-friend someone? I’m all for reconnecting with people I grew up with or knew in college – I love that. But if I’ve never had a friendly conversation with you than I probably don’t want you reading about my life. That’s why we ask people not to create links to our blog. You can’t find us unless we tell you where we are. Our blog is “private” without the hassle of being private. So if anyone reading this is a lurker (i.e. you’ve never left a comment or told us you read our blog… now is the time to fess up).

So I created a Facebook account and in my first day I was reacquainted with some of my closest childhood friends. Amazing. I haven’t used it much (I only have 10 friends, mainly family), but Facebook is definitely a great way to find people. I do have a question though: when writing to your “friend” do you use the wall-to-wall which everyone can see or send a message through their inbox?? I’m thinking I’m more of an off-the-wall kind of person, any thoughts on proper protocol?

Anyhow, my purpose for this post… Today I was looking through pictures so I could update my Facebook profile with a picture I’m actually in (I previously had this one). I quickly realized that Justin needs to take more pictures (I’m always behind the camera – which I typically prefer) and that we need a new family picture.

This was taken in November of 2007 (Jason was only four months old). I can’t get over how tiny Jason looks. Justin’s hand could totally palm the kids head. Abigail’s lost so many teeth this past year that she looks completely different now and Carly had her hair chopped off. My little family is growing up too fast.

18 Months Old!

Jason is officially a year and a half old and today was his appointment with his pediatrician. Here are his stats:

Height: 34.5 inches (95 percentile)
Weight: 27 lbs. 12 oz. (75 percentile)
Head: remains consistently off the charts (smart little dude!)

"Hello"

Overall Jason is doing well. Because he has a small cold, over the past few days his asthma has been acting up. Trying to use a get medication into our strong little guy with an inhaler has been difficult. Even Abigail has a difficult time breathing correctly with the inhaler, so at the doctor’s recommendation we came home with a nebulizer for them to try instead. Neither Abigail or Jason has serious asthma, but when they get even the slightest cold they get wheezy. I think the Dr. is right - with two asthmatic kids having a nebulizer at home is a really is a smart idea. Better safe than sorry.

Of course we also talked about the fact that Jason still isn’t speaking. Although he totally understands and follows directions. The doctor re-recommended getting his speech evaluated (not sure how they do that seeing as how the boy has no speech to evaluate).

Jason’s most recent accomplishment is climbing onto the kitchen chairs. Yes, he is a little slow, but it’s been nice up to this point knowing he can’t reach anything on the table. Notice his pants are wet, he got a hold of a cup of water.

Thanks to the girls for teaching Jason how to “cheese” – This is what I get when I take out the camera now… still cute though.

Nursery here he comes!

There’s a small group of mothers I can usually count on visiting with at church each Sunday. During sacrament meeting, the first hour where the entire congregation meets together (including children), it’s the parents with kids that aren’t quite old enough to make it through the entire hour reverently. So they end up listening to the meeting in the foyer. Because of Justin’s calling serving on the high council, I’m typically on my own with the kids; Jason will usually make it through all or most of sacrament, but rarely through Sunday school. That’s when I get to see the pre-nursery group (parents with children under 18 months). Each week the pre-nursery group will discuss how long we each have until our little ones enter nursery and we can attend Sunday school in peace. We have an awesome Sunday school teacher so this is something I’ve really been looking forward to. This coming Tuesday is Jason’s official 18 month birthday.

By the time the third hour rolls around Justin usually shows up and takes over Jason (however, by this time Jason is so worn out that he’ll just sit quietly on Justin’s lap during priesthood). I’ve been serving as the young woman’s secretary which I absolutely LOVE. The girls are amazing and our lessons (by our super talented teacher) uplift me every single week. I’m quite certain I get much more from working with the young women than I could ever give to them.

Things were looking real good for me… too good perhaps because just as I was prepared to send my baby into nursery and be kid-free for two whole hours, I was asked to serve in the Primary presidency. Now instead of one pre-nursery toddler who I love with all my heart, I get to spend two hours with 60+ children. And what’s most shocking is that’s it’s not as secretary. I’ve never been anything but a secretary in Primary. I’ve never even had a primary class. I’ve never planned a sharing time presentation. I’m not much of a kid person so this will be a huge change for me. As for Jason, he did great in nursery today and even took a little nap… that never happens when I have him.

I tried to get a picture of Jason today after his first time in nursery, but the girls kept getting him to make crazy faces. This is his “cheese” face.

Looking for a new job?

T-Mobile was spotlighted this morning on the news as one of the few companies in the Northwest actually looking to hire in this economy. If you know someone looking for a job have them check it out: (article) (video)

If you apply, just make sure you list Justin as the way you found out about the job. With the salary-freeze they issued this year a little referral bonus would be great... maybe we'd even take you out to dinner.

Repairs

The van got fixed over the weekend. Well, mostly fixed. There’s still a large dent and scratch on the side, but we aren’t getting it fixed. Besides the hefty price we paid for towing and repair, I’m also bummed about what the damage portrays. I feel like I’m one of those cars that people look at, seeing the dents (or the mirror dangling off with duct tape holding it together) and think, stay away from that woman… she must be a crazy driver. Is it wrong to want to hang a sign from it proclaiming my innocence?

The van was fixed just in time for our newest issue. This afternoon I was sitting in the office and noticed a four-foot long pucker in the ceiling. Shortly after we noticed it, it started to drip. Yes, the ceiling was dripping. We knew immediately what the cause was. Our bathtub is directly above the office.

We’ve had on-and-off issues with our tub faucet since we moved in and have even had a plumber try to fix it. Every so often the water won’t turn off completely, resulting in a slow drip. So slow that it doesn’t drip into the tub, it travels down the underside of the faucet, down the side of the tub and onto the cursed bathroom carpet (in my opinion, carpet in a bathroom is never a good idea). Anyhow, the drip reappeared while Justin and I were in NYC and although we thought we had it under control, we obviously didn’t.

I called the handyman who converted part of our garage into our office and he said he’ll try to come check it out tomorrow night. Because the faucet parts are under the bathtub, he thinks it will be easiest to replace the faucet by coming from underneath it (instead of trying to completely take out the bathtub and attached shower)… meaning he would like to remove the office ceiling (which also doubles as my bathroom floor). Seriously, remove my ceiling. Anyhow, lots still to find out. Will the sub floor need to be completely replaced? Is there water damage under the cabinets? On the bright side, we got the ceiling to stop dripping.

Back in Business

After 138 days of sporadic, unpredictable satellite service we are FINALLY back in business. Come to find out we’ve suffered unnecessarily (when we moved everything out for the new floors a small connection cord went missing)…arrgh!

With Justin’s new TV, upgrading to HD, and getting 3 months of FREE movie channels, we’re ready to bunker down and watch some movies.

Now we just need Dish Network to work out a deal with ABC so we can get LOST… it starts in only four days!

The Sun is Shining

Carly is wearing shorts

So what if it’s only 40 degrees outside

Happy Birthday Abigail!!

Today is Abigail’s 7th Birthday! This is where most Moms would say “I can’t believe my baby is seven.” Well, I’m not like most Moms. Seven fits Abigail, in fact, eight wouldn’t seem strange either. She’s always amazed me and I feel so lucky to be her Mom.

Being an odd year means that instead of a birthday party we do something fun as a family. I gave Abigail several options. She jumped on the opportunity to have a movie night at home Saturday night. The kids don’t watch many movies or TV so this was a real treat.

I’m a junkie. So sending me to the store to buy goodies under the pretense that they were for the birthday girl was… well, anyhow, I went a bit overboard.

The goodie table – all peanut-free and egg-free.

Abigail and I went to Blockbuster (a first for her), where she picked out Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for her movie night. (Cute show, but Justin and I both like the original version better).

The girls ate so much candy that they both felt ill afterward. Carly (the junior junkie in our home) felt so sick that she actually threw-up. She felt much better afterward and commented about the colorfulness of it… skittles, licorice, and gummy bears… yummy!

Today me and the kids picked up Abigail from school and took her to McDonalds for lunch. I was surprised to find her wearing a birthday crown from class. For dinner we went to Red Robin to redeem her free birthday burger coupon. Normally, Abigail shies from any attention, but she said she felt like wearing her crown to Red Robin too and didn’t completely hide under the table when they sang to her.

Dinner was followed up with opening presents and having the Fletcher family over for dessert.

Abigail really enjoyed her birthday… maybe she’ll want to skip the birthday party next year too!

Christmas Production

Because of the snow closures before Christmas, Abigail’s school play was rescheduled for this past Friday night. It felt a little strange to be going to a Christmas play mid-January, but it was fun to watch all the cute first-graders (and a handful of second-graders from Abigail’s split class). Abigail was one of four “narrator deer”. The kids have been practicing their parts for months and did a great job.

I took a picture of Abigail in front of her locker before the play. This is the only thing in the entire classroom that refers to Abigail as “Abigail.” I’m not sure exactly how, but at the beginning of the school year Abigail took on a second identity. Everything at school refers to her as “Abby.” Is there anyone that sees her as an “Abby?”

And a video clip for Grandma.

Utensils... or not

Jason has entered the “I want to feed myself phase”

He was doing so well eating his yogurt with a spoon this afternoon

So I went into the office

I got distracted

He lost focus

“Look, no hands”

“Look, no spoon”

“But really Mom, I can do it by myself, see”

Getting Back Routine

Between our vacation, snow days, and Christmas break, it’s been nearly 4 weeks since I’ve sent my kids off to school. We had a great time at home. We didn’t get anywhere close to accomplishing all that I wanted to (we haven’t even put away the Christmas stuff yet), but I suppose that’s how it goes. To our surprise Abigail said she wasn’t ready to go back to school, but she is excited to get more homework.

Last night the snow started falling once again delaying the start of school one hour. Boy did I need that extra hour of sleep. Getting used to the early mornings will certainly take some readjusting. Getting used to not having Abigail around to help out will be an even bigger adjustment. Only six weeks til mid-winter break.

Just a fun picture:

Playing the DS is a family affair.
(Mom, have you noticed that in every picture of Carly since Christmas she’s wearing the flower you sent)

2009

We brought in 2009 with a few of our favorite people. Guitar Hero was meant to entertain the older boys, but the adults first had a go at it. The boy band did much better than our girl band. I wasn’t TOO bad playing to Bon Jovi, but got boo-d off the stage with a less familiar song. Sorry ladies.

Even though Tammy won, I’m not sure the Summers will ever play Settlers with the Hatchs and us again. Fun game, but we all ganged up on her, making the game last most of the night.

The kids completely entertained themselves all night. With only a few minutes left before the countdown we gathered them for the build-your-own sundae bar.

Everyone got a little glass of bubbly to cheer in 2009. Good friends, great food, lots of fun! Happy New Year!

The Brighter Side of Christmas

We kept things super simple this year. We got each of the kids a few things we knew they’d enjoy, nothing that cost more than $10. As long as they are happy with simple, we’ll keep giving them just that. They couldn’t have been more excited. Every little thing Santa (and Justin and I) gave them was wonderful in their eyes.

Jason was content playing with the orange Santa left for him. (Notice Carly showing off her new undies)…

...until he opened the miniature football and soccer ball Daddy gave him. If Justin has any say in the matter, Jason will be ultra-athletic.


Carly asked Santa for Icebreakers. He gave each of the girls two packages in their stockings. With the two packages my Mom sent a few weeks earlier, and the package Abigail gave Carly for Christmas, Carly had plenty. Yesterday Carly gave Justin a package. Knowing how much she loves them that gesture was sweeter than any present she could have given.


Abigail was thrilled with the camera my Mom sent. She’s been taking pictures ever since. Perfect gifts, Mom – thanks!

That afternoon we headed over to Justin's parents house where there’s nothing simple about Christmas. His Mom even does stockings for us.

Abigail and her cousin asked Santa for a Nintendo DS and Grandma Fletcher decided that it would be best as a family gift. Abigail was super excited when she opened it up. We’ve avoided video games up until this point, but we thought this would be great to have while traveling. After only one day, Justin’s already admitting we might have to lay some ground rules for HIS own good.

Sorry for the blurry picture. Maybe this time next year I’ll have the SLR that I so desperately want (hint, hint). Now that I think of it instead of getting our van towed and repaired, we could have purchased a fancy camera, bummer.

The girls looking through the book we gave Grandma Fletcher for Christmas. Justin and I have been married for nearly 10 years now… crazy huh? Each year we’ve been together has a page full of pictures of our family.

The kids love the Curious George book and toy their cousins gave them – thanks guys!

Apparently I also have Justin’s sister, Tami to thank for Jason’s favorite gift. I have a tradition in my family that when a sibling’s oldest child turns one-year-old they receive a popper. We carried that tradition on into Justin’s family over five years ago and blessed the Baumgartner household with a popper. At the suggestion of Tami, Justin’s mom bought Jason his very own popper for Christmas. Don’t you just love noisy toys? Thanks Tami!

This is the yard of the man who says it never snows in Seattle. It does look beautiful though.

Thanks to all our wonderful friends and family for a great Christmas!

Out of the ditch!

Aside from the car incident, we had a great Christmas. I have lots of pictures to share, but I want to first give a quick update.

Sleeping at Grandma & Grandpa’s house was super exciting for the girls and we had a fun time playing Settlers after the kids went to sleep.

We spent all morning on the phone trying to find a tow truck willing to pull us out.

When we finally got someone there they said it was too risky to try to get the van out. The worry was that the back end would slide into the fence and result in further damage. He didn’t want to be liable for that so he told us we needed to find someone with a bigger rig.

More phone calls.

Found someone 20 miles away willing to come out for a hefty hourly fee.

It took him nearly an hour to get there (on the clock of course).

He arrived and was shocked tow truck #1 wouldn’t get us out. He didn’t have any problem.

Passing by the spot as we make the trek to the van.

Nearly $300 dollars later we’re all safely back home.

Now to make phone calls to replace the side mirror.

Our Christmas Adventure

The fence is lined with barbwire so in the morning we may also find some additional damage to our paint job.

The branches on the left Justin was avoiding

No luck getting out. No tow truck willing to help.

Merry Christmas and we're in the ditch!

So my Christmas lesson learned is to keep going straight in deep snow on your parent's driveway even if low branches might scratch the side. Otherwise you might end up in the ditch on the side of a fence with no sideview mirror, digging out the snow and then sleeping over waiting for a tow. I don't think Holly is too happy with me right now.

Merry Christmas!