White Christmas 2008

How sweet - Willow's first Christmas was a w hite Christmas! Since we didn't know when we were moving, we hastily put up a tree the weekend before Christmas, and went ahead and hosted Christmas Eve at our place with Sean's mom's family. Christmas Day we had his dad's family over and then headed over to my parent's place to celebrate with them and Natalie and the boys.

Then Christmas night we headed home to take down the decorations and get things ready for the movers to start packing the next day! More on our move in another post.

Christmas morning was very fun this year - Anya is really starting to get in to the whole present concept.

Willow's new stocking - she got lots of fun little rattles and such.

This is the first year that Anya could unpack her own stocking.

Her plush Darth Vader was a big hit. She yelled Darth Vader! in a really high pitched voice when she opened it.

Willow's big gift was a rocking tiger...

But the wrapping paper seemed to be her favorite.

 

Anya also got a box of playsilks made by mama, and a Leapster 2.

Cute Things that Anya Says and Does #5

• Slipped yesterday morning in the bathroom and exclaimed "Holy Crap!" Oops. Bad mommy.
• Last Saturday they made turkeys out of construction paper and a popsicle stick at Sunday School. She said gobble, gobble, gobble all the way home, and said "more turkey?" the next morning as soon as she got up.
• She loves to dance to Barney songs. Dancing involves running in a big circle in the living room.
• Truthfulness is hit and miss. When asked if she had a stinky diaper (which she obviously did), she paused to think, "hmmmm, don't think so."
• This morning, I took her up with me to try to listen in on a phone call that Sean was making to our lender. Anya started being too noisy so I had to take her back downstairs, and she was very upset about this. She found her play cell phone, flipped it open, said "hello" and then started some babbling with a tone like she was tattling. I asked her if she was talking on the phone like Daddy and she ignored me and held up her finger like we do when she interrupts us on the phone.

November Photos

Anya has started pointing to the camera and saying "Anya? Pitcher? Camra?"

She wants to pose, and asks me to take pictures while she colors, plays with her toys, or fake laughs. However, she really needs to work on her reaction when I tell her to smile. I have a whole sequence of very odd faces that are apparently what she thinks I mean by asking her to do that. I finally found that telling her to laugh results in a fake laugh that looks like a smile on film.

But then other times I catch her at just the right moment and get a shot that is so perfectly "Anya" she takes my breath away. I'm still working on photoshopping some more cute ones that I'll make public a little later.

It's very fun that she's starting to get into the whole concept of posing. Every day she does something new (and on occasion incredibly annoying). Just before her nap today, she looked up at me and sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" - every word, and even was sort of getting the tune!

Willow is starting to enjoy the jumperoo, and is making all sorts of cute baby noises! And some not so cute baby screams as she checks out her range. She will let loose with a blood-curdling shriek all while looking totally happy and angelic.

She is also taking to solids with a vengeance this month. It's a little scary to feed her - she tries to grab things out of my hands, and leans forward into a bite and snaps her mouth closed over it. This piranha style of eating is totally foreign to us but honestly, it's a pretty big relief!

There's going to be so much talking in our house before we know it - right now, Anya is supposed to be napping and all I hear from her room is a constant stream of babbling. I have no idea where she gets it from.

Click here to see the rest of the photos.

I'm really not kidding, this is the house...

Okay, so the house on Treemont that we were going to fix up had some much bigger problems than were apparent. The inspection was not good, so we had to take a pass on it.

We've decided that we should probably be looking at something as new as possible since we are the farthest thing from handy there is.

I looked at a house way back when we first started looking at houses, and had liked this one. The price has come down recently, so we put in an offer today! We are still hoping to sell our house quickly and have dropped the price down to $349,999. We would also be open to a rental situation, so as before, if you know anyone looking to buy or rent a great house please send them our way!

It's in West Salem, so not ideal, but it has room to expand a whole new lower level someday, a big yard with a creek at the bottom and is brand new with a lovely interior. This pic is old, there's a yard in the front now. Click here to see more.

I know, I know, you'll believe me when we actually move in, right? :)

Cute Things that Anya Says and Does #4

• Can count to 10 (first did it 10/26/08), working on up to 20 but it's kind of hit and miss
• Says "Hi morning, Willow" when she first sees her each day
• Puts on the Darth Vader mask, breaths like him, then pulls it off and says "that funny!"
• If Willow is crying, she will pat her on the back and say "Don't cry baby, don't cry Willow."
• When the dogs whine or bark, she says "enough!" in the same tone of voice I do.
• The other morning, she was singing the ABC's when I went to get her up (sort of). She has no concept of pitch so far.
• She really likes taking the Element places...when we walk outside she repeats "Take orange car?" over and over.
• Her favorite book is "SkippyJon Jones and the Big Bones". She likes all the books in the series, but that one is her favorite. She has it memorized and can tell you what's on each page with no prompting. I particularly like how she says "Hey Pickle Pants" "Holy Cabeza!" "Los Chimichangos" and "rrrrrrufff".
• If I tell her that a cat is Siamese, she says "Skippy Jones?"

Very Useful Blogger Tool

For those of you who are using Blogger for your blog as I do (Jake, Nat, Nicole I know for starters), I'm sure you've noticed how incredibly annoying it is to add pictures since it always puts them at the top. I googled for a solution on this, and found that Windows Live contains Windows Live Writer which makes posting and editing about a million times more simple - pictures go where your cursor is! It also lets you manage multiple blogs through one interface, it grabs your template so you see exactly what it's going to look like as you type and more.

Go to http://get.live.com/ to download. When you go to install, there will be a screen that lets you choose which programs to install - I would uncheck everything but Live Writer unless you really want some of the other stuff. Then you just jump through a couple of hoops to hook up your Blogger account and viola!

Happy blogging!

A Long Time Ago...

... for a Halloween far, far away...

Anya was Chewbacca, Willow was Princess Leia, Daddy was Darth Vader and Mommy was a Jedi. The double stroller was the Millenium Falcon.

Anya caught on to the trick or treating concept very quickly and was picking out her own candy from the bowl by the 3rd house. As soon as we would leave a house, she would say "more trick or treat? more trick or treat?"

Our good friend Lisa came along with her 10 month old daughter Allison (who was the cutest little pea pod ever).

Mom & Dad manned the fort with Aunt Patti & Uncle Bill while we went out trick-or-treating.

I was very impressed that most people knew that Anya was Chewbacca! Yay for the cultural impact of Star Wars!

Click here for all the Halloween photos!

The Big Trip

Camp Pendleton (just outside of Oceanside, CA) is long freakin' way (2 days, 8 hours or so each). Especially with a 2 year old repeating the word "sunglasses" for hours.

The cottages on base were awesome - literally right on the beach.

Anya's first experience with the ocean? Slightly hesitant at first, but then Daddy had to hold her back from launching herself in! Willow liked the wind.

She spent many happy hours in the water with the boys and playing in the sand with Joey. Pouring shovels of sand on her head was super fun, apparently. We've been back for two weeks and I think we may have just gotten all of the sand out of her ears and hair.


It was great to see where Jake's family is living, and I love hanging out with Nat. The boys and Uncle Sean always have a blast together.

On Wednesday, we headed up to Anaheim for the girls' first trip to Disneyland - Anya was so excited! Unfortunately, she got sick for it, but no matter how tired she was by the end of the day, she would be saying "more Disneylam?" when we got home at night. The Dumbo ride, the carousel and meeting Mickey Mouse were big hits, and she just seemed to love the ambiance. Willow went on Dumbo and Pirates of the Caribbean and seemed to really enjoy it - throwing out her arms and legs, smiling and yelling "oooohhh!".


They have a new feature called "Jedi Training Academy" where a bunch of little kids (Anya was too young) get trained as Padawans by a Jedi Master and then each one gets to fight Darth Vader. Anya was so incredibly excited when Darth Vader came on stage. She was jumping up and down yelling "Darth Vader! Darth Vader!" - I thought she was going to rush the stage like an Elvis groupie.

When we left on Saturday, Sean said "Say goodbye to Disneyland!" and Anya waved and said "Bye, bye, Disneylam". Then added, very softly and sadly, "Bye, bye, Sleeping Beauty's Castle."

 

Click here for all of the Camp Pendleton photos

Click here for all of the Disneyland photos

 

Look Who's 2!

Anya had a great time at her birthday party, although you couldn't tell from looking at her during the party. She's been talking about it ever since, though!

When it came time to blow out the candles, she surprised us with an unknown skill - she did it with her nose!

The Elmo theme was a big hit, she has fun playing with the "Mr. NooNoo" who came on her cake (Mr. Noodle).

Thanks to everyone who came and made it such a special occasion for her!

CClick here for all of Anya's 2nd Birthday photos!

Things you need to know:

1. Anya is going to be Chewbacca for Halloween and Willow will be Princess Leia. In keeping with the theme, I got Anya a Darth Vader trick-or-treat basket, which I showed to her early in case she was going to freak out about it.

2. Anya is now obsessed with Darth Vader.

Last night, I had the basket on the table. After dinner, I set Anya's tray on the table next to it and forgot about it, which is a no-no in general since Belle will get up on the table (all four paws) to eat any food left out.

A little later as we were getting ready to go for a walk, I looked over at the table to see Belle up there eating Anya's leftovers, so I yelled "Belle, get down!".

Anya noticed as well and FLIPPED out. "Belle, off, Darth Vader, off! Belle! No! Darth Vader!"

She cried about it for about half of our walk and kept giving Belle dirty looks.

Apparently, she felt the need to protect Darth Vader from the evil, evil beagle.

She's going to be very disappointed someday when she finds out he's a bad guy for much of the series.

Enchanted Forest

We took the girls to Enchanted Forest for the first time. Anya was not a big fan of the animatronics along the storybook lane. She loved the bumper boats and little train (not that you could tell from the stoic expression on her face), and was very disappointed that she couldn't go on the bobsleds (ride? ride?).

The slides were also a big thrill!

She was completely entranced by the water show at the end where color water dances to music.

All in all, a fun day, we can't wait until they are both old enough to really enjoy it!

Cute Things that Anya Says and Does #3

• Tinkerbell = Tinkybell
• She recognizes the "ding! ding! ding!" of the stock market closing and yells "clofing bell!"
• She loves our real estate agent, almost every time we get in the car she asks "Don house?". She also recognizes the ringtone I have his calls set to and yells "Don! Don!"
• She recognizes most of the letters in her name, but defaults to "e" when she can't remember
• Last night she put crayons down her pants for some unknown reason
• When we walk down to get the mail, she points out our neighbor's pickup that is similar to my Dad's and says "bompa's picky"
  

Dear Mr. Obama

Listen up! I know this blog has been mostly family related stuff, but this is awesome:


Transcript:

Dear Mr. Obama: Having spent 12 months in the Iraq theater I can promise you, this was not a mistake. I witnessed firsthand the many sacrifices made by the people of Iraq. Those sacrifices were not mistakes. Iraqi people are just like us. They want a chance to live in a secure world, free from tyranny, free from terrorism, free to prosper, free to raise their children and pass on a future. Are they better off today than they were in 2002? You bet. I’ve seen many men sacrifice their lives for the Iraqi people. They died for a purpose, not a mistake. They died giving hope. They died promoting freedom. Do you rescue a fireman just as he’s about to save a child? When you call the Iraqi war a mistake, you disrespect the service and the sacrifice of everyone who has died promoting freedom. Freedom carries with it a price. Because you do not understand nor appreciate these principles, sir, I am supporting Senator John McCain for president. He, too, made a huge sacrifice promoting freedom, because he understands the fundamental truth, freedom is always worth the price.

Big surprise, this is getting little to no play in the mainstream media despite 8,232,924 views on YouTube. We wouldn't want any one to think that many of our service people think they are doing the right thing and are proud to serve, would we?

New Photos

Click the Our Photos button for more....

Cute Things that Anya Says and Does #2

• Soccer = soccers
• You know how the Barney song ends "with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you"? Anya ran over and bent down and gave Willow a big kiss.
• Lunch = munch
• She puts in the accent in the wrong places in words "grass-HOP-er" "hap-Y birth-DAY"
• She asks me to read "Jesus and the 12 Dudes who Did" by saying "more Jesus? more Jesus?" and signing more.
• She rarely says please, preferring to sign it. If we ask her to use her mouth to say please she makes the sign over her mouth rather than her chest.
  

New Photos and New Designs

I've posted a bunch of new photos, and a few new designs are up at www.WhiteDogBlackDog.com.

Cute Things that Anya Says and Does #1

So I'm going to start a series of posts so I can record the things that Anya says or does that I want to remember. If you find these boring and/or the ravings of an overly sentimental mommy, please feel free to ingore.

• Pigtails and pony tails are "pony hair"
• Her night light is a "light dark". If I try to correct her, she corrects me back and says "no, light dark"
• Eli is "I-lie"
• She has to pick up a white rock from our front flower bed before we go to the mailbox, which she then carefully puts back upon our return
• She stands in front of Sean (or Grandpa) while seated, and throws herself knees first onto their stomach while yelling "gut bomb!"
• She asks permission to run - "Run? Run?"
• Okay is O-tay (said loudly with a vigorous head nod)
• When asked who has tattoos, she starts with Mommy, then names Bompa, Jake and Aunt Patti. She also carefully inspects each of Mommy's tattoos on a regular basis (wing! daggon! foot!")
• She has developed a bug phobia and will scream and cry when even a ladybug comes near. She waves her arms wildly and shouts "go 'way, bug!"
• She says "bye Sorka, bye Belle" when we leave the house
• When I started closing the garage door the other day after we came home from a walk and Willow was still in the stroller, she started crying and yelling "Baby! baby!" until I picked Willow up and reassured her that Mommy wouldn't forget baby and the garage door wouldn't hurt her.
• She has to sleep with Lion, Puppy, Brown Dog and Piggy. If any of the quartet is missing she screams bloody murder. Since Friend is sitting on my bed as I write this, it seems hypocritical to not make sure they are all tucked in each night...
• She sniffs Bompa's cheek and says "Old Spice!"
• Rather than sucking on her thumb, she holds the back of her wrist up to her mouth for comfort (she doesn't suck on it, just rests it there). Willow has already started doing this too.
  

Willow's Adventures in Eating

Our pediatrician recommended going ahead and starting Willow on solids due to Anya's texture aversions - we're hoping to head off anything similar by getting a jump start. Willow has great head control and can sit up when buckled into the high chair.


She's not too sure what she thinks of cereal, but we'll keep trying it for the next couple of months before we get into more variety! It's a bit early to be starting cereal, but she is doing great at keeping it down and not thrusting it back out with her tongue.

FAIL

My very own fail picture creation - Mom & Dad have this ashtray up in Molalla.

How Do I Love My Kindle? Let Me Count the Ways...

What is a Kindle, you ask? It's Amazon's ebook reader. I've had it for a bit over a month now and it's once of the best gadgets I've ever purchased (and being the gadget girl that I am, you know that's saying something).

Why would I need one when I already have a desktop, laptop and smart phone?

• It uses eInk with no backlit screen, so it's much easier on the eyes, and more importantly, can be read in the sun!
• I can store thousands of books at once on it - no more suitcase full of books on vacation (Sean is particularly happy about this aspect).
• It can read most ebook formats, so I can convert much of my library to electronic format - we should only have to move a few bookcases this next move instead of 8!
• It connects to the internet wirelessly, so I can download books from Amazon whenever I get a hankerin'. I can also surf the net from anywhere because it uses Sprint's evdo service (and it's free!)
  
• Those books I mentioned in the last bullet point? All of them are 9.99 or less. Yes. That includes brand new $30 hardbacks - just 9.99!
• My laptop battery might last for 8 hours if I'm lucky. I plug in my Kindle about once a week or less and I'm an extremely avid reader.
• I can hold it and turn pages with just one hand!

I can't recommend this enough for any other avid readers. It was a hard choice between this and Sony's reader, but I like that this has Amazon's backing and the price for the books is hard to beat.

I'm not loaning you mine, so go buy your own.

Willow's 4 Month Checkup

Height: 25" (64%)
Weight: 12 lbs, 10 oz (16%)
Head Circumference: 41 1/2" (51%)

Only two shots, she's on a modified/delayed vaccination schedule

So it looks like we'll have another petite girl - she and Anya were the same height and head circumference at this age, but Anya weighed 14 lbs, 1 oz! Our doc is not concerned about Willow's weight - she's bright, smiley, strong and very active. She may be burning more calories than many babies at this age because she's been rolling over since 2 months and scoots all over the crib.

New Photos

Dang, we have cute kids! Click on the "Our Photos" button for more!

Phantom Birthday

My wonderful husband took me to see Phantom of the Opera in Portland last night for my birthday. It was a great production - this Phantom was far superior to the last one who danced around the stage like he was going to wet his pants.

This time, I got chills a few times while watching it. There was an unintentionally funny moment where Christine got her dress caught on the boat and finally tore it free to get over to the Phantom in time to pull off his mask - kind of a pivotal moment and you could see her getting desperate to make it in time!

I was showing Anya the souvenier program today and she wants to keep looking at it over and over again. On each page she points to Erik and says "Pantim! Pantim!" She was also very excited to make the connection that the movie poster hung in our bedroom also has the "Pantim" on it.

**sniff** makes a geek mommy proud

Okay, seriously, this is the one...

Stop laughing! We've found one that fits all of our needs and wants (well, other than location, we'd prefer South Salem, but this one is so perfect we're willing to make the change) - now if we can just agree on a price and get our house sold!

The view! The yard! The hardwood floors! I'm in love!

House for Sale

Click here for listing with photo gallery and virtual tours.

Open space (family room, kitchen, dining combo) in back opening to private fully fenced backyard with large deck & hot tub (great for gatherings or entertaining) yet a separate large formal living room as you enter front door. Remodeled in 1989 to open up & enlarge. House features both jetted & soaking tub, lots of built ins, kitchen skylight, formal dining, attic storage, two cooking surfaces (Jen-aire & glass top range), large master bath with access to outdoor hot tub/deck, walk in closet, roof 5 yrs old

$370,000

MLS Number: 600451
Address: 1983 Arithmetic Dr SE
City: Salem
County: Marion
State: OR
Zip Code: 97302
Acres: 0.19
Sq Ft: 2996
Year Built: 1981
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 2
Property Taxes: $ 4142
List Date: 8/5/2008
Garage Capacity 2
Elementary School Pringle
Middle School Judson
High Scool South Salem

What I see when nursing...

Okay, Different House

UPDATE: We're still negotiating on this, we are working hard to get our house on the market and sold because that would solve a lot of our issues. If you know anyone who would be interested in our current house, please send them our way! Someone pointed out that it would make a great adult foster care home. I'll post a link to our listing as soon as it's up.
----------------------
So our offer on the other house fell through, but we're okay with that because we think we've found something even better. This house is older, but the layout is just ideal (no pool, though) and for the price we can update and modernize it to make the interior really awesome as the years go by!

Best Fortune Cookie Ever

This was in Sean's fortune cookie last night...

The Mess Anya Made

So I was cleaning up the kitchen while Anya was still eating this morning and not really watching her, when I heard her say cheerily "Yogurt! Mess! Mess!". I turned around to discover the following:

Yogurt dripping from her bangs....

Covering the highchair, table and floor...
And Belle...

Report on Anya

Anya had her barium swallow test and they found no physical abnormalities - so they are sticking with the diagnosis of oral aversion (she's really, really, really picky, even more than a normal toddler).

They want us to see an occupational therapist to get her eating better, but we've just noticed in the last couple of days that she seems to be responding better to requests (and bribery). "Eat one more bite and then you can have more ketchup", "eat one more bite and then Mama will paint your toenails", etc. So we're thinking we may try it on our own for a little bit more here to see if she's finally old enough to reason with. Hah!

New House Maybe!

We are about to put an offer in on this house!

Click here