Goodbye 2008

We were supposed to have a few friends with kids over tonight to say goodbye to 08, and welcome in 09, even if it was going to be a bit early (before the young kids all needed to be tucked into bed). But, just like most of 2008, our plans were foiled and I am sitting at home with 2 sick kids and one sick husband. And I know I'm next to fall.

I've never been so glad to see a year end. It's been a year (or several) unlike none other, and one I hope to never repeat. Here are things I hope to NOT do in 2009:
Sell a house
Buy a house
Move
Renovate
Pack
Look for a new job
Watch someone die
Grieve
Go through a lifetimes worth of possessions
Get pregnant
Be sick for 9 months
Get fat
Give birth
Recover from birth
Be sleep deprived

For 09, I just want to be. Be happy, see friends, play outside, sleep and watch my children grow. I want nothing monumental to happen. I just want to be non dramatic, and maybe a touch boring.

Cheers to that and a good nights sleep.

A Photo Log of Christmas

(from a three year old).

Lucy got this for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Bonk:

It's a digital camera made for little kids. She could throw it down the stairs and it would keep on clickin' (not that she would EVER do that)....

Here are a few of Lucy's best photos from Christmas day:

Clearly, we have a budding Annie Leibovitz on our hands. We are so proud!
Hope yours was Merry! Now, onto the New Year.

Christmas Eve Day

The tug of war with Santa, a few weeks ago.
















Enjoying Christmas Eve Day

Disney World 'n Stuff

We went to Disney World. It was crazy. Lucy hated the lines, but loved the characters. We got back last week, and it has taken me this long to put up pictures.

























Eli was the super secret champ of the week. This was his post for much of the time.

After two days of Disney World, we could take no more and went to Busch Gardens. Here, Lucy amazed us once again by climbing on this ride all by herself. No fear.

The fit that proceeded this nap was monumental.

Today we went and got our photos taken with Santa. Once again, Lucy showed no fear and crawled right up onto Santa's lap. Remember last year?

And finally, today a swan bit Lucy on the leg at the park. And there was lots of fear. The end.

4 months old

Eli is four months old now, and on a whim I decided he needed to eat cereal. I was going to hold off for another month, but I had visions of a full nights sleep clouding my judgement. Turns out, he didn't like it anyway and spit it all out. My heart dropped a little with each spoonful of food that landed on his bib. I knew he wouldn't make it until morning to eat. After talking with his Dr., we decided to indeed, wait another month or two. Since his sibling has all those allergies, he's much more prone to developing them as well. The longer I wait to introduce food, the better his odds are that he will not develop food allergies.

















He's a big kid, this Eli. He is in the 83rd percentile for height and 71 for weight. And that's all from breast milk my friends. You'd think I'd be a skinny minnie, but mother nature is cruel and evil to me.
















All the kid wants to do is stand up. No tummy time, no sitting, just wants to stand. Enter, the jumperoo I bought on Craigslist for $30.
















Lucy calls this hat his helmet. She gets funnier by the day. Today she told me she wanted to go on a vacation when she woke up from her non existent nap. Which brings me to my next announcement. Apparently, I've completely lost my mind as we are planning to take Lucy to Disney World in December. Please feel free to either tell me what a fantastic idea that is, or shake me until I wake up from my sleep deprived fog.

Bangs

I didn't mention it, but I lost the war on bangs. Lucy's bangs were almost grown out, but they just hung in her face all day and made her look like an orphan. I cut them a few weeks ago, and am so glad. We don't have the daily battles surrounding rubber bands and barrettes.

Very Belated Halloween Photos

After I reluctantly purchased a Snow White costume, and then Lucy refused to even touch the dress once we got it home, I decided the costumes this year would be based on comfortable pajamas. Introducing the Tiger and the Zebra:



















And any attempts at a photo of the two of them together, smiling was out of the question. The candy high produced a kid who ran around outside for several hours before finally collapsing in bed after only two stories.

*Note - those are not our Halloween decorations, but Lucy sure did like the graveyard scene, complete with 'dinosaur bones' and 'babies', aka skeletons.

Eli and Lucy

Eli is very excited for his first square dance



















And Lucy just loves being outside

Super Kids

Lucy has been exceptionally well behaved lately. And, I don't want to jinx myself, but I've been getting more sleep than usual because a certain baby is now what I call, super baby.

I joined a gym, and Lucy likes it at the child care center! The earths axis must have tilted. Life is good!

Improvisational

Everyday life events....

Family Game Night
















My little 'helper' - in the biggest quotation marks available




















Lucy and Grandpa

















Clearly there is a plot in this book. But don't' worry, because I don't know what she is saying either. I catch a 'pillow', and a 'bathtub', but other than that, it's Lucy's smack talk. She channels another language when reading to herself.

Flip Videos

Lucy has been such fun lately, we decided we would like to document the unforgettable things that come out of her mouth. We bought a new flip video recorder and it's been our entertainment for the week. Below are two very short snippets. I'd love to post a video of the day, but that seems extremely optimistic. We'll see what happens.

Lucy just discovered car windows:



This is Eli's one and only trick:

Lucy is Freeeeeee (that's Three)

Creating a birthday cake for Lucy is always a little more difficult than for most kids. We can't just buy any old cake without dairy or eggs. So this year I found a REALLY amazing cake without any of her allergens. It was so good, all the adults couldn't believe the chocolate raspberry mouse cake they were eating was made without some very key ingredients. Only problem was that Lucy didn't like it. That cake was for the first party we had last weekend. So for her 'party' at school I made her special cupcakes. But for her official birthday cake, on her official birthday (yesterday), I made her a cake with all her favorites. Dora, icing, sprinkles, lollipops and candles - and she loved it. It's only taken me three years, but I think I finally got this birthday cake thing down. Happy Third Birthday Lucy!





















And what kind of party would it be if it didn't end with half naked people pretending to ice fish with their new Dora fishin' pole?

Siblings

The first smiles started appearing several days ago. Sweet baby Eli has a dimple on his left cheek - just like me.

















And the birthday celebrations begin. We have four birthdays in the span of a week, so there will be lots of cake and ice cream. Lucy froze when it came time to blow out her candles and needed a little help from her cousin. Lucy's official birthday is Friday, September 19th. The big 3.

First Day of New Preschool

Daily Rituals

Generally this is how we start out our day. Lucy isn't exactly a morning person. There is usually lots of crying and moaning and drama over something so small I can't even figure out what the problem is. Hopefully, after she has some breakfast, which is another whole story, she gets in a better mood.

















Whenever I want to put Eli in the car seat, this is what I find. Lucy is very adept at putting things into the car seats, correctly buckling AND tightening the straps. It's cute, but a little difficult to hold a baby and up buckle and loosen the straps with one hand.

























And then if we go somewhere twice in one day, I'll find this:

























This is where Eli currently sleeps. In a moses basket next to our bed. Lucy's old pink moses basket to be more specific. Do you think he'll be emotionally damaged when he knows this is where he spent the first several months of his life? I tell you, this boy is big, and soon he'll outgrow the basket. What you can't see here is poor Eli's bad rash caused by the hormones in breast milk. It should be gone soon. Until then, you don't want to see any close ups.

And finally, Lucy is usually her happiest, right before bed. Grandpa gave her this nightgown yesterday and she LOVES it. She's a night owl and gets into her groove about 30 minutes before bedtime. A time we deem completely reasonable for a two year old to go to bed, but one she disagrees with. And then we start the circle over again...