Happy Halloween!

This video doesn't fully capture what Molly is like on the phone, but it's close. She loves jabbering on and on to herself. Then she'll laugh. I do a lot of talking with my hands, which is evident while watching Molly. I think it's cute. Interestingly enough she isn't interested in talking if there's actually anyone on the phone. She'll listen intently, smile and often try to hang up on them... My favorite part is when she hands the phone to me waves to it and says bye.

Molly had a doctors appointment on the 29th. She got a flu shot and her 18 month shot. (I know Molly is 19 months. What can I say besides I'm a negligent mother...) I love Molly and Gabe's doctor. Everyone in the office is very fast and efficient. They have a great play area in the waiting room, but the longest we've ever had to wait is like 5 min. There's a different feeling there from the pediatrician's office in Az. Molly didn't even freak out. So the stats are in... Molly is 32 inches tall and 26 lbs 4 oz.

While we are on the subject of Molly... She's never been a great sleeper, at night or during the day. It's always been a struggle, until now. It's fantastic! I stopped rocking her and started putting her in the pack and play for naps. She would cry for a minute and then lay down, eventually falling asleep. This has been going on for the past few weeks... Today she handed me a blanket and walked me into her bedroom. I turned on her music and fan, and then put her in the pack and play... She laid down without making a noise or even giving me a second thought. We've gone from one 1 hour nap to a 2 hour nap, and maybe a short afternoon nap. Again it's fantastic. She's figuring it out. Sleep isn't a four letter word anymore. It's amazing what a change has taken place in her personality. We aren't having the struggles or tantrums we used too. She's even going to sleep by herself at night and more importantly staying asleep. In the end sleep = happy baby. happy baby = happy mommy. happy mommy = happy family.

I don't have pictures of the kids in their costumes yet. I'll get some pictures of them all dressed up tonight and post them sometime this weekend. I'm not exactly sure what our plans are. There's a party at church, but Molly hasn't been feeling well. We might make an appearance, or we might just go to a few houses and call it good. We'll see.

root beer milk?

One thing that I love about Drew is his willingness to try new things. I'm not very adventurous and if something sounds/looks strange 9 out of 10x I'll keep walking.
One of Drew's friends was telling him that root beer milk is really good, but hard to find. Low and behold, Drew found some at our local grocery store this afternoon. I was skeptical... It's actually not bad. It tastes like a root beer float. It's pricey, but I could see us getting it again. Thanks for broadening my horizons Drew, and thanks to Tanner for recommending it.

Drew carved our pumpkin today. I thought that Molly would like helping him get the seeds out. That couldn't be any farther from the truth. Molly thought the whole thing was very gross.

She did enjoy stirring and later washing the seeds. We'll see tomorrow if she likes eating them.

The final result. I think he did a great job.

I told Drew the other night that I blog about myself and the kids, but I never really say anything about him. He said "oh, you noticed that too?" Well I just want everyone to know that I do love and appreciate my husband. He's great with our kids and I'm really proud of all the work that he's doing in school. He got his first test back not too long ago. He got one of the highest grades in the class. Not too shabby. Even though I miss all the time he got to spend at home when he was teaching high school. I'm glad that he's in school and doing what he loves. Hopefully he won't want to be a student forever. :)

This was Gabe watching Drew and Molly as they worked on the pumpkin. I gave Gabe a mo hawk today. I thought it was cute, Drew thinks I'm a bad influence...

carrots anyone?

Drew and I decided before Molly was born that we'd make our own baby food. I think it's cheaper and we know exactly what's in it. I was excited to introduce some new food to Gabe. It's always been fun introducing Molly to new foods. Gabe on the other hand isn't as excited when something unfamiliar enters his mouth.







Here he is eating carrots for the first time. He kept sticking his tongue out, making a nice little mess.








While I was distracted feeding Gabe I gave Molly some play dough. I wanted her contained and not trying to get a taste of Gabe's food. This is not what I was expecting to find. She figured out how to get water to leak out of her "no leak" cup. Who wants dry play dough when they can have a pond of it? She then decided that it would make great eye shadow. Very cute. I haven't washed her shirt yet. I'm hoping it comes out... I have my doubts.





Here she is again with her blue stained face.... Molly Molly Molly is all I can say.









Gabe went in for his 6 month check up today. He's 26 1/2 inches and 18lbs 10oz. That's the 75th percentile. He isn't so little anymore.
I don't put much stock in scales. But, I was pretty excited when I weighed myself yesterday. I've lost all but 5 lbs of the baby weight. I'm nursing, but other than that I haven't really done anything. Although I do think lugging both kids around all day is like weight training...



I know this isn't a good picture, but I think it's cute none the less.









Gabe and Molly love each other so much. Gabe lights up when she's around. She's a little mom and is always aware of where he is and what he's doing. Very sweet. Their personalities are very different, but they get along better than I had hoped for. I love this picture. I think Molly looks a little nervous. Gabe's a hair puller and she knows better than to have her head so close.

Plethora

Plethora-excess; overabundance

need I say more???

Are you ever cleaning and think man we have way too much of "_________"? Saying that Molly loves shoes is an understatement. She's very passionate about them. All throughout the day she's bringing me different ones that she wants on. There are a few that she can put on without assistance, but for the most part I'm involved with her shoe process. It's entertaining watching Molly around shoes. She's pretty selective. We were looking for shoes that she can wear socks with. (Most of her collection are dress shoes and crock type shoes. Not the best looking with socks.) I was showing her some gym shoes. She wasn't interested at all. She wanted some huge spider man rain boots? It was a fight leaving the shoe department. She loves picking out her own shoes before we leave the house. Usually I'll let her pick from a few pairs. (Somehow she always wants to wear the shoes that I can't find the match for.) She has to find the pair that match her outfit. Molly the fashionista.

These are her newest edition. Very bright. Very Molly.

Side note. The red sparkle shoes are like 10 sizes too big. Once Molly saw them her eyes got huge. She put them on over the shoes she was wearing and conned Suzie into buying them for her. She trys to leave the house in them often.

Proud to be an American, cliche but true...

Wednesday night we had a few people over for dinner. The last person to leave was a man from China, named Lee. All throughout the evening he told us different stories of his childhood and his country. He was befriended in China by a UNL professor. When the professor came back he brought Lee with him. I think he said he's been in the states for about 10 years now. Anyway, as he was leaving he said thank you a bunch of times for inviting him over. "It's so nice you can have who ever you want into your home". I thought that was an interesting thing to say. Then he followed it up. "If we were in China I wouldn't be able to have you over to my parents home" In order to have American guests they would have to get permission from the police. There would be a series of questions. Maybe if they were all answered correctly they would be granted permission... but, probably not. He said technically his family could get into trouble every time he goes for a visit because he travels with a US passport. I know that our country has many problems, and I think that politics are very frustrating. Say what you will. I'm happy that I can have who ever I'd like over to my home, whenever I'd like.


Post Script
On a completely unrelated note... It's Friday! This week has been really busy. Monday my parents left. Tuesday I had a cub scout committee meeting. Usually we go to playgroup Tuesday mornings, but the kids were still a little under the weather. Wednesday we entertained. Thursday I had a presidency meeting. Tomorrow, Saturday, I have a training meeting to go to. Drew also has to prepare a talk for church. Sunday's are always a zoo. We have church from 1-4. Molly usually misses her nap and is a beast. And then primary is always interesting. I hate it whenever something unexpected happens. Everyone turns to look at me. I smile and think to myself what one earth were they thinking when they gave me this calling?... Somehow everything works out and the week starts again. But today is FRIDAY and I don't have anything scheduled. It's a nice feeling. And Drew doesn't have classes Monday and Tuesday. I'm know that he'll still needs to go to the office and put some hours in, but he'll be home more than usual. It'll be nice.

Say Cheese!

Here is a plethora of pictures for anyone who forgot what we look like...

This picture is from last week. Molly decided she's ready for the big swings. I was a little nervous about that, but Drew kept pushing. She even started pumping her legs a little bit.

Gabe likes the swings too.

My parents came to visit this weekend. They arrived at 1 am. As you can tell I was wide awake :)

Ben spent most of the weekend playing the Wii. One of the highlights was when my mom beat him at baseball. A look of pure horror washed over his face.

Molly showing the way. We love Pioneers Park. They have a neat little herb garden. Molly loves smelling everything.

There was an extension bridge going over a creek. Well I say creek in AZ it would be a river. There were a ton of frogs down there. So...

Ben climbed down to explore.

Molly loves heels.

Look at those big brown eyes.

As of yesterday my little guy is half way to one. He has a doctors appointment next week. Then I'll have some current stats to post.

All and All we had a great weekend. The kids love it when people come and visit. They love to entertain and be spoiled with attention. Ben brought his skateboard. Molly thought it was the best thing ever. She loved chasing him around. She even tried to ride it a couple of times. She didn't fare too well. So she settled on turning it upside down and sitting on it. The kids also got a lot of new toys. Courtesy of the Griffin's. (Thanks for sharing with us Mackenzie and Parker). Molly and Gabe discovered glow sticks, very entertaining. My highlight was Drew and I getting to go out for a little while alone. It was great.

I find this disturbing

I think that most states have some kind of safe haven law. Usually there is a specified amount of time that a parent has to abandon their baby at a hospital or fire department, no questions asked. I think it was a matter of days in Arizona. I remember a news story when we lived there. Something about a baby being dropped off that was a day too old. I wonder how someone can really tell the difference between a two day old and a three day old...

Nebraska has a safe haven law. There's no specified age limit it. Since we moved here I've heard multiple stories about kids being dropped off at hospitals. The most disturbing part is that most of them are over the age of 10. Last week a father whose wife passed away decided to give all nine of his children. He said that he thought someone else would be able to take better care of them. Now there are even more problems, as relatives of these nine kids are trying to get custody. I was baffled. Did this man really hand over his children to complete strangers before turning to his extended family? Then a couple of days ago a woman from Iowa, not even our state, left her 10 year old at a hospital in Omaha. As for the other stories I've heard most have been of kids whose parents have died. A family member has custody and can't handle them acting out anymore. All I can think of is all of these kids are going to need serious therapy. I can't even imagine how I would feel if I was abandoned. One law maker that was interviewed said that they knew that the law was pretty ambiguous. He said if it saves one child it's worth it.

I try not to judge. I'm sure these kids deserve better. I'm just really having a hard time wrapping my mind around this one.

Imaginary Numbers

Now, for those of you who are good at math, I'm not referring to the number "i" here. No, the imaginary number I'm talking about is the number 2. For most of you, 2 is still an imaginary number, but for us, gas is at $2.92.

Digressing and yet progressing

I know that it's common for older siblings to be jealous when a new baby is brought home. Luckily we never had this problem with Molly. I think that she was too young to be jealous of Gabe. They've always been pals.

Molly hasn't started treating Gabe any differently, but in the past week she's been acting different. She's moving backwards. She wants to be carried all the time. The second I put Gabe down she wants up. Mind you Drew and I don't have little light weight kids. She's very interested and sometimes upset when Gabe gets a bottle. I knew it wasn't really the bottle, shes never been too interested in bottles. So, I handed her Gabe's. She examined it for a minute and then gave it back. Since then, bottles haven't been a big issue. She never really liked the bumbo. Now she walks around with it and likes to sit in it. She also likes to lay on the floor and play with tummy toys. She enjoys a good rattle. All of this is getting a little frustrating. I'm sure it's normal, but frustrating non the less. I'm hoping that once her cold clears up that some of this will stop as well.

Molly does have her heart warming moments as well. We've been working on singing the songs they sing in nursery. Molly's favorite song switches day to day. Her first favorite was Ring around the Rosies. She sings "ring round ring round ring round" or "ashes ashes ashes"until Drew or I join in. Once we start singing she starts spinning and falling down occasionally. It's very cute. In nursery when the kids are on the ground they sing a song about cows sleeping and thunder? I had never heard this one before, but we sing it. Molly thinking banging on the ground simulating the thunder is one of the greatest things ever. She likes singing the Popcorn Popping song. That one contains her favorite action. Making her hands into glasses. It's really funny watching that one. She does the rain action to The Wise Man and The Foolish Man. It's so sweet watching her as she makes all kinds of new connections. Now I wish that she would demonstrate what we do at home in nursery. I guess everything happens with time...

happy October!

Neither one is feeling well. But they look cute!

Thanks for the clothes Dranny.