Happy Birthday Keke!

Four years ago today Jared and I became parents.  We were so worried our baby would be born on Christmas, that my mom would not be able to attend his birth (she was living in Holland at the time), and that Jared would not get much time off from his new job.  We were so blessed to have everything work out alright: my mom arrived on time, Jared's job was very accommodating and he was born 6 days before Christmas. 
We had struggled to choose a name for months and ended up naming him Nicholas after the incredible Saint who performed so much charity for others.

The last four years have been an adventure for us, learning all about this little guy and watching him grow.  He is stubborn and strong-willed, funny, and friendly and becoming very empathetic.  He is a great big brother full of patience, and always wants a hug when I raise my voice. We love our little boy!

Primary Program

Last Sunday was our ward's primary program, where the little kids sit on the stand and sing songs and have speaking parts.

I had been helping Nicholas with his line, "I can be together with my family forever" for the last few weeks and he has never had a problem with stage fright or remembering his parts.

When it came to his class' turn, his teacher had taken a microphone and was asking the kids the questions they were to answer.  Nicholas said his part without a hitch.  The girl next to him had clammed up, and the teacher waited patiently for her answer.  The second time, the teacher asked again, "Where do we come from?"  and Nicholas piped in, standing in front of the mic.

"I'm from L.A.!"

Total highlight of the program....

(p.s. L.A. friends who remember the "choo choo!" incident are probably not surprised :) )

Kiki-isms

Kiki (or Keke, as he spells it) had another fun weekend with his grandparents in town, the primary program, and an awesome birthday party. He loves to be a busy kid with lots of fun activities and he took it all in stride. Lounging around sunday morning he decided to join in the adults domino's game like he was one of the pack. After a few minutes of sitting with us, playing along in his own way and hearing us banter back and forth with each other, he said quietly to himself, "You love it... you know you do." Needless to say, we were all cracking up, and thought it was so adorable.

One of our other recent favorite quotes was from last week. Ryker and Nicholas were doing a puzzle together, and trying to play nicely. Nicholas was very concerned that Ryker was putting the pieces in wrong, and finally had enough when he did it again. He looked right at him and said, "Rykie, I'm so disgusted!" (meaing "disappointed"). Of course Ryker just stared blank-faced back :)

The other evening after a long crazy day I let the kids watch our new movie, Tangled. At the end when Rapunzel is fighting with her mom and Flynn cuts off all her hair, the evil mom goes tumbling out the tower window. Nicholas, watching intently as she fell, says, "this isn't going to end well..."

New Year

I feel like no matter how long some days can be the kids are growing up way too fast.

Nicholas has ended the terrible two's and entered a new phase of being agreeable, polite and kind to his brother. I was so worried it would be a short-lived change but he has been great for a whole month! Kiki requests it be written that he likes to play with his Toy Story guys and play Cars and watch the movie. He is still short and skinny, so we are hoping to fatten him up with food and get a growth-spurt going sometime soon.

Enter Ryker, the newest candidate for the Terrible Two's! At almost 18 months he is at the "running everywhere without listening" phase. It becomes hazardous at times and I feel close to a heart attack a couple times a day. His favorite ways of scaring me are looming at the top of the metal staircase, and spontaneously letting go of my hand and running off while walking through parking lots. I am reminded of Nicholas at this age doing similar things so I am hoping it will pass soon enough. Otherwise he remains his cuddly self with lots of cute little words. He loves to say, "I did it!", and "right back".

Jared and I were happy to squeeze in a much-anticipated date to Disneyland. We had so much fun we still talk about it every day. I love going with the kids but it was fun to do all the bigger rides I see so often I can't do with them. We started off with the Tower of Terror, and hit most all of the others we wanted to, walking on to almost every ride. This is definitely the best time of year! We ate giant ice creams on the fresh waffle cones for dinner, and got soaked on the Grizzly River Rapids. It was awesome. I am hoping to get back sometime again before Jared's pass expires.

This month should be lots of fun as we are expecting several visitors and a trip ourselves. Now that Jared's school is starting to wind down I am also getting my LA bucket list going of fun things I want to do here. We are loving all the city has to offer and I'm sure it, and all our favorite people in it, will be sorely missed.

And on a side note, here is the dress from my mom :)

Kiki's 3rd Birthday Party

We had so much fun at Nicholas' party this year. When I was deliberating over a theme I tried to think of what he likes the most of all- waffles! A close second is his friends. He is a very social kid and loves his friends. He remembers everything about everyone, including what color their eyes are and their favorite color. And last of course, his favorite thing to wear- Pajamas. Put 'em all together and you get a Best Friends Birthday Breakfast Pajama Party!

We had a great time, and Nicholas was in shock that he got to keep all the cool new stuff.

As a side note- it was nice not to have to get all glammed up myself while trying to get it all ready :)

Mom Date

After some crazy days I decided it was time to spend some one on one with my buddy, Kiki.

We dressed up (his new green converse shoes have been termed his, "date shoes") went to Barnes and Noble and read tons of Thomas the Train books, ran around at Old Navy and played in the dressing rooms, and got some lunch.

It was so fun to spend time with him like the old days, just me and him. I asked him in the car what he wanted to talk about, he paused for a second, then he said "Dinosaurs!"

I love my crazy, talkative boy. I love how he reenacts Thomas story lines, tells Ryker "I'm serious!" when R cries, how he has a perfect memory for songs, how he still giggles like he did as a baby, and when he plays with my hair while I put him to sleep. He loves "lellow wallypops", his baby brother, his train table, and preschool.

I am enjoying his funny little personality and I just hope he doesn't grow up too quickly!

Getting Some Larnins

Kiki has already begun in his scholarly pursuits, at the ripe age of two

He loved the camaraderie, crafts, and goldfish crackers.

We can't wait for next week!

Kiki found an awesome pint-sized babysitter while we were in Arizona

She carried him around like a doll, bathed him, built legos with him, and read him stories. He loved it.

We wish we lived closer to Cassidy! It was so fun to have someone watch that kid, and enjoy it too.

Change

I'm not one to wax all sentimental usually, but a lot has been happening here, reminding me of how the days are passing by and my babies are becoming boys.

Yesterday I packed up Kiki's 18-24m clothes along with RJC's 3-6 months. It was overdue but it was hard to part with some of our favorite items, especially the Baby's knowing it'll probably be

a long while before another baby wears it (or maybe never if we have all girls from here on out). On the bright side we got to open up the 6-12 month box and take in the baby Kiki smell. Love it. Also, all of K's 2T clothes are brand. spanking. new! (There's nothing like pulling off a tag from clothes for weeks at a time. {I know, I have an addiction.})

with his 2nd cousin, two weeks older, and his great-aunt

(she's super old)

Well, I've put the clothes in the drawers, and accepted this fact: Ryker is almost 6 months, sitting up, smiling, jabbering, and becoming our snuggle-bug, less newborn and more baby day by day. Kiki is kicking the diaper habit, and hooked to the adrenaline rush from our incessant proud praises. (warning, upcoming "mom moment") He talks non-stop, making us laugh with the phrases he comes up with. He is spunky and super cute.

Some days I think I have the best job in the whole world.

Terribly Excited for the Two's!

almost 1 month

1st birthday

2nd birthday

Our little Nicholas is not so little anymore... He is 2 years old!

We were told the time would pass by quickly, but I had no idea it would be this fast. Its amazing to think how much he has grown and learned in his first two years, and we couldn't love our demanding, bossy, busy little guy any more! I love how he nicknamed himself, bites his nails, and begs me for trips to Target. He is friendly to new people, and loves to go to nursery at church. He keeps us laughing with all of his huge personality and funny (unintentional) phrases;

."Oh no, Kiki!",

."Touchdown!"

."Kiki's turn"

."busy, busy, busy!"

.putting himself in timeout

.talking to his toys and introducing himself

."buy it!" (when he sees something he likes at the store)

."give!" (when I wont give him a toy, he talks to me like I'm a dog)

."No, no like it!"

."call me!"

.the entire song of Jingle Bells

{In church last week in AZ the primary children got up to sing a few Christmas songs. He was very excited because just the week before in LA our primary kids had sung his favorite song, Jingle Bells. Well, the kids here sang two songs (Away in a Manger, Stars Were Gleaming), then went to sit down. Nicholas got very upset and yelled with full vigor, "JINGLE BELLS! SING JINGLE BELLS!!"}

He loves grapes, Thomas the Train, reading "Where the Wild Things Are" before bedtime, wearing his Nike shoes, and calling people on the phone. He remembers all his friends' names, and talks about them often. He is good at sharing, but likes to sit on his brother's belly and say "Ride 'em, cowboy!"

We love our boy, and we can't imagine how boring our lives would be without him!!

Yesterday was our big boy's 2nd birthday party!

We had so much fun decorating, cooking, and getting the apartment ready for all of his friends. Kiki loved helping me make the snickerdoodles and rolling them in the sugar. He also took it upon himself to taste all the food to make sure it wasn't poisonous. Poor kid had to watch all the treats being made and wait for a few days to eat it!

The spread (minus the cake)... and zoomed below

The craft table was insane!

We decorated Christmas trees, played a snowman game, and sang jingle bells (his favorite song). The best moment for me was watching his sweet face light up singing the song, surrounded by all of his favorite friends. It was so cute I contemplated crying. The cake turned out so yummy (dark chocolate and peppermint ice cream cake), and the event went without a hitch. We pulled out his present from us (a ball pit) and let the kids run amok inside unsupervised.

As far as two-year-old parties go, I think this one rocked!!

I Need Better Hiding Places

Nicholas finds the strangest things to be fascinating toys...

The other day Jared walked in on this:

What is he holding, you might ask?

That would be the attachment to my breastpump.

He was holding it to his bare tummy, telling Daddy, "Kiki pumping".

And what are you supposed to say to that?

One of Many Unilateral Conversations....

As we speak, Kiki is taking my phone, holding it above his head and saying,

Say CHEESE!

Ok, one more time!

CHEEEEEESE! (at the top of his lungs)

Oh, good job, Kiki!

We may be suffering from a bit of overexposure here... and perhaps an excess of positive reinforcement?

A Series of Unfortunate Events...

Well here we are, alive and well in LA. I'm even blogging again. Woohoo

It has been an insane couple of weeks, between the baby being born, packing up our stuff, then moving out here, and unpacking our stuff. With the two years we were at Jared's parent's we hardly touched about 50% of our things, so it made for some fun surprises.
(Who would've thought we'd have gotten by with a 6 piece set of silverware and 4 plastic plates for our dinnerware. Apparently we were slumming it in Provo all those years ago).
Anyways, just days before the move I was stricken with mastitis and a UTI. That's right, I was stricken like the pioneers were stricken with their ailments, because let's face it, I was very much like a pioneer recently. Likewise Nicholas, our beloved "Kiki", was hit with a nasty cold/flu rendering him fussy, irritable and flowing with overwhelming amounts of mucus. Well that put us back a few hours of work, but somehow we managed to pack everything on time and get going on our drive south.

A few hours later after (fortunately) little crying from both babies we arrived. The apartment was covered with a layer of dust, ants, and generally nasty things; I guess thats what you get for not seeing the place before you rent it. After freaking out for a few minutes ("I have to live in THIS with my babies?!"), we (Jared, his dad, mom, sister Brittany, and BIL Kelly) got to work unloading our junk into the junkyard, while simultaneously bleaching and vacuuming every square inch. I would have taken pictures, but honestly I do not want to remember what it was like.

By the third day, after dropping $500 at Target and $300 at BB&B, and nearly getting robbed at Walmart in Crenshaw (*shudder* I hate Walmart), we felt like we could breathe again. My ailments finally cleared up, Kiki showed improvement, and the baby only woke up twice at night. Now that we have been around for 11 days we are finally feeling like this is our place. The only significant element we are lacking is our couch, which has proven to be quite essential; it arrives friday.

All things considered I would say we like this place quite a bit. Even though we are still killing ants daily (yuck!), and we seem to have chosen the foreign language housing (more on this later-- at least they're quiet neighbors), we are becoming very comfortable here, and are settling in quite well. Kiki finally stopped asking to go "home", and has the way to the park and laundromat down pat. I think we'll do just fine here.

Wow that was a long entry... and it only took me four tries...

Nicholas on vacay

Here we are, alive, well, and still pregnant, this time in another state. For anyone who's ever wondered, yes, it is really hot here. I've been experiencing some small doses of swelling and sweating due to said heat, but we seek solace in my aunt's pool on a daily basis.

We were lucky enough to have Jared here for the weekend to hang out and help my massive-ness.

Nicholas has loved being around his "new" relatives (his memory goes back about 4 months, tops), and has latched completely onto uncle Jake, who is only 8. They operate more like siblings than uncle-nephew at times, but in general are having tons of fun following and being followed around the house.

Not a baby, not yet a big boy....

With all the focus turning to our move and new addition this august, a bit (ok, maybe only a tiny fraction) of attention has shifted away from poor Nicholas. In the last few months he has become quite the funny, energetic little boy. Some days I just marvel at how much he has learned and changed as he transitions away from being my baby to my little boy. I sometimes am sad to think he has to grow up so fast, but am confident he will make a wonderful big brother.