Daddy's Girl

Since Beatrice first made her arrival people have said how much she looks like her dad. Well here you have it, here she is at 4 months and Sean at 3 months - if you cover up eyes and hair I think they are dead on :)

Also when you let your gege pick out your clothes for the day this is what ends up happening. He picked all of the 'prettiest' clothes she had and then insisted she be called Princess Cherry Flower Heart.

First Swim

We had a great weekend visiting with some awesome people all over the south bay. Since we were meeting different people three days in a row we decided to spend the night at a fun hotel with an indoor pool. So someone had her first swim :)

Tinker Toys

We borrowed these Tinker Toys from a friend last week and C is super into them. Caed and Sean have spent a huge amount of time constructing all kinds of things. 

His favorite things to make are blasters, guns, wands, hotels, racers and "inventions"

Fort Maker and Rock Star

Last week Caed and Sean built this fort in C's room. 

Caed slept in it for FIVE nights, until I finally had to take it down.

Last week at Sean's school there was a Rock N Roll themed English corner. There were tons of students there and they brought in this all girl band that played all these famous English rock songs. Anyway Caed asked right away if he would be allowed on the microphone. So in the middle of their set they called Caed up to sing a rock song. He was soooooo excited. He sand the Larry Boy theme song and got a huge applause. We videoed it and watching him watch himself on video is almost as entertaining as watching the video itself. 

Sean and the band

on the drums

It has been such nice weather here. This is at the park across the street from our house. 

We usually have a picnic here at least once a week. Playing tag is a favorite pastime right now.

Father Son Trip

One of Sean's students invited us to go  to his village this weekend to celebrate a special festival (it happens once every 13 years). Since I am not up to village life/traveling right now Sean offered to take Caed and make it into a father/son weekend. Caed was SOOOOO excited about this! They took the train and then a bus then hiked into his students village. 

For this festival each house slaughtered at least one pig. Sean said that the streets of the village were all flowing with blood (I sure am glad I didn't go, I would have been vomiting the whole time!). So Sean had a serious talk with Caed about where meat comes from, and all that. When I asked C what he thought about all the pigs being killed he said he thought it was a little sad. 

Here is C with Sean's student, of course everyone gave Caed toy guns (i don't think I have ever been to a village where they haven't gifted him a gun...). See the pig being slaughtered in the background to the right of C's head?

So when they got home last night Caed really wanted to play pretend with me. We pretend to go to different lands via spaceship and run into obstacles along the way. Well his new thing is to say soemthing along the lines of, "Lets go catch some lizzys (or snakes, or dogs) and let's raise them in our house for five days and then we will cut them up and eat them!!!" While we were playing this morning he said it again. So I guess the pig talk he had with Dad made an impact :)

They caught spiders and grasshoppers near the river

One of C's favorite things was to play with the fishes in this barrel. Sean said he played with the fish and these boys whenever he could!

Sean's student's younger brother has these identical twin boys. The dad (who must be like 20) went off to work in the factory, so the young mom lives with her in-laws (that is the grandpa in the pic with Sean) raising these 5 month old twins! Cuteness. 

Baby It's Cold Outside (so we are just staying in)

Yesterday was the end of a long "staying indoors" spell for us. I hate to actually write down how many days we were in this apartment before we finally left yesterday afternoon {as I do usually try to get Caed outside at least once a day} but lets just say it was a record for us. Since it was Chinese New Year and the stores were crazy, and it's cold we have just been hanging out here - and it has been enjoyable :)

This activity is in the book "Slow and Steady Get Me Ready" - which I highly recommend It is weekly activities for kids birth to 5 years. I in half a bunch of magazine pictures then we went on a treasure hunt to match them

hard at work

yesterday I made 'water land' for Caed - there was a while story that went along with it. He loved walking to the 'big pool' through all the little ones. 

I enjoy out 'wet' bathroom very much. One of those mops in the background says "forever vivid" on it. Every time I look at it I chuckle 

After water land we went on into 'pillow land'. There was lots of jumping, flipping and swinging in this land

Blankie break. We joke with C that he needs to 'reenergize' so he takes a few sucks of his thumb with his blankie. I tried to make blankie an only sleeping thing after Thanksgiving, and because of my lax-nes it hasn't totally worked. (Though we did successfully remove blankie form school completely)

Then we decided to play 'prince{es} and the pea' - we stacked all the pillows one his bed. I ought to have found a real pea to put under - next time. 

We asked him if he wanted to nap on that pillow bed, he said yes, and then ended up like this - that is his head sleeping under the pillow in the left bottom corner. 

And you would think with all that Mom fun he had in the am he would be excited to go out and play after nap but instead when Sean got him ready and we were all near the door C said, "Mommy you're not coming this is just a Daddy date." And then proceeded to complain that it was in fact a family date. I told Sean that I need a girl and he said, "She would probably just want Daddy dates too." [true]

here is that man in our town who makes cotton candy with his bicycle contraption - a favorite treat of mine, plus it is just so cool, a mobile, pedaling cotton candy maker!

Happy 2012 - Year of the Dragon

Pretend fires all over our city - bizarre

And what would CNY be without endless supplies of fireworks?!

weeeeeeeeeeeeee

Sean's B-day

Sean's yummy b-day dinner

So happy about his new Dodgers shirt from David and Jake!

Pazzoki and candle time, Caed was seriously SOOOOOO excited to help blow out the candles. 

And in about 30 minutes we are dropping Caed off with his friend Grady (and some wonderful 'aunties') and heading to the city with our friends for a kid free dinner!

Mustache

My friend Wray sent us these mustaches a while ago. 

Caed thought it was so funny at first but did NOT want his picture taken with it on.

Sean with blonde mustache

Physics for Toddlers?

If you know us well you know my husband is a Linux user. He recently downloaded this childrens version of Linux operating system called "Sugar". It's super cute stuff, all games and painting and photo things but for kids.

Anyway there is this program on there that lets the kids make shapes of different colors and sizes then topple them over using 'physics'. 

Sean and Caed played it the other day and of course C loved it. Sean told him he was learning physics. 

So flash forward three days to today. I was coming home from a friends house with C. Telling him it would be nap time when we got home, he said, 

"But I just want to do some physics Mommy!"

I said after nap. He said, "I can do those physics all by myself!"

Just made me laugh :)

Also Sean taught Caed to answer the question, "What are the forms of water?"

If you skype us make sure to ask Caed :)

Toddler Love has Ups and Downs

Let's start off by saying I just feel down today. Everyday that goes by I feel less and less hope that this IVF cycle will end with a positive pregnancy.  I don't feel anything. With Caed I remember at least having a faint idea that soemthing was going on with my body. I still have 5 days to wait so we will see. I am hoping my feelings are wrong but I am not sure.

Also yesterday was really hard. Being far from family on Christmas just stinks. It was the first Christmas ever that I didn't get to at least talk with my little brother (who is deployed). We got to skype with some of Sean's family and it was so fun to see all of them, but would be so much better to be there. 

Plus I hate our shower, it is either freezing or burning. It seriously only behaves for Sean, who has extreme patience to 'work' it so it is a bearable temperature. 

Okay that is all for my complaints - well I am sure I could think of many more, but I won't go there. 

Somedays are harder than others to, "in everything give thanks..." 1 thess 5:18

On to the toddler love thing. Here is Caed while we were in Thailand. He is in LOVE with his dad. He is such a Daddy's boy and I do love that they have such a sweet relationship. While out to dinner Sean drew him a picture. Here is Caed sleeping with it.

Seriously cried when I tried to put  it up before bed so he slept with it instead. He even woke up at 5:00 am shouting, "MOmmy took my picture, Mommy took my picture" (which I hadn't, it was still in his bed".

He barely let it out of his hand so I could take this picture of what it is... airplanes, rocket ships and geckos. The next night we went out to eat and Sean said, "it's Mommy's turn to draw you a picture." To which Caed replied, "No thank you. Daddy you can do it."

Fast forward to yesterday night. He was having a hard time sleeping so we went in there to talk to him. Sean layed down in his bed and I sat on the floor. 

Caed told me, "Mommy you go take a shower."

 Me, "I am not dirty I don't want to go take a shower." 

Caed, "Ummm you go sleep in Daddy's bed"

Me, "Okay and then in a few minutes Daddy will come sleep with me in the big bed and you sleep in your big boy bed?"

Caed, "No Daddy stays here and you go sleep by yourself."

Wow so much love. 

Then this morning Sean let me sleep in. When I came out to the front room first thing C said was, "No you do not come out here Mommy - you go stay back there."

Very hurt I went back into my room while Sean had a talk with Caed about hurting people's feelings. So he came back to my room gave me a kiss and said sorry then said, "But you just stay here, I will go with daddy by myself". 

Goodness.

And for the loving part of this story. Yesterday morning C came in to give me a kiss and I told him I was sad b/c I didn't know if the embies were growing, to which he said, "It's okay Mommy I'll get you some more" (haha). And then he said, "I'm gonna kiss you and love you Mommy".

Today Sean had to go to the city for something so it has been me and C all morning. We did school and played some of his favorite games. He told me, "I love you 'in the moon'". He is trying to say 'I love you to the moon and back" which I often tell him. So cute, So loving. 

Not sure what is up with the quick changing in his mind, toddler years I guess. 

Wow if you have read this far you must really love us too!

Caed at a grocery store in Thailand where they had little carts. He pushed it way to fast around the store yelling, "Let's burn this candle!!!" (from Mater's Tall Tales)

Merry Christmas!

Today was Christmas. We celebrate about 16 hours ahead of you all in CA. 

Such a hard day to be away from family and loved ones, but we are so thankful to be able to share it as our family, and with good friends. Here is Caedmon on Christmas eve under the tree.

So happy in the morning. We woke up and read the story of baby Jesus and talked about why we celebrate Christmas and give gifts. 

all smiles

Reading the 'flashlight' story that came with the new flashlight that Grandma and GP sent.

Excited about the flashlight - named "Beanie"

Caed got a bag of dinosaurs from my parents. He slowly took them all out and asked us what their names were. No kidding when he pulled each of these two out he said, "No thank you I do not want that one." Later I asked him why he didn't want these two and he said, "They don't look like dinosaurs Mommy, their animals".

His other new flashlight, "Beanie"

Our friends came over for brunch this morning. We watched the grinch and frosty the snowman. They also helped me make these cut-outs out of contact paper to use for the Mommy and Me party we are having in Tuesday. 

There is no news yet about pregnancy with us. We have about a week more until we will know for sure. I am feeling more like it didn't work than it did. But no real reason why, except maybe that I am really fearful of another let down, like like this summer. We are still waiting and hoping. Please pray for us!