tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237210125975604962024-03-12T17:15:21.851-07:00TheGottwoodsKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.comBlogger408125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-28031694283377428752014-06-12T09:24:00.000-07:002014-06-12T09:24:04.546-07:00100 Happy Days - June 9 (day #9)My awesome brother has been here for a few weeks helping us get ready to move. Although she was previously a huge fan, Phoebe has decided that for this visit she "doesn't like Uncle John". She reminds him of this frequently. However, when there is a computer and some ice cream involved, she'll hang out with him. Grudgingly.<br />
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Despite her declared dislike, Phoebe and John actually have a lot in common. I love watching the battle of wills when they interact.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-24111784373176538362014-06-12T09:16:00.002-07:002014-06-12T09:16:39.823-07:00100 Happy Days - June 8 (day #8)Late on the 8th, Jeremy and Phoebe got back from the big camping trip. [Side note: I'll try to get John or Jeremy to post some camping pictures]. From all accounts the trip was a huge success and everyone had a great time. Phoebe climbed a rock wall, played in the river, and ate her weight in s'mores. After all that fun, and sleeping in a tent for two nights, everyone was a little worn out. When the campers got back, there were some quick showers, a light dinner, and then everyone just relaxed a little before early bedtime. Phoebe tends to get a little tragic when she is tired, so as a special treat (and to avoid full-on meltdown) we let her watch a little bit of <i>Frozen</i> before bed. She and Jeremy cuddled on the floor and watched the movie - watching them together definitely makes me happy. Jeremy is such a good Dad and it is adorable how Phoebe wants to be just like him - when they do things together she will watch him out of the corner of her eye and will try to copy him.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-68586655034482368892014-06-12T09:11:00.000-07:002014-06-12T09:11:19.878-07:00DANGER!!Our cats have a fairly well-honed sense of self-preservation, so they have instinctively steered clear of Phoebe for most of her life. Lucy and Danger have both been a little more curious about Eleanor - especially when she is asleep inside her fleece sleep sack. Then I think they just assume we have conveniently provided them with a milk scented, fuzzy furnace to cuddle with.<br />
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Lately, Eleanor has been figuring out forward motion which makes her a bigger threat to the comfort of our four-legged family members. Lucy typically gives her a wide berth (and Rocky, as usual, stays well out of the way of all children). Danger though, is still interested in Ellie. He tends to bait her by sitting just out of reach. Then after she lunges and grabs him, he acts all put out and agitates for treats. He is not fooling anyone.<br />
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PS Please ignore the ginormous mess in the background. We're moving so that gives us a free pass on giant messes - right???</div>
<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-35232558706491721252014-06-12T09:04:00.004-07:002014-06-12T09:04:56.134-07:00100 Happy Days - June 7 (day #7)Fresh-from-the-bath baby in fuzzy jammies. 100% guaranteed to make <i>anyone </i>happy.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-32462415125421059542014-06-12T09:01:00.000-07:002014-06-12T09:01:46.762-07:00MORE!!! We started Eleanor on solid foods a little before her six month birthday. She is a VORACIOUS eater. At mealtime we need to clear everything off the table that is within her reach or she will shove it in her mouth. Ellie does not let her lack of teeth stop her from attempting to eat anything and everything she can get her tiny hands on. If you are a little too slow with the food, she is quick to let you know that she is waiting ...<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-89204171381240349482014-06-12T08:57:00.001-07:002014-06-12T08:57:15.560-07:00100 Happy Days - June 6 (day #6)This was the day that Phoebe and Jeremy left for their big camping trip. I had spent all night on the 5th and most of the morning on the 6th frantically getting them ready to go then I had to head into the office to try to get caught up on some work. By the end of the day I was pretty worn out - not to mention a little sad that I was missing out on the Big Sur trip. But then I went to pick up Eleanor at daycare and I realized that there are definitely worse fates than having to spend a weekend with a cuddly, adorable seven month old. Eleanor is a super sweet baby and often I don't get to give her much attention since I am busy dealing with Phoebe, or cooking or cleaning. I make the conscious decision to let a few things slide so that I could just spend a quiet, lazy weekend with my little munchkin.<br />
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Friday night we went out to dinner with my friend Rachel at a cute little German place in Seaside. It is run by an older couple - he serves and she cooks - the food is delicious and it definitely has "atmosphere" :) We had a lot of fun at dinner, but after all the excitement of getting the campers ready and dinner out, we were both wiped. Eleanor even fell asleep on the way home. How could that adorable sleeping baby not make someone incredibly happy??<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-17868757313941030092014-06-12T08:46:00.000-07:002014-06-12T08:46:57.946-07:00Our Little Dare DevilsAt the park a few nights ago, I was holding Eleanor and we were watching Phoebe go down the slide. Every time Phoebe would slide, Eleanor would start kicking her legs and laughing. Phoebe said "Mommy, I think Babinor wants to go down the slide too". I tried to explain that Ellie was too little, but Phoebe promised to help and to be very careful so I decided to give it a shot. I put Ellie on Phoebe's lap and held on while they went down the slide - Eleanor LOVED it. She giggled and giggled and giggled.<br />
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After a few rounds of that Phoebe said they didn't need my help anymore and they could do it by themselves "just sisters, no mommies" is how she put it. In retrospect, this could have gone horribly awry, so maybe it wasn't my smartest parenting decision ever. In practice though, Phoebe was very careful with her sister and very proud of how safe she was being. Eleanor, had a great time.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-7827179769005415572014-06-11T08:54:00.001-07:002014-06-11T08:54:50.707-07:00100 Happy Days - June 5 (day #5)Jeremy and Phoebe got invited to go on a big camping trip leaving mid-day on June 6th so the 5th was pretty busy. The group they were going with included six families with a total of 16 children among them. All the meals were communal so we had a bunch of grocery shopping and cooking to do to prep for our parts of the meals in addition to all the regular packing (tents, sleeping bags, etc) necessary for camping. Camping with kids is infinitely more complex than when it was just Jeremy and myself. By the evening everyone was pretty stressed. Phoebe hadn't gotten enough attention while we all ran around getting packed, I was behind on the food prep schedule, and poor Eleanor was sitting in the jumperoo all neglected. I decided that we just needed to take a little break and head to the park. After all, if I was going to be up late making food, a half hour didn't really make or break the schedule and it would go a long way towards making everyone a little happier. I am trying to make more decisions like this - where I put aside the hustle and bustle of what needs to be done and just take a few minutes to do something that makes everyone happy and lowers the general busy-level in our house. These smiles were more than worth it!<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-53360244456594021392014-06-11T08:46:00.001-07:002014-06-11T08:46:57.539-07:00100 Happy Days - June 4 (day #4)Uh oh, only day #4 and I've already resorted to pictures of food. Yikes! This is a picture of our homemade pizza which is a semi-regular dinner around these parts (almost always served with a veggie for a nod towards nutrition). Jeremy mixes a batch of dough in the Kitchenaid so it is ready when we get home from daycare pickup. Phoebe does the rest (with a little help of course) - she likes to stretch out the dough, spread the sauce (with a few licks of the spoon just to test things out), and put on the cheese and pepperoni. A good amount of cheese and pepperoni goes into our helper rather than on the pizza, but that's part of the fun. Even though things are a little messier (and a lot slower) when Phoebe is in the kitchen, cooking with her makes me happy. I will be super happy when she is capable enough that she can cook dinner for us all by herself ... but I think we have at least a few more years before that happens :)<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-20777715526411924102014-06-04T09:38:00.002-07:002014-06-04T09:38:42.660-07:00Landscaping "Help"Some friends of ours live downtown Monterey and have a huge empty lot next to them that they own and are fixing up as an outdoor hangout space (complete with fire pit and garden). It is a great place to hang out with beautiful ocean views and great company (for both the adults and kids). There are actually two families that live right next door to each other with two kids each, so when we all get together you can typically count on one or two parents at a time rotating through kid duty while everyone else gets a chance to have a glass of wine and talk to other grown ups. Last weekend when we got there to cook out for dinner, they were finishing up a garden project - spreading hay on part of the lot. The kids were more than happy to help out. Let's just say our plan to skip bath time was quickly abandoned.<br />
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-90827260987825036562014-06-04T09:22:00.002-07:002014-06-04T09:22:48.666-07:00100 Happy Days - June 3 (day #3)Today we took a walk to the park after dinner. Evenings can sometimes be a little rough because neither of our girls likes to nap (lest they miss out on something exciting) so by the end of the day they can be grumpy and whiny. Tonight after dinner we rallied and headed to the park at the end of the block where we played chase and swung on the swings. Both girls were tired, but had a great time playing at the park (Eleanor loves the swing!). Not only does family time at the park make me happy, it had the added bonus that both girls were asleep by 8 PM!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor is excited to ride to the park on Daddy's shoulders</td></tr>
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-22907992002539410742014-06-03T09:39:00.002-07:002014-06-03T09:39:59.476-07:00Fashion - Phoebe stylePhoebe can be pretty particular about her clothing. She's not into traditionally girly clothes, but she definitely has her preferences: fuzzy pants when it is cold, leggings when it is warmer, super hero shirts, headbands, capes, lots of blue, a little sparkle, and (recently) bicycle shirts. She also likes crazy mis-matched socks (bonus if they say "Hanes" on the bottom) and day-of-the-week underpants. Recently Phoebe has discovered accessorizing. For her that usually means a baby-sized headband (despite us purchasing her own headbands, she always wants her sister's), a cape (or a jacket worn as a cape), and sunglasses. This Sunday, while we were out running errands, Phoebe went through several wardrobe changes:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oSI4SSv3b2w/U434MprLWFI/AAAAAAAAB7Q/fJ_n5dZ7GkQ/s1600/photo+%252842%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oSI4SSv3b2w/U434MprLWFI/AAAAAAAAB7Q/fJ_n5dZ7GkQ/s1600/photo+%252842%2529.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the car on the way to lunch. (1) Leggings (they are too small, but were the only clean pair we could find - part of this trip was to purchase a few more pairs of leggings to avoid having to squeeze into a two-sizes-too-small pair ever again), (2) super girl t-shirt (this is probably Phoebe's favorite shirt - it has velcro tabs and a cape that attaches. She loves to wear her cape. This day we forgot the cape, so she spent part of the day with a receiving blanket tied around her neck), (3) Infant sunglasses.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At lunch. Hoodie jacket with hood up. Sunglasses inside. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-beBztHxppao/U434NJM59WI/AAAAAAAAB7Y/-xYn4doXyhE/s1600/photo+%252840%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-beBztHxppao/U434NJM59WI/AAAAAAAAB7Y/-xYn4doXyhE/s1600/photo+%252840%2529.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">While I was digging through clearance leggings trying to find Phoebe's size, she helped herself to a whole new outfit. Since everything was on sale and I didn't have the energy to wrestle her out of the clothes, we bought her the outfit and let her wear it home. The sunglasses in particular have been a big hit ... she even wore them in the bathtub last night.</td></tr>
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-66919673638593918052014-06-03T09:26:00.001-07:002014-06-03T09:26:28.689-07:00100 Happy Days - June 2 (day #2)Phoebe loves being a big sister - sometimes a little <i>too </i>much - her style of love can be a little aggressive :) Phoebe always wants to help with Eleanor and lately she has been offering crawling tutorials as Eleanor tries to figure out how to move around. Eleanor has also just started to stand with support (and can even pull herself up every once in a while). Phoebe is really excited by this new development, and often insists on sitting right behind Ellie "so if she falls over I can catch her right away". While we often have to remind Phoebe to give Eleanor a little space, big sister helping little sister is definitely something that makes me happy. I think these two will be thick as thieves when they get older and it is really cool to watch that relationship develop.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-47711157983984781442014-06-02T14:35:00.000-07:002014-06-02T14:35:08.854-07:00100 Happy Days - June 1 (day #1)Reading makes me happy and reading with my kids makes me super happy. Last week my mom sent Phoebe her very first chapter books. We weren't sure she was ready, but she has jumped right in. We have read <i>The Magic Treehouse</i> books 1-4 <b>numerous</b> times in the last week - other than a little confusion about the difference between mommies and mummies things are going great! Even though the stories might be a little slow for mom and dad (a little less exciting than say <i>Game of Thrones</i>) reading them with Phoebe is one of my favorite parts of the day. She usually wants to read right after she gets up in the morning, or before she goes to bed at night. We've also been reading the books as part of mandated "quiet time" on the weekends. Phoebe snuggles up on one of our laps and will stay there through a whole 10-chapter book if we're willing to read that long. Phoebe snuggles + getting to share one of my favorite hobbies with my kids is definitely something to be happy about.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-67267232601757893472014-06-02T14:28:00.003-07:002014-06-02T14:28:55.899-07:00100 Happy DaysThere is an online challenge called 100 Happy Days (http://100happydays.com/) that encourages people to take time to enjoy the good things in their lives. I have been pretty bad at appreciating the good in my life lately since there has been so much chaos and stress (new jobs, moving, sick kitty, etc). So it seems like the perfect time to jump in and challenge myself to focus on the positive at least once a day. When it gets right down to it, I have an amazing family and pretty darn good life. As part of the challenge you are supposed to post one picture a day of something that makes/made you happy that day. I'll take a photo each day, but will likely post them in batches. Let's see if I can actually keep up - here's hoping for happy :)Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-84866821212783931612014-04-22T10:21:00.000-07:002014-04-22T10:21:07.845-07:00Easter Egg Hunt 2014Last year we hosted an Easter egg hunt and had a great time. It was so much fun, that at the after Easter sales I stocked up on a ridiculous number of little plastic eggs planning to host again this year. Sadly, with everything going on, I didn't even realize Easter was almost here until it was far too late (and our house was far too trashed) to throw together an egg hunt. I was feeling a little guilty, but luckily, our good friends decided to have us all over to hunt eggs at their house instead so our eggs got put to good use.<br />
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I would like to say that it was a 100% fun time, but as with anything involving toddlers, it was kind of a mixed bag. Phoebe didn't sleep enough the night before and woke up early in a mood. Before we'd even left the house, I'd had to count backwards from 10 about 9000 times to keep from yelling at her and as the culmination of our getting-ready-to-go battle, Phoebe stepped in the middle of the casserole I'd prepared for the pot luck brunch. Nothing like the tread of a toddler sneaker to add a little flavor to your French toast.<br />
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At the egg hunt, the kids played and had fun ... alternating with ridiculous tantrums and fights. Apparently everyone under four has decided that blue is the BEST COLOR EVER so even if there are multiple toys of exactly the same type, everyone MUST HAVE THE BLUE ONE. Seriously. Let's just say I went ahead and told the guy pouring to leave the OJ out of my mimosa and maybe instead of champagne he could find something a little stronger. People look at you a little funny when you say something like that with a sleeping baby strapped to your chest.<br />
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I did have a good time catching up with some of our parent friends in short snippets, but I spent most of the party dealing with some sort of kid crisis or trying to keep the sleeping baby out of the fray. I know this is just a season in life that will pass soon, but it can get really frustrating. I want to be able to enjoy an uninterrupted twenty minutes of adult conversation. I want to be able to eat at a party without balancing a plate on the head of a sleeping/fussy baby. I want to be able to eat slowly enough to actually taste my food again. I would like a small person to say "hey mom, thanks for buying eggs and treats and taking the time to stuff said treats into said eggs and putting all this together" instead of flinging herself on the ground in a screaming fit because the egg she picked up has jelly beans instead of M&Ms. Sometimes I just feel all parented out. I don't want to sit down and have a calm conversation about sharing and hugs I just want to say "Fine. You kids want to roll around in the dirt and punch each other over who gets the blue sidewalk chalk? HAVE AT IT, I've got $2 on the guy in the light up sneakers". <br />
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I don't want to give the impression that I don't love my kids (or that I'm an alcoholic). I do love my children, desperately. It is just that sometimes I also desperately feel like I need a little break. (and, for the record, I only had one no-OJ mimosa). I also think it is really important to be honest about stuff like this because when you look at the pictures, all you see is a bunch of adorable kids having a great time. It can feel like you're the only parent struggling. But age three is seriously kicking my butt. I love watching Phoebe learn and grow and discover new things. We have a lot of great moments and I really do feel that at her core she is a good, compassionate kid. But the day to day can be a serious grind and sometimes I feel like a pretty ineffective parent.<br />
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But, without further ado, now that you know the whole story, here are some pictures of adorable kids having a great time ....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phoebe is deciding whether she will jump from the top of the jungle gym ... onto the dog. In this case she actually made the right decision (also the dog - who is no fool - relocated herself)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baseball!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hockey!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They are just so darn cute when they aren't causing trouble. So deceptive. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rBJH_cMqnak/U1ah8R_RjUI/AAAAAAAAB5E/WCE6VX-38VQ/s1600/2014Easter5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rBJH_cMqnak/U1ah8R_RjUI/AAAAAAAAB5E/WCE6VX-38VQ/s1600/2014Easter5.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kids saw a wild turkey in the neighbor's yard.. They are calling out to it to try to get it to come. They are surprised that the turkey decides to head the opposite direction. I am not.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Double trouble :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The egg hunt is about to start. We asked the kids to line up by their baskets. This is what happened.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Ty_U9-17y4/U1aidEty2WI/AAAAAAAAB5c/0YX77Ov1jHo/s1600/2014Easter8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Ty_U9-17y4/U1aidEty2WI/AAAAAAAAB5c/0YX77Ov1jHo/s1600/2014Easter8.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The egg hunt started and all the kids took off. Except for Phoebe. She seemed a little put out by the whole thing ... until we reminded her that some of the eggs contained M&Ms.</td></tr>
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-28724538217303120862014-03-11T12:15:00.003-07:002014-03-11T12:15:38.499-07:00Sisters!When my parents brought my brother home for the hospital, it took me about a week to declare war on the little guy. We didn't arrive at a state of truce until some time around when I left for college. Sure, we'd occasionally join forces to protest some parental injustice, but it was always an uneasy, short-lived alliance. <br />
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Given my past of intense sibling rivalry, I was expecting the same from Phoebe. It has been a really neat surprise that (so far) she actually really loves being a big sister. Granted sometimes her methods of expressing that love are a little less than ideal, but they are (usually) well intentioned. <br />
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Every day when Phoebe gets home from school she immediately starts asking to hold her sister. Phoebe's cuddles can get a little intense, but Eleanor is typically a good sport. I imagine that Eleanor will grow up to be an adult who loves rollercoasters and bungee jumping due to all of her early experiences with thrilling snuggles from her big sister.<br />
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[Disclaimer: Eleanor does seem to enjoy this most days. Really.]<br />
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-82710576893502725302014-03-11T10:50:00.000-07:002014-03-11T10:50:04.169-07:00Toes!Did you know babies have toes? Eleanor didn't until very recently. She has been pretty amazed by this discovery.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What are these things???</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">.... TOES!!!!!</td></tr>
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-493791351663644112014-03-11T10:40:00.001-07:002014-03-11T10:40:20.499-07:00Two BabiesThe cats never really wanted much to do with Phoebe, I am guessing the 4 months of non-stop screaming had a lot to do with that. Danger seems to have warmed up to Eleanor though - perhaps literally - I think the fact that she is a tiny baby furnace has a lot to do with Danger's new found love. The last few weeks he has started cuddling up with us when I rock her, and he often joins us for Eleanor's middle-of-the-night meals. Here are my two babies getting some pre-bedtime cuddles last night.<br />
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Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-16533909250898487322014-03-11T10:35:00.003-07:002014-03-11T10:35:39.681-07:00Christmas Cookies"Christmas Cookies" might seem like an odd title for a blog post in the middle of March, even more so when I admit these photos are of cookie decorating in 2012. I am going through the pictures on our camera little by little in an attempt to organize them and to make it easier to share them with family and friends. I am still trying to figure out the best method for sharing, but for now I have a shared Flickr site. If anyone has any other suggestions, let me know. I was swayed by the free terabyte of storage :) As I slog through the photos, I'll post some of them here too.<br />
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Back to cookies ... Christmas cookie decorating was always a fun family event for the Lockwoods and that's a tradition I'd like to continue with our girls. We didn't get around to doing cookies in 2013 (I'm using the new baby excuse for that one), but we went all out in 2012. We had the neighbors over and let the three kids go to town with sprinkles and frosting. The results were pretty much what you could expect - lots of licking of fingers, knives, etc and we had to wash the kitchen floor about 20 times to get the last of the sprinkles up. It was definitely worth it though and the kids had a great time. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At first, Phoebe wasn't too into the whole thing</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ian was pretty serious and was very careful with his decorating</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emilio's technique was more free-form</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phoebe finally got in on the action</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The artist at work</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cleaning fingers between cookies</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting serious about maximum frosting in minimum time</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sweet results</td></tr>
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I am looking forward to 2014 cookie decorating, and am hoping we can have Gramma Joyce come help us out! Uncle John would be welcome too, as long as he promises not to repeat the "anatomically-correct gingerbread man incident of 1998". I really do love cookie decorating, and hope that we'll be able to make some fun family traditions around the holidays as our girls get older. I have some of my Grandma's old cookie cutters, and this will be the first year I use them to make our cookies so this year's decorating will be especially sentimental. Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-68601830280361868852014-03-08T07:24:00.001-08:002014-03-08T07:24:24.993-08:00Saturday, March 8We have lots of news and pictures to share, but I am having a hard time finding the time to keep the blog updated. We'll do our best, but I think part of having kids is having less time for stuff like blogging ... or showering. Right now I'm making alphabet pancakes and playing Moose with Eleanor while we wait for everyone else to wake up. So, all I have time for is to post a quick video of a mostly-naked baby eating her toes. Enjoy! Happy weekend everyone!<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-46869227040417887882014-03-06T16:10:00.004-08:002014-03-06T16:10:58.196-08:00Cash Register!I am pretty sure that Phoebe thinks that the UPS man works for my mom since he is always bringing presents from Gramma. In fact, whenever Jeremy or I gets a package, Phoebe is pretty confused by the situation. Last week I got a book for work and the box was waiting for us when we got home at the end of the day. Phoebe didn't believe it wasn't for her and made me open the box in front of her. I think she is still wondering why Gramma thought she wanted an Operating Systems text book :)<br />
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A few weeks ago, my mom noticed that Phoebe really liked playing "grocery shopping" so (after clearing it with me) she let Phoebe pick out a cash register on Amazon. Phoebe was super excited "it's just like Target!" were, I believe, her exact words (note to self - take fewer trips to Target).<br />
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The cash register has been a HUGE hit and Phoebe often makes Jeremy or I "shop" for items we already own. The register also has some learning games built in and Phoebe has really taken to one called Money Match where the register gives a number and the kid has to enter it by pushing the correct buttons on the keypad. [As an aside, every time the cash register says "welcome to Money Match" Phoebe yells "it said MOMMY match" and giggles like crazy. I guess that passes for a joke in three-year-old circles] Phoebe has been playing a lot of Money Match and has actually gotten pretty good at two digit numbers. I tried to get a video but instead of highlighting the educational features of the cash register, I think this tends to highlight the craziness of my toddler :)<br />
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You can also see her offering to type 0 for Eleanor (since Eleanor is zero years old). At least she's "playing with" her sister. Thank you for the fun toy Gramma!!Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-53940838958037249202014-01-05T20:53:00.000-08:002014-01-05T20:53:20.110-08:00Story timeJeremy and I both love to read and it is a habit that we really hope we pass on to both our kids. When we were pregnant with Phoebe we talked about the books we wanted to read as a family and imagined snuggling in bed every night reading the stories we had enjoyed as children. With Eleanor on the way we imagined family story time to be a loving, quiet end to every day. In reality it hasn't really worked out ... yet (we're still hopeful about the "chapter book" phase).<br />
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It turned out that Eleanor's super-fussy time aligns with Phoebe's story time, so there's at least one family member out. And really, she's a little too young to be left unsupervised, so we have to divide and conquer with one parent handling baby fussies and the other doing stories (at least we think - <i>knockonwoodknockonwood</i> - that we are ending the period where the parent with Eleanor has to do laps around the block bouncing the baby until 9pm). Phoebe can sometimes be a little hard to settle down, so her story time itself is sometimes not quite as relaxing as the images you might conjure of "bedtime stories". So all in all, family story time has been a pretty big bust up to this point. We know it will likely get better, so we'll just wait and see what happens.<br />
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In the meantime, we are happy that Phoebe really does seem to like books and is excited to "read" to her sister. It might be at ridiculous o'clock in the morning and in the middle of our trashed living room, but I think it is just as sweet as the family bedtime stories we had imagined. We will take what we can get.<br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-90837050067113198582014-01-05T20:40:00.000-08:002014-01-05T20:56:25.656-08:0010 Weeks!I can't believe that Eleanor is already 10 weeks old! I meant to post pictures for her 2 month "birthday" but ... well ... we're pretty busy ... and she's a <i>second </i>kid ... so really she should just be happy we're getting around to this at all!<br />
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My dad used to say that babies get cute just in time. That just when you are thinking that you'd like to put your infant on an iceberg and set them out to sea (my dad's example) or wrap them in bacon and leave them for coyotes (Jeremy's suggestion) they get <i>just</i> cute enough that you're willing to put in a few more weeks of parenting. <br />
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Frankly, newborns just aren't that great. They are tiny with squishy heads so you are always worried about breaking them. Also, they need to eat - All. The. Time. It is one thing to read about newborns needing to eat every 2 hours and to understand that fact intellectually. It is a whole other ball of wax to live that reality. Especially when it can take 45 minutes to slog through one feeding. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Phoebe pretending to be me. She is using her travel neck pillow as a boppy while she "feeds" her baby. Note the exhausted look on her face and the defeated slump. That about sums up my past few months. Tiring. You'll notice that Eleanor finds this all hilarious.</td></tr>
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Add to that the fact that newborns aren't very grateful for all the sacrifices you make - they mostly scream at you (disclaimer: this behavior is kind of particular to our children, we hear of people who have sleepy, happy, loving newborns. We are not those people). There aren't even any smiles until about 5 or 6 weeks.<br />
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After all that you're probably wondering why we decided to have a second kid. We often find ourselves asking that same question :) I kid ,,, mostly ... anyway, the point of this is that Eleanor is starting to outgrow that newborn funk. She babbles, smiles and giggles. She LOVES both Jeremy and Phoebe and will turn and smile when she hears their voices enter a room. It is absolutely adorable to watch. This week Eleanor has started to kind of sort of flail her little hands in a somewhat meaningful fashion. Meaning she can sometimes aim one at her mouth (more or less).<br />
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Ellie definitely still has her quirks - she is not an awesome sleeper and she screams bloody murder in the car, but we are finally getting to the point where there are some rewarding moments in the day. We are still figuring her out and figuring out how to be a family of four but we're starting to at least occasionally feel like we can do this :) <br />
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23721012597560496.post-84471246119277089352014-01-01T21:38:00.002-08:002014-01-01T21:38:36.220-08:00Happy New Year!We hope all our friends and family enjoyed ringing in 2014! It seems like 2013 went by really quickly. In true new-parent style we rang in the new year by dragging ourselves to bed at 10:30pm. Actually that is pretty late for us, but we tried to squeeze in a little work before bed. A decision we almost immediately regretted when both kids were up by 4 AM. Eleanor needed to be fed around 3:15 and just as Jeremy was getting her settled back to sleep, Phoebe woke up needing to use the bathroom... or so she said. Phoebe has caught on that saying she has to poop is pretty much a get-out-of-bed-free card. I'm not brave enough to call that bluff. <br />
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After she didn't poop, she crawled into bed with me promising to go right to sleep. You'd think I was born yesterday. Needless to say, there was no more sleeping. Well, I did drift off once, but woke up with Phoebe's hand in my mouth (she said she was "feeling my teeth").<br />
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Not the best ever start to a new year, but things perked up later when Phoebe's friends the twins came over. Aunt Laura and Uncle Adam sent Phoebe a stomp rocket for Christmas and we thought it was such a great present, we bought the exact same thing for the twins. All three kids had an awesome time playing with the rockets and I think they will be toys that get used a lot in the coming months (although we may have to buy some replacement rockets - Phoebe is a tad rough on toys). We also had pizza and cake to celebrate Phoebe's birthday AGAIN! The kiddo has gotten lots of birthday celebrations.<br />
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The afternoon and evening were a little rough - perhaps due to our 4AM wake up call but we all survived our first day of 2014. This year will be pretty busy for us and it is both exciting and terrifying to think about how much will be changing!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eleanor in a happier moment, sporting her "Happy New Year" onesie. This was actually a present from Jeremy's friend Chelsy when Phoebe was born. It has made it through two New Years with Gottlieb babies - now it is looking for a new home :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phoebe was very suspicious of her sparkling grape juice. When we said "cheers" she said "no thank you"</td></tr>
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<br />Katehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17228582369931655500noreply@blogger.com1