More Nate videos

I have uploaded more Nate videos. This one just makes me laugh, he probably would have done this all night, but it was bath time.

With this video, I was hoping Nate would show you how he is trying to learn how to creepy crawl, but instead he sped for me, you can see how fast he is!

This video shows how he can crawl and then get himself back to sitting, or as I like to tell Eric why we moved the crib down, I was afraid, with his ability to get himself to the sitting position he could get some leverage and fall out, he is starting to pull up on things, or as I like to call it the end of life as I know it! Thank goodness Eric is home so I can actually get stuff done and don't have to keep an eye on Nate every second.
I really think it is the craziest thing to see him in the sitting position like that and makes me wonder if I should start him in gymnastics when he can walk, he already knows how to do the splits!
Today we have the third day in a row without class! Schools are at least delayed so the kids will actually be able to go to school...seriously though, I don't know when they have the time to learn since I am pretty sure they don't spend much time in school around here!

Snow day

Yesterday and today we had snow days, today should probably be considered an ice day. I am beginning to wonder if the kids around here are will ever go back to school. But here are some pictures from yesterday's fun festivities. Here Gwen and I are hiding.
Here they are after a fall, I missed the beforehand pictures, sorry about that!

Here Gwen and Daddy are going for a walk/ride.

Nate smiling at me.

Nate looking up at the snow.

Nate's first snow angel

Walking down to the store!

Sledding down the hill!

More sledding.

The end of the run...I don't think you can see how much Gwen enjoyed that from that angle, but she did enjoy it!

After Gwen's nap we went back out, Gwen loved it, I dragged her all over on that thing she squealed with delight! We went down to the tot lot and she went on the slide and with the snow and her snow suit combination she was going really fast. She came down landed in the snow...she loved that and she will tell you about how she went bam! As I was dragging her up the hill she also fell off the sled thing and she couldn't have been more delighted about that either. Nothing like a little snow to make falling all better and happy!

Nate videos

I thought I should post these old Nate videos. This first one is Nate laughing hysterically at Eric.

This next one, I don't know if it is very exciting, but it must have been taken like a month ago, when Nate first started moving.

Life

I am beginning to feel like I have no time for anything normal anymore. You'd think with Eric home I would find time to do stuff, like blog and I don't know keep up. But, we are still figuring it all out, and with this step challenge, I seem to be spending all my free time on Dance Dance Revolution getting up to 10,000 steps. I am still trying to work out my cleaning schedule, which seems to have a huge wrench thrown in because Eric has started working on the house, specifically sanding and painting!
Gwen and Nate are still keeping us entertained, Nate can get around so well, last week he started creepy crawling, he is not very fast yet, but he is just going to need some practice. I think that I will have to video him playing one day because one minute he is crawling/rolling, one minute he is sitting and the next minute he is back to crawling! I don't know how it can be comfortable for him, he is doing the splits!
Gwen's singing is really getting cute, it is like a half a beat behind but she gets all the words in, but sometimes she just sings parts of the songs over and over. She is also almost, about potty trained...she is starting to tell us at home that she has to pee!!! We are not out of the woods yet, but we are have successfully gotten her to wear underpants and she will put them on by herself. I have to keep my eye on Nate, he is always getting into something he shouldn't. It is hard to remember to pay attention, Gwen has become so hands off, she plays by herself and I don't have to keep removing contraband from her, like I do with him.

I don't know when or why the following picture was taken, but I really like it.

I was half thinking I should do the month of Feb blogging everyday thing, since I have been so terrible at blogging lately. I really just don't have the time, I probably wouldn't even have the time today except that everything was cancelled because of the inclement weather and we are sitting at home, I really should be vacuuming, so I guess I will do that now, before I have to put Nate down for a nap!

Busy

I feel like I am busy, I don't know if I am in reality, but I am exhausted and this Eric home thing has not really made me feel like I have any more time. Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with more time, but with what is going on around here. I am working on my quilt, I want to get that done, but I have the step challenge, which isn't going well. Not that I am not getting my steps in, but silly stuff, like losing my pedometer. I am obsessed that the numbers are right on it, but getting in 10,000 steps a day, pretty difficult, doesn't allow for much time sitting. Which is causing a problem for some of my responsibilities. I am exhausted, most of that has to do with going to bed too late. Eric has starting working on the house, which is great, he put up some blinds in our bedroom, who knew our old blinds where so terrible, these are definitely keeping out the light. Nate is well, have I mentioned how much trouble this sweet little man is going to be. He is into everything he is not supposed to be and into nothing he is! I have a feeling I am going to be finding out what the random safety things that nobody ever thinks they are going to need, like toilet seat locks. But, he is so cute and sweet, so you know that is trouble. Gwen, she still adores her father but she still likes me to comfort her when she is injured. So, one day when I finish my quilt, I am in the homestretch on Gwen's scrapbook and Nate's cross-stitch, all things are pulling on me. The quilt has gone a lot faster than I expected, only a couple "bumps in the road"...I haven't used my sewing machine in a while, so I have had a couple of false starts, but I think I will have it done by the weekend, and now after several years I think I have convinced Eric I can make curtains, right now before we can move.

And I will walk 10000 miles

I seem to have been rather distracted lately, I looked at the camera and realized that I had something like 45 pictures to download. Oops! I guess that must mean I have been a bad blogger! We have been adjusting to life with Daddy at home. It seems to be going rather well, and has its advantages. I don't really have to do as much stuff laden down with 2 kids. It mostly works out to Nate and I and Gwen and Eric. Sometimes well all meet, but mostly Gwen would like to spend all her time with Daddy, and frankly, I like it! I have joined a 10000 step a day challenge with my SS group. We have teams of 3. Today, the first day, 7p and I still have 3000 steps to go. That works out to 1.5 mi. I keep checking the thing and I am pretty sure it is not doing all my steps. I will look at my pedometer then count in my head and then look again at the pedometer, 9 times out of 10 it has given me less steps. I don't really know what to do about that or how to account for that because most people are getting more steps than they are doing and I feel cheated! I missed 15 minutes of class today and I was 1000 steps behind everyone else, that just doesn't seem right. Anyhoo, that means I am to walk 5mi a day for 6 weeks. If that doesn't spur me on to some more baby weight loss, I don't know what will. I figure since I have this walking thing going, I might as well also start tracking my points again. Today I have been keeping track in my head, not really what I intended...I need to write this stuff down, otherwise I will never get to where I need to be!

We are in the throes of potty training again. With Eric home I thought it would be a good idea to try again. This time I think potty training is being met with much less resistance. YAY! I KNOW she can do it. When we are in public she stays dry, gives us warning when she needs to pee, but when we are at home, not so much; we have to work on that. So, we are giving her more naked time, at home which allows her to remember there is no diaper there. We haven't had an accident yet today, but Eric and Gwen just walked down to the store and she hasn't peed since nap time, so it is about time for her to go again. We went to Target and I got several new stickers and coloring books. Since Gwen is really into coloring I thought that would be a good incentive to stay dry for a couple of days. I happened upon a Elmo potty coloring book with a ready made chart for Gwen to fill out every time she goes to the potty...she LOVES it and talks about it. I am hoping this is the incentive she needs to get this over with, I think it will be. When she pees in the potty she gets stickers, Gwen no longer puts said stickers all on top of each other like she used to, but she now puts them on whatever is closest and gets her fancy. Yesterday it was her belly!

It is a barrel of laughs around here. Gwen and Nate laugh and laugh and keep us entertained and have I mentioned Gwen loves the hot chocolate!

Off to get 3000 more steps, I guess I will try to vacuum and if that doesn't work out, I guess I could walk Gwen down to the store again, apparently they made snow angels on the way, in our 1-2in of snow!

A conversation!

The pitter-patter of little feet come running over to me.
G:"Mommy, what's Daddy doing over there?"
M:"I think he's sleeping on the job"
G:"No, he's sleeping over there." while pointing to the couch over there.
M&D:laugh

Gwen is often very literal, which at 2.5 is probably to be expected. She has this new habit of asking if she can do whatever it is she wants to do. So often the stream around here is "Mommy, can I push my stroller", "sure" I reply. Currently she is "bowling" with Daddy sleeping on the couch. She is quite funny jumping and laughing and actually standing far away from the pins and throwing the ball at them. She has started to play more and entertain herself. She loves to color in her coloring books and she tries to color in the lines. I must go now, it apparently is time to play "ashes, ashes" or for those of you not in the know "Ring around the rosies"
These are things I forgot to mention in Gwen's monthly update, more later on things I forgot to mention in Nate's update.

The quilt

I have started a project I have been thinking about and saving tshirts for 15 years. When Eric said I could get myself something for Christmas, I went ahead and got a Memory Quilt kit. I am in the throes of it now. I have cut out 16 tshirts.
Nate has been my sidekick.

I know, the pictures of Nate are a little excessive, but isn't he the cutest? How could I not post each of these pictures?

Ok, back to my quilt. After I cut out the tshirts, I had to attach a stabilizer to the back of the shirts. I was told that I should probably attach the stabilizer first, but the stabilizer was pre-cut for me so I would have had to figure out the lining from the back and then attach and cut...it seemed to complex, so I did it the way the directions specified. I also have never used the fusi-interfacing and it didn't really have directions. I think the directions should have some more information because I had to look it up on the internet because I didn't know there was a front or a back to the stabilizer. Let me tell you it is hard to peel that stuff off the back of the ironing board.

See how excited Eric is to see that pile of shirts go...he has moved those tshirts at least 3 times.

Here is the proposed layout, I think this is the "order" of the tshirt. I want the shirts to be in order by year. I am missing a couple of tshirts, but this is the max I can have for the design.

So, now onto the sewing! Hopefully, I will get them straight and everything will look nice. And then I can move onto my tshirts from college, without paying for the kit!

30 months=2.5!

This weekend Gwen turned 2 and a HALF! I would have to say that the addition of the talking and the mimicking has been a hilarious addition to our household. I know she has been talking for a while, but her mimicking and language skills have added some fun to our lives. Not that our lives weren't fun before, but I read that around this time the half way point in a year kids tend to be overly emotional and having a hard time controlling themselves and have a lot of temper tantrums. Gwen, at this point doesn't have the throwing herself on the floor banging her hands and feet, but I think for me what Gwen is doing is worse. I can't say that for sure, because she hasn't done that, but man can she whine, and cry for nothing, and it would drive me to drink, if I didn't have to nurse Nate. Probably a good thing!
Man can she be charming though, she knows what she wants and she will do as much as she can to get it. I have to maintain strong willpower (and can't drink!) or she will sucker me into something. It is amazing how intelligent she is and how she can try to work us over to get what she wants.

She still adore Nate and doesn't seem to have too much jealousy of Nate. We still have to worry about her taking toys and whatnot, but this morning while they were in the stroller for class we caught them holding hands, so cute!

Gwen has also done some new physical developments that have happened recently. Gwen can now jump with both feet and can pedal a bike. I can't say for sure when these developments have happened but she can do this now, she likes to jump out of the car and she has taken a tricycle out for a ride at Target and pedaled it around.

I am sure there is more to say, but I feel like Eric is sitting next to me waiting to use the computer, plus I have some quilting to do...more on that later!

National Delurking day

In case you don't know what Lurking it is, it is when you read websites but don't comment. I know I don't have many viewers, especially since I don't blog that often anymore. But, if you feel the spirit, comment or email me and let me know you read this blog.

7 months

Nate turned 7 months this weekend. I guess I should go back and look at the differences between what happened at 5 months and now. Eric was away this weekend, and Nate hasn't been super happy, so today it is hard to say what is causing that. I am wondering if we are working on more teeth. Nate has those 2 little bottom teeth, I say little, but they are quite deadly. It makes checking his mouth for more teeth rather difficult. We think that is causing the irritation, but who knows. He still puts everything in his mouth and he has a love for paper that can't be satiated! It is to the point that I don't like reading books that are paper because he will tear the pages and try to eat it. Nate has started making more expressions than just smiling and sad. He has started to scrunch up his nose and smile real big, after he sniffs twice. Now you would think with the sniffing warning I would be able to get a picture, well, you would be wrong. The little man is evasive with that cute new expression.

I am going to say that Nate is now mobile. He can get all over the place if he wants to, he is rather awkward still, but he is doing the inchworm type crawl and then he is using a straight leg technique. And he can do the splits, he can then get himself back into a seated position, it doesn't happen very often and it makes me feel like he has to be super uncomfortable, I mean he doesn't seem to mind, but it hurts me to watch it happen. He also rolls around and gets under stuff and gets frustrated, he is not super fast yet, which I am grateful for, I can still get to stuff faster than he can! In the above picture he had moved himself around in the sitting position (see where he was in the below picture.) He then sat for awhile facing the chair and then got himself on the floor and was irritated when I moved the chair!

Nate is also very chatty and flirty. He is starting to get a little of the separation anxiety, but not all the time. If he is not tired or hungry, he doesn't care, but he certainly doesn't want to be left alone in a room. He gets irritated about that pretty much all the time. Nate will smile at anyone who looks at him, but he is starting to make you work for it; he won't just smile right back at you he wants you to talk to him and then he will smile at you, but he will make you work just as hard for the second smile.

He has started to notice himself in mirrors, so hilarious and if he is cranky, it works well to distract him!

Oh, and as you can tell, eyes: still blue!

Starring Nate part Deux

I found this one more video that I thought was hilarious, I can't believe I forgot to upload it sooner, I took it early last month. I was doing something while Nate was in the exersaucer, he was having such a good time, I thought I should take a video.

On the Gwen front, just when I was complaining about the girl that called wolf...she peed on the potty in Target. I tell you she is going to be the death of me, if she makes it through the "terrible" years, then she will get me when she is a teenager!

Starring Nate

I posted some Gwen videos I guess I should put up some Nate stuff. This is Nate moving around.

Here is a video of Nate crawling, an inchworm kind of a crawling, but moving around slowly nonetheless.

Here is a left over video from after Christmas involving the beloved Santa balloon. I am not sure that thing is ever going to lose air!

I've got 99 problems...

and I will only expound on a couple of them.

The first is Gwen...this potty thing, is making me CRAZY! Yesterday we hit a low point, I was so frustrated, for the last couple weeks she has been randomly telling me that she has to go to the bathroom when we are out. I guess I should clarify she always asks to pee at the same time of day, it is just not every time we are out. Then, when I get her to the bathroom, there is no potty action...she says "no, I never want to go potty". Yesterday, at the end of exercise class, you know when we stretch and do abs, the part I need the most, she decided to potty. Then she told me that she should go to the play area. Um, nope, back the stroller you go. I don't know if she just doesn't want to go in the big potty or what. She is becoming the girl that cried wolf though. I read in a potty training book that the parent with the least amount of conflict with the child should do the training. So we discussed it last night and Eric has decided to take over potty training...I am not allowed to comment on anything. This is going to be a problem and we both fear what is going to happen with me letting go!

The second...NATE! Of course, baby Nate not a huge problem this eating thing, not like the biggest thing on his list! I guess at this point it is more hilarious than it is a huge problem. When I feed him the food, he just sticks out his tongue and makes faces and is like 'I am not going to put my tongue with this nasty stuff in my mouth you crazy lady'...he is that expressive.

See what I mean!

Eric, now we used to spend everyday together, we worked together, carpooled, the whole nine yards. For the last 2 years I have been the complete ruler of the roost during the week, the heat and a/c temps are different during the week than they are on the weekend, when he is home. But, it is kind of nice to have him around, I just have never cleaned the house with Eric home, as long as we have been married, I always clean when he is not home, this will be interesting finding time to keep the house clean with Eric home.

Gwen videos

I have some videos to post from the last month...so I guess when I said that I was done with the 2008 stuff, I guess I didn't mean that since it does not include videos and the pictures from yesterday were 2008, oh well.
Here is Gwen doing some bowling...she actually got 2 sets, and we are not quite sure she gets the hang of it. But, she seems to like it.

Here is a video from several weeks ago, when Gwen was calling me Melanie...if you listen closely to the beginning you will hear her saying Melanie. Now Melanie/Mom has turned into Momanie.

I guess I haven't uploaded any of the Nate videos, so you will have to wait for them! Sorry.

Eating

I have mentioned before that Nate, like his sister seems to be not fond of the eating thing. And, frankly, being a seasoned Mom of 2...hahaha, I don't feel the need to push it. I mean, yes we give Nate food, but I don't stress about it, if we don't get to it, oh well. We seem to have found something he likes, avocado! Gwen was not pleased with it, and I haven't experimented if it is that I just set him up in the high chair and let him do it by himself, or if he likes avocado. But I can tell you that I gave him some peas on a spoon, not so happy with that. This also brings up another point, I don't have to cook up the avocado, but the other foods are nasty...I mean steamed and pureed. This does make me wonder if he will like regular foods, just doesn't like bland 1 food puree.

This was on the 30th, the day before Eric's last day, which meant he had to stay late. I took Nate to get him ready for bed and Gwen was allowed to hang out. When I came back to the kitchen this is what I found...
She had crawled up in there and gotten a gogurt opened, I don't know how. I had forgotten that she had taken that out of the fridge earlier. At least she had buckled herself in, safety first.

End of 2008 pictures, maybe

I have not downloaded pictures from the camera, so I can't say for sure these are the last of the pictures. There might be some more on there, who knows, well, I do know there are more pictures on there, I just can't say for sure if they are from 2008 or 2009! While Eric was pulling out the Christmas decorations he found the ball pit, so he pulled it out for Gwen and Nate, he wanted to keep it out, but I put it away one day while he was at work, I just don't have that kind of space!

We have been feeding Nate "solids" again now that he is feeling better, I don't know how he feels about it, he seems to be more interested in the spoon than the actual "solid", he does still try to grab our food, but I don't think that is any indication, he loves grabbing at anything!

Here is our cute little man, ready for action!

In this picture from Grandmom's visit, Gwen won't look at the camera, but everyone else looks good!

I love this picture of Gwen!

Gwen and Grandmom reading a book. Gwen and Grandmom read lots of books during her visit, it was the thing Gwen most likes to do with people that come to visit. I guess she figures the new blood won't mind reading the same old books she makes us read all the time!

Gwen sporting the helmet, can you tell she loves that thing!

Nate still as cute and sweet as ever.

An extreme close-up of our "flying" baby

He has moved on to eating his toy, all in a day's work.

Nate and Grandmom, Gwen must have been napping.

Well, I guess that is all the pictures for now. I think I have some videos to post also.