Pond Life

Introducing our....

2012-02-01T14:30:00.000-08:00

New son! Sanaa's wish came true and we are expecting a boy!

Nate and I were a bit shocked. I think I expected it to be another girl even though I thought it was a boy. For awhile I've been pretty certain we were having a boy since my cravings were drastically different than the previous two pregnancies and every time I thought about decorating the spare room or making a baby blanket I could only envision colors in blue. I didn't even consider picking out a girls name because I didn't think we'd need one. It wasn't until last night after the Sanaa and Layla were in bed that Nate and I finally decided on a girl's name, but I guess we didn't need it. :-)

We've chosen the name Malakai Daniel. (We tried hard to find a boy's name with multiple A's!! Just kidding. But having multiple A's is definitely a theme with us.) We've had the first name picked out for nearly 4 years. The middle name was harder. We had a different middle name picked out and then changed it this morning while we were driving to the doctor's office. We really like how these two names seem to flow together.

(Note from Nate the Word Nerd: Malakai is a derivative of the Hebrew word Malachi which means My Messenger, while Daniel means God is my Judge. It is significant for us that both names are Old Testament prophets, one Minor and one Major. Malachi in particular has always been one of my favorite prophets. By changing the spelling to Malakai we've essentially created a more Arabic word by attaching it to the Arabic root "malak" meaning angel or messenger.)

We got to tell Rosa's parents and aunt Karen in person this time around. We let Sanaa do the honors. When we saw Rosa's mom, Sanaa jumped up and down and said, "It's a boy!" The conversation with Rosa's dad was funnier and it went like this:

Rosa: "Sanaa, do have something you want to tell grandpa?"
Sanaa: "No."
Nate: "You want to tell grandpa what we found out today? Do you want to tell grandpa what you're going to get?"
Grandpa: "Are you getting a bunny rabbit?"
Sanaa: *starts walking away and shrugs her shoulders* "No. It's just a brother."

Malakai is growing well and moving a lot. I've felt the small flutter movements for a little over a week now. The technician doing the ultrasound made the comment that he's a big boy and is approximately 9 ounces in weight (nearly 10 ounces). But according to baby center that's an average weight. So I don't know that he's really that big.

And here's an updated picture of me and my big belly at 19 1/2 weeks. I figured after Sanaa's comment you all might be wondering just how big I am.

More conversations with Sanaa

2012-01-31T14:01:00.000-08:00

Setting: Driving Sanaa to school this morning.

Sanaa: "Mommy, are you going to drop me off at school?"
Rosa: "Yes. I am."
Sanaa: "But I don't want you to drop me off."
Rosa: "Why not?"
Sanaa: "Because it will hurt."
Rosa: "Huh?"
Sanaa: "It will hurt if you drop me off."
Rosa: "Umm... okay. Do you want me to walk you inside?"
Sanaa: "Yes."

The conversations we are currently having with Sanaa are quite entertaining and we need to start writing them down more often. I really don't want to forget some of these fun things she's been saying.

Yesterday morning Sanaa said the following to me:
Sanaa: "Oh my! It's so big! I can't believe it! It's SO big mom."

She was referring to my belly and I'm only 19 weeks pregnant. I then made the mistake of asking Nate if I really looked that big and he said "Yes, it's sticking out there." I wonder what Sanaa will say when I'm a month away from my due date because I'll definitely be big then!

The Conversation last night

2012-01-31T06:48:00.001-08:00

Setting: Nate is in the garage with Layla on his hip, unloading laundry from the dryer. Sanaa comes in the garage and looks around.

Sanaa: "Man, this floor is dirty. It needs to be cleaned!"
Nate: "Mmmmm?"
Sanaa: "The floor needs to be cleaned! It's so dirty!"
Nate: "You sound like Mommy."
Sanaa: "I do?" *puts her hands on her hips*
Sanaa: "This floor needs to be cleaned!" *gasp* "I DO sound like Mommy!"

The End

Zoo, snow, and balloons... catching up on the past few weeks

2012-01-25T13:58:00.000-08:00

In December Nate and I decided to buy a yearly pass to the Portland zoo. We live 15-20 minutes from it and thought it would be a fun thing to do with the girls. We've already been to the zoo 3 times since then, which has pretty much paid off the yearly pass. From here on out our zoo trips will be free. Yay! The girls LOVE the zoo and Sanaa asks weekly to go back.

Layla and Sanaa (and Nate) enjoying some ice cream at the zoo. This is something I don't understand. It was cold at the zoo, yet all 3 of them wanted ice cream. Watching them eat the ice cream just made me even colder than I already was.

A week and a half ago we got a little bit of snow. The girls were very excited, so even though it was Layla's nap time, we went outside to play in the snow for a few minutes. It was a good thing we did because by the time Layla was up from her nap most of the snow was gone.

One of my favorite pictures of Sanaa. I need to frame this one!

Uncle Ryan and aunt Karen gave each girl a sled for Christmas. We still need to use them outside, but for the time being they make an awesome place to lay down and rest in! Sanaa will also push Layla around the house on one of the sleds too.

The girls found a bunch of water balloons I had forgotten about. I blew some up for them but there was so much static that the balloons began sticking to anything. There was a lot of giggling from both girls as the balloons stuck to their heads and clothes.

Christmas, part 2

2012-01-23T14:07:00.000-08:00

It's nearly the end of January and I still haven't gotten the rest of our Christmas pictures up! The week before Christmas Nate's parents flew out to visit us. We had a lot of fun with them and I know the girls enjoyed all the attention they got from Papa Gene and Gramma Carol.

On one of the days Nate's parents were here we rode "daddy's train" (a.k.a the MAX) into downtown Portland to visit Nate's work and see the huge Christmas tree in Pioneer Square. Sanaa thought the train ride was great! Layla just wanted out of the stroller so she could run around.

We also went to the Portland zoo to see the zoo lights one evening but I didn't get any pictures of that. The zoo lights were awesome! We'll be going back next year for sure!

Two days before Nate's parents had to leave we opened Christmas presents and both girls had a lot of fun discovering the new toys they got.

Layla received some baby dolls for Christmas and she's had a great time playing with her new dolls. She takes pretty good care of her dolls, so I'm hoping she'll be fairly receptive to a new baby in our house in a few months.

Sanaa's big gift from Nate and I was a scooter and she has loved riding it. She rides it nearly every day.

While Nate's parents were here they also helped get more of our boxes unpacked as well as put the girl's outdoor play structure together and put Nate's new desk together. Since they left.... I haven't done much of anything which means I still have a lot of boxes in the garage. Maybe once the weather is warmer I'll have the energy to get out there and finish unpacking.

Christmas, part 1

2012-01-10T13:40:00.000-08:00

It's probably about time I get some Christmas pictures up. The weekend after Thanksgiving, the girls and I headed to my parents house to help my mom make Christmas cookies. My mom bakes a variety of cookies every Christmas and this was the first time I got to help in a number of years! I think we'll make this an annual event and as the girls get older they can start helping more.

Sanaa and Layla both wore their aprons for a little while.

Pressing the cookie batter into the cookie mold. They stayed focused for a little bit. I tried to get Layla to spread out her cookie dough, but she kept trying to put the dough in the same spot.

I think the girls favorite part was decorating some cookies. However, Layla spent more time licking the icing than decorating. Sanaa on the other hand enjoyed the decorating process and was very excited about showing her cookies to daddy once we got home.

Christmas Day was spent with my parents. We went to church with them in the morning. After church we swung by the hospital to meet my new niece and then headed to my parents house for Christmas lunch. After Layla's nap we opened presents.

Sanaa and Layla in their Christmas dresses.

Playing at my parents house with a wooden train that my dad found in the attic. This was made by my dad's dad for my dad when he was a little boy. I even remember playing with this train when I was little!

Opening presents with my parents.

Layla watched everyone else open their stockings and just sat by hers. Finally I dumped her contents out so she'd get the idea that something was in there for her to open.

Hair cuts and makeup

2012-01-09T13:23:00.000-08:00

Last week, Sanaa and I got our hair cut. This was Sanaa's second time to get a trim. The first time she was pretty scared and insisted on sitting on my lap for her trim. This time she sat in the "special" chair and wore a fish cape. So cool! Sanaa had 2 inches taken off and I had several inches chopped off.

Yesterday, Nate let me take a nap and said he would hang out with Sanaa while Layla napped. Sanaa got to watch some tv and Nate took a little nap. Unfortunately, while Nate napped Sanaa decided to put on some "makeup" (red marker). She wanted to wear lipstick like mommy, but also added something to her forehead. Nate had her all cleaned up by the time I got up so I only saw these pictures which I thought was hilarious!

Our 9th Anniversary

2012-01-06T13:34:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday was our 9th wedding anniversary. Wow! Nate had off so we started the day with a fun treat for all.... donuts. After breakfast we headed off to my doctor's appointment to check on baby #3. Then we picked up some lunch and went to visit uncle Ryan, aunt Karen, and Ariana. This was Layla's first time to meet her new cousin. We then headed to my parents house to give Layla a nap since we didn't think she'd make it all the way back to our house. Plus, Nate and I wanted a break. After Layla's nap we stopped in to see grandpa (my dad) at work before heading home. Even though our entire anniversary was spent running around, it was neat that we in the same town where we got married 9 years ago.

The girls really enjoyed their donuts, especially since there were sprinkles on top!

Layla really liked her new cousin. She would pat Ariana on the head and even tried to give her a hug. Layla is really into playing with her dolls and carries them around our house, so I think seeing a real baby that is roughly the size of her dolls was fascinating to her.

My check up went well. The baby's heart beat was nice and strong. I am 15 1/2 weeks along and still dealing with morning sickness. It's not as bad as it was in the beginning but I'm quite ready for it to be gone. The morning sickness started around 6 weeks, so nearly 10 weeks of feeling queasy is getting old. I've also started showing quite a bit sooner with this pregnancy than the last two. With Sanaa I looked like this when I was closer to 19 weeks. I apparently didn't start taking belly shots with Layla until 26 weeks, so I can't compare those pictures until later.

An unexpected Christmas gift

2011-12-26T13:24:00.000-08:00

Around 8:15am yesterday morning my brother called me. I knew that meant only one thing. Their baby was coming! But I was wrong. Their baby was here! My sister-in-law had her water break late Christmas Eve night and my newest niece was born bright and early Christmas morning at 4:55am.

Arianna Elizabeth is the newest member of our family and my brother and sister-in-law's first child. Mom, baby, and dad are all doing well. They are quite tired considering they were up all day Saturday, all night on Saturday, and all day on Sunday.

The tired but proud new dad.

Family

2011-12-23T15:01:00.000-08:00

This week has been very busy. Nate's parents flew in for a visit on Monday and then left early this morning. We had a great time with them and I need to write a post on that with some of the pictures we took.

This weekend we'll spend time with my family and I'm honestly not sure what to expect. You're probably wondering why in the world I said that, but my brother and his wife are expecting their first child. Her due date is December 26. Right now we're just waiting for her to go into labor. So, while we're planning to spend Christmas day together, we all understand that plans may change at any moment!

On top of that, my grandma (mom's mom) was hospitalized earlier this week. This morning she needed surgery, which was unexpected and we were told she had a 50/50 chance of coming through the surgery. She came out of surgery fine and is recovering very well. But this morning things were very uncertain. You can continue to keep my grandma in your prayers. I know we'd all appreciate it.

On a completely different note, a little daughter of mine has been rearranging and adding to our nativity. I like the giant sheep that has become part of it! When I first saw it I chuckled because I saw the small sheep on the roof but didn't see the donkey anywhere. Then I noticed the donkey on the roof as well. Maybe I need to get my eyes checked. I've stopped rearranging the nativity back to the way I had it and would rather Sanaa spend time with it so that we can talk about the real reason for this Christmas season.

Last girl standing

2011-12-16T10:57:00.000-08:00

Since last Wednesday we have been battling the stomach bug in our house. It hit me Wednesday night and Thursday. Then late Friday night Sanaa got it. She was pretty wiped out the entire weekend. By Monday Sanaa was doing better and Nate and Layla were still healthy. We made it though the entire week with no one else getting sick and I thought we were finally done with the stomach bug...... until this morning when it struck Nate. NOOO!!!!!! I'm really hoping this is the last of it and somehow Layla manages to escape the bug. She's the only one left to not get it.

Needless to say, this bug has not helped me get ready for Christmas and now I find myself scrambling to get things done in time. I'm not sure when our Christmas cards will get mailed, but I figure if the cards show up after Christmas that will be a nice surprise for people.

Sanaa sleeping on the couch. This is where she spent most of the weekend.

Nate and Layla doing yard work on Sunday. Since Sanaa was still sick we stayed home from church.

Working on puzzles. This is one of Layla's new favorite pass times. She does really well with the puzzles and needs very little help from me.

Even Sanaa has been enjoying puzzles. It's nice having them work on quiet activities every once in awhile.

Pre-concert photos

2011-12-09T09:25:00.001-08:00

Trying to get a good picture of Sanaa in her Christmas dress.

Layla played well while we waited for Sanaa's concert to start. She spent a lot of time drawing and coloring. Layla also enjoyed the concert and danced along with the songs the kids sang.

A fun sister picture.

Sanaa's first preschool concert

2011-12-09T09:09:00.001-08:00

In November, we enrolled Sanaa in preschool. She's been attending for just over a month and has loved going to school. She attends twice a week for 2 1/2 hours. This past Tuesday Sanaa had her Christmas concert. I meant to post these videos on Wednesday but the stomach bug knocked me out of commission for a good 24 hours. In the videos you'll see that Sanaa did not sing all. The first video is just the 3 year olds singing. The second video is all the kids (3 year olds, 4 year olds, and kindergarteners) singing. Sanaa started crying during the last song which broke my heart. After the concert she told me that she was sad because she wanted to be with her family. Maybe next year's concert will go better.

18 months old

2011-12-05T13:52:00.000-08:00

Last week (on Thursday) Layla turned 18 months. Only 6 more months till her 2nd birthday. Wow! On Friday she had her 18 month check up. It went well and she didn't need any shots. The pediatrician said she is growing well and has no concerns about her health. Layla is a very petite child and only weighed 21 pounds (that was fully clothed with her diaper on!). That puts her in the 7th percentile for weight. She was 30.5 inches tall and was in the 18th percentile for height.

Layla is a very active child and loves to climb on anything. I'm frequently pulling her off of the table, off of the bathroom counter (where she likes to turn on the sink water) and off of her rocking chair which she prefers to stand in instead of sitting. She tries to jump off of her rocking chair and laughs about it.

If you leave your food on the table, Layla will find it and finish eating it for you. Below, she found Sanaa's breakfast and finished it.

Layla is talking a little. Some of words in her vocabulary include: daddy, apple, up, more, "quack," "meow," llama (sounds like mama), "baa," cracker and "dop" which means thank you.

She enjoys playing with her big sister and will follow Sanaa around. I do hear a lot of fighting between the two but there are also some peaceful moments when they play nicely together.

Around the house

2011-11-30T20:05:00.000-08:00

I'm still not feeling the greatest. The first trimester of pregnancy and I do not get along at all. The only thing the first trimester is good for is losing weight on my part. So, I still haven't finished unpacking. My goal each day is to survive and attempt to keep Sanaa and Layla entertained. Luckily, they have started playing fairly well together. We do have issues with Sanaa not sharing toys, grabbing toys from Layla, and playing a little too rough. But Layla is a tough girl and it won't be long before she fights back.

Exploring the floor vents. In Texas our vents were in the ceiling, so the girls get a huge kick out of feeling the warm air coming out of the floor.

"Working" at daddy's new desk.

Ranger Sanaa. She likes to pretend to be a ranger, but this picture makes me think of a safari.

Having a picnic before bed.

Doing yard work.

Playing in the tub. I have no idea why they like to play in the tub but they do.

Thanksgiving

2011-11-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving we got to spend with my family. It was Nate's first Thanksgiving (ever!) with my family. We've never been able to come out to Oregon since we got married for Thanksgiving due to Nate's work schedule.

Sanaa chillin' with uncle Ryan and aunt Karen. Aunt Karen is due December 26th! We can't wait to meet the newest family member. Ryan and Karen have chosen to not find out the sex of the baby, so I'm guessing boy!

I didn't take very many pictures during Thanksgiving. I didn't even think about it. But we did have a fun, relaxing day eating a lot of food. The girls also had fun walking in grandpa's boots.

Making apple cider

2011-11-13T20:48:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago I talk about apple picking and mentioned that my dad's side of the family was going to get together to make apple cider. Last Saturday (Nov 5) most of the extended family that lives in Oregon got together and made A LOT of apple cider. It was a fun, but chilly day.

My dad pushing apples into the cider press. My cousin Peter is in the red sweat shirt and his son Caleb is on the left side of the picture.

Some of my cousins kids sorting/playing on the apples in the trailer.

The truck was full of apples as well. A second trailer was used to dump the apple pulp in after the juice was squeezed out.

Washing, sorting, and cutting the apples before passing them to the next group to be pressed.

The women waiting for more cider to come so that they could strain it and pour it into jugs.

Layla had a great time helping. Here she threw an apple into the cider press.

Next Layla helped sort the apples.

Apparently tasting the apples was part of her sorting technique.

Nate jumped right in on the action and got to work cutting apples. You won't find a single picture of me working or helping with the cider making process because I was busy watching the girls. Nate had so much fun with my family and I was quite happy to just let him chop away.

Sanaa with some of my cousins kids climbing the mountain of apples.

More apple sorting.

A shot of the big operation from the end of the driveway.

They began making cider around 8:30am and wrapped things up around 4pm or 4:30pm. We had over 150 galloons of cider by the end of the day! I'm not sure what the exact total was since they lost count after 150 galloons, but that is the most they've ever made. My dad went home with a truck load of apples that didn't get pressed since we had so many apples.

We're hoping to do this again next year. I know my girls had a blast. We came home with 10 galloons of apple cider and it is really good. In one week Nate, the girls, and I have polished off 2 1/2 galloons of cider.

June 2012

2011-11-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

June 2012 will be a very busy month for us. Layla will turn 2 years old on the 1st and Sanaa will turn 4 years old on the 30th. Somewhere in-between their two birthdays we will welcome our 3rd child into the family unless the baby decides to come early.

Yep. I'm pregnant and have been dealing with morning sickness for just over two weeks now. I had my first doctor's appointment this past Friday and got to see the littlest Pond on the ultrasound. His/her heart was beating wonderfully. My due date is June 24th but because I have had two prior c-sections, this third time will be a c-section as well. I've joked about having a 3rd child on June 15th and since the c-section will be scheduled a week before my actual due date I could possibly have my 3rd child on June 15th. I guess we'll see....

Halloween

2011-11-12T21:14:00.000-08:00

I'm playing catch-up since we were moving into our new house over Halloween. The girls were dressed as princesses this year. Sanaa picked out her purple princess dress and then we found Layla a little ballerina outfit. Layla didn't have a clue she was dressed as a ballerina and Sanaa kept calling her a princess, so I just went with it.

I took the girls to Newberg on Halloween where my mom and I walked the girls up and down the main street and went trick or treating at all the local stores. The various store owners were dressed up as they handed out candy and the girls came away with a huge stash of candy! We got there early, but by the time we were leaving it was getting quite crowed. Sanaa was pretty shy the whole time and wouldn't talk to anyone. Layla caught on quickly and happily held her bucket out for more candy. By the end, Layla began to sign "more" in the hopes of getting more candy in her bucket. Sanaa is already asking when Halloween will come again.

Our house

2011-11-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

We've been in our new house for about 2 weeks. It is still full of boxes and quite cluttered but it's nice to have our own place again. I'm struggling with putting things away because our new house is about 300 sq. ft. smaller than our former house in Texas. I have less storage in the kitchen but that will be solved tomorrow. I found a nice hutch on craigslist and went to see it today. The family selling the hutch lives about 1.5 miles from us! They also have a dining room table for sale that I'll be getting too. Sweet!

But without further ado... some pictures of our new house complete with clutter and boxes!

The kitchen.

The kitchen and family room are one area.

Looking from the kitchen towards the front door. The dining room is in this front area.

Our dining room.... someday. Right now it's our storage room.

Master bedroom.

Girls room.

Layla's side.

Sanaa's side of the room. We do have a new bed for her but haven't put it together yet.

Guest room.

The part that sold me on house... the backyard!

And my own garden area that is fenced off from the rest of the backyard! I can't wait until spring to plant stuff!

Once the clutter and boxes are gone I'll take better pictures of our house. I'll also get a better picture of our dining room with the table and hutch.

Apple picking

2011-10-29T21:40:00.000-07:00

Every fall my dad's siblings (at the least the ones living in Oregon) get together to make apple cider. This is a 2-weekend event. The first weekend, everyone who can meets up at an apple orchard to pick apples. The following weekend they get together to make the cider. This is the first time I've ever been around to join in and I'm pretty excited.

This morning I took the girls and we went apple picking with the extended family. The girls did well and really enjoyed themselves.

Layla and Sanaa heading down the apple row with aunt LaVerne.

Aunt LaVerne instructing Layla to put the apples in the bucket.

Sanaa helping my dad pick some apples.

Sanaa insisted on carrying her own bucket..... at least until it got to heavy which was when it contained about 10 apples.

Even Layla carried her own bucket.

Some apples were a little harder to pull off than others.

The girls really wanted to climb up high like grandpa.

After working for awhile it was time to enjoy an apple for snack.

Layla ate 2 apples.

A shot down the apple row. It was a foggy morning which is why you can't see the end of the row very well.

If you're wondering how many apples were picked, look at the post below with my uncle Norm's truck. Uncle Norm's trailer and truck were completely filled with apples! That is a lot of apples! Next Saturday is cider making day. And yes, I'll be taking pictures and let you know how many gallons of cider we make.

Moving to our new house

2011-10-29T20:59:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I picked up the keys to our new house! Yay! Pictures will be coming in a week or so. I say a week because we hope to start spending the night at our new place tomorrow night but we won't have internet access at our house until Friday (Nov 4). Ick.

Thursday evening we took 4 car loads of stuff over to our house. Then on Friday my uncle Norm came with his awesome blue truck and trailer to help us move the rest of our stuff. We had uncle Norm's truck and trailer plus my dad's truck and a u-haul trailer. Our storage unit was cleared out and everything in our house by 4:30pm on Friday. Nothing was put together, but it all was in the house.

Isn't uncle Norm's truck great?

Sanaa kept calling him uncle Norman (which is really his name, but we typically call him Norm, so I don't know why she started saying Norman).

Layla was not happy that we were keeping her out of the trailer as my dad and Norm tied our fridge down.

Our fridge was at my parents house because a couple weeks ago my parents fridge died. So we pulled ours out of storage for my parents to use until they bought a new one.

The girls kept themselves busy walking the balance beam as we loaded trucks and trailers at the storage unit.

Working on filling the u-haul trailer.

They were suppose to be working but I caught them chatting.

Today I painted the girls new bedroom. It was blue and I painted it a more neutral color. Hopefully tomorrow we'll get the beds together so we can sleep there.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-27T13:44:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday the girls, my parents, uncle Ryan, aunt Karen, and I went to a pumpkin patch. Nate had to work which was a bummer. The girls had a blast. There was a wonderful play area with a hay maze, giant tires to climb on, slides, and a tunnel. The girls played for awhile before we got on the hay ride to head out to the pumpkin patch.

Running through the maze. I think next to picking out a pumpkin Sanaa enjoyed the hay maze most.

Layla had given uncle Ryan a hug, which is what I tried to capture, but she ran off too quick.

Layla checking out the goats with grandpa.

Sanaa was brave enough to scratch the goat's head.

On the hay ride (aunt Karen, uncle Ryan, grandma, grandpa, and Layla. Sanaa was sitting on my lap). Sanaa really enjoyed the hay ride.

The pumpkin patch. A large area where they placed hundreds of pumpkins that had already been picked for us. I got a kick out of the Christmas trees growing right next to the patch. Both girls had a great time running through the pumpkins and looking at them.

Sanaa was proud of herself carrying a pumpkin.

Layla heading into the tunnel.

Sanaa has requested that we take daddy to the pumpkin patch. So on one of his next days off we'll see if we can do that.

Update: Sanaa's ears

2011-10-26T21:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Sanaa had her appointment with the ENT. There was too much dried blood in her right ear for him to get a good look and see what exactly is going on. So, he prescribed some ear drops that we get to put in her ears 3 times a day for the next week. The drops will clean out her ear so that at next week's appointment he can get a better look.

The doctor is fairly sure the blood from her ear is somehow connected to her tubes but is not sure whether the ear drum was ruptured. There are two possibilities, the first being that the tube came out and did create a hole in her ear drum and the second is the tube is still in her ear but a granuloma (a highly vascular mass of fibrous tissue and blood vessels which the body forms in response to a chronic infection - I copied that definition) is around the tube.

If the ear drum does have a hole, the doctor wouldn't do anything about it and would let it heal on it's own. He said that they wouldn't even consider surgery on someone so young since their ears are still developing.

The tube in her left ear is slowly working it's way out. We're right at the point where both tubes should be working their way out. Hopefully there are no major issues with her left ear as the tube comes out. The doctor said it's rare for children to have complications when the tubes come out so it appears Sanaa is one of those lucky few. At least she's not complaining about anything hurting but she does hate the ear drops and that is a wrestling match trying to get the drops in her ears. But only 6 more days of ear drops.

Perforated Eardrum

2011-10-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago as I put Sanaa's hair in a pony tail I noticed a small amount of dried blood on her ear lobe. There was more dried blood in her ear but nothing was bleeding. I wasn't sure what had happened but she wasn't acting like she was in pain so even though I asked my mom about it I wasn't too concerned.

I forgot about Sanaa's ear until today. We were outside and I was pushing Layla on the swing. Sanaa asked me to hold her so I did. Then she started rubbing her ear saying that something was tickling her. I moved her hand away from her ear and there was blood.

I took Layla out of the swing, headed inside and found my mom. She offered to watch Layla while I drove Sanaa to the Urgent Care in town. The doctor took one look inside Sanaa's ear and said she had a perforated eardrum. Ugh. Not what I wanted to hear.

Monday morning I'll be contacting the ENT (ear, nose, throat specialist) here in town and making an appointment. It's possible that Sanaa's ear tube came out a couple days ago and caused it. I'm not sure but it seems like the most likely culprit.

Thankfully Sanaa is not in any pain (at least she's not complaining about any) but she does not like to go to the doctor and is not a good patient. She did surprisingly well today but that was after throwing a massive tantrum when she found out I was taking her to the doctor and my mom almost had to help me carry her to van. So pray that Monday goes smoothly and that we're able to get into the ENT.

Flutes and sheep

2011-10-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

What do flutes and sheep have in common?

Technically nothing unless you're leaving for flute practice but can't get out of the driveway because the neighbor has his sheep penned up in the middle of the driveway so that he can catch two of the lambs.

Has this happened to anyone else besides me? I did call the director of the flute ensemble and left her a message letting her know I was going to be late because of the sheep in the driveway. I'm sure that was an interesting voicemail to hear! If only I had been more creative when I was younger. This would have been an awesome excuse to use when late somewhere!

You're probably wondering what the rest of the story is. Last week I was headed to flute practice but couldn't get out of the driveway. My parents share part of their driveway with their neighbor. When you first turn in you're on the shared portion. If you turn right you head to the neighbors house and turning left leads you to my parents house.

I pulled up to the closed gate and saw a bunch of sheep, one llama, and the neighbor. The neighbor (who is also the veterinarian in my parents town) walked up and asked if I needed to leave right then or if I could wait. I told him I had flute practice in another town (which is a good 45 minutes away) and he said, "Oh. Umm.. I need to catch two lambs for a guy that is coming soon. My family should be here soon to help."

I asked if my dad could possibly help him and he said yes, so I walked back up to my parents house and got my dad.

(In the picture below, I'm standing at my parents house looking down at the driveway. The red lines are where the sheep were penned in.)

My dad came out to help and the neighbor caught one lamb and tied him to the fence. The neighbor attempted to catch a second but sheep and lambs can be quick. They are dumb (several tried jumping into the gate to escape) but quick. The neighbor barely missed catching the second lamb and turned around to discover that the first lamb had somehow wiggled out of the knot and was now running freely again. That didn't make the neighbor happy.

A couple more attempts to catch the silly lambs happened and finally the neighbor cornered several sheep and lambs and was able to grab ahold of two at the same time. Amazing! He tied one to the fence while my dad got the rope off the fence from the first escapee. The neighbor tied both lambs to the fence and then discovered that both were females. He was trying to catch a male and female. Oops.

So at this point the neighbor says, "Well, let's try and get you through and we'll open one gate at a time."

He opened the first gate. I drove slowly through.

Have I mentioned that sheep are dumb? Instead of moving away from the van they walked right up to sniff the front. Really?

The first gate was closed and the second gate was opened. I drove through that one and stopped. There was a llama in my way.

The neighbor says, "Don't worry about hitting the llama. He'll move."

Ummm..... the llama's fur is touching the front of my van. He's not moving!!!!

Finally the llama moves and I inch forward. The second gate is closed and the third gate is opened. I'm finally free! (The third gate was closed because the field was wide open and this kept the other llama and sheep from roaming away down the driveway.)

Each time the gates were opened, none of the sheep attempted to escape through the opening. Those critters are dumb. But I did make it to flute practice and I was only 10 minutes late.

In case you're wondering, I have started playing with the Rose City Flute Choir. I've only had three practices with them but am loving it! At the last practice I counted 25 of us playing. So cool. And I saw my first contra-flute in person. That flute was taller than some of the gals playing it! If you want to come out to Oregon the first Saturday in December you'd have the opportunity to hear us play!

Playing, helping, exploring

2011-10-16T15:22:00.000-07:00

Slugs are still fun to play with around here. I thought the novelty would have worn off by now but it hasn't. In fact, both girls have graduated to picking up the slugs with their hands. Yuck. Sanaa will even show me the big slugs that she finds.

Moss on trees is another fun thing we explore. Every tree around has moss on it and it's not something we're use to seeing.

Helping grandpa. A ladder or step stool gets put up and the girls automatically climb it.

Making bird food. Sanaa really likes to help in the kitchen and she got to help grandpa make some bird food.

It's a tea party! Sanaa treated her animals to a fun party with tea, ice cream, and felt cup cakes. On Pinterest I found some fun suggestions on using felt shapes. One was to cut out cupcake shapes (the icing, the cupcake, the liner, and sprinkles) so that the child could create and decorate their own cupcakes.

(On a side note, if you haven't discovered Pinterest it's pretty cool. It's a huge time waster, but I find a lot of ideas there! :-) It's basically a place to pin ideas you find around the web so that you have all your cooking, crafts, holiday ideas, travel dreams, etc. in one place. You're not stuck thinking, "Oh man. I remember seeing ______, but I don't know what website that was on.")

Head bands! How many head bands can you wear? Layla believes you should wear ALL the headbands at the same time. I'm sure she's on the cutting edge of a new fashion trend.

"Cheese!" When you catch Layla in a place that she knows she shouldn't be she gives you a huge smile as if to say, "Surprise! You found me!"

Day trips to the coast

2011-10-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

One of the big perks of living here in Oregon are the day trips to the coast we've been able to take with the girls. The past two Thursdays Nate has had off so we've packed up and driven out to the coast (which is only 1 1/2 hours away). One Thursday we had beautiful weather. It was sunny and in the low 60's. We had a picnic lunch and then the girls played.

Layla loved the water and kept running to waves. The waves were a little strong for her so I held onto her each time a wave came in. We both had to change our pants when it was time to leave since we were so wet.

Sanaa preferred to build sand castles. The waves actually frightened her. But she did let me hold her and walk closer to the waves.

This past Thursday wasn't as nice at the coast. It was cloudy and cool (in the mid 50's) but we still had a good time. We kept Layla out of the water this time since it was cooler and instead chased birds and searched for seashells.

Sanaa is already asking to go back and while we don't have plans to go to the coast soon (since we'll be closing on our house and moving) we can promise her that we'll go soon!

Update: Grandma and House

2011-10-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

I have two updates for you. The first is that my grandma went home from the hospital about a week ago on Monday (Oct 10). My mom stayed in PA for the week and returned home last night. My grandma is doing well and we're quite thankful that she is back home.

The second update is on our house. We're scheduled to close on the 27th of this month. Our loan has been approved but is contingent on us securing home owner's insurance. The home owner's insurance has been hard to get and so far 2 insurance companies won't insure the house unless we get a new roof. The roof is about 25 years old and is still in good condition but due to it's age the insurance companies won't insure the house. So frustrating! We are waiting to hear back from 2 more insurance companies and hopefully one of them will insure the house and not require us to replace the roof immediately. If we had a year or two to save some money to replace the roof that would be fine, but replacing it immediately makes things hard financially.

The seller's have also asked to stay in the house a day or two after closing which is something we're trying to negotiate. I flat out said no because I want to move in immediately. That is mainly so that we can get out items out of storage. On Nov 5th we would have to pay for a 3rd month of storage and I really don't want to. We have one week (from the time we close to Nov 5) to get our stuff from storage to our house and with some of the bigger items (like the washer, dryer, fridge) we'll need to get a couple of stronger guys (like my dad and brother) to help us move those. So we really need to start moving right after we close since that is the last weekend before we hit Nov 5.

Once we get moved in I'll get some pictures posted for you all!!!

Pictures from our week

2011-10-07T22:14:00.000-07:00

It's October and the cloudy/rainy days have begun. We've spent more time indoors this week than outdoors. The girls still really enjoy playing outside in the rain and it's mainly me that gets tired of being cold and wet. The girls would just keep playing most of the day outside if I let them despite the coolness and rain. I guess I'm just the party pooper around her. Oh, well.

Nate and the girls. I took this after church as we waited for lunch. Layla was hungry and tired which is why she was crying. But this is a great picture of the three of them.

But after a little food, everyone is ready to play and goof off. The girls entertained all of us as they stood on their stools and said, "Ta-da!" Layla is quite good at balancing and didn't have any trouble climbing up on the little stool and standing there.

On Sunday I turned the blanket I made Sanaa when she was a baby into a pillow. She never really slept with the blanket but has needed a soft thin pillow. Sanaa loves the pillow and after I finished it she told me I needed to make one for Layla. Guess I'll add that to my project list.

Sanaa modeling her pillow. She's used it every night since I made it.

Layla is growing up too fast for me. She prefers to sit at the table in the big chair to scribble.

Layla's first experience with paint. Layla is a messy child and I've been very hesitant to give her things that will make an even bigger mess. After each meal the floor, the table, and Layla are covered in food. But I finally took a deep breath and let her paint and it wasn't too bad. She kept most of the paint on the plate and paper. When she started trying to paint the table I called it quits. I didn't think my mom would appreciate Layla's artist accents to her dining room table.

Sanaa was busy painting footsteps. She is really into drawing/painting things she sees. She will often make clouds, mountains, trees, people, etc. I can't always tell what it is that she made but she always tells me about her picture.

Tuesday I was trying to make dinner and the girls were being extra clingy/whiny/fussy and driving me crazy. So I gave them some trash to play with. I'm only partially joking. I poked holes in an empty bread crumb container and an empty oatmeal container. Then I pulled out some pipe cleaner and showed Layla how to put it into the holes. Both girls were quite entertained and still play with those silly containers. My dad showed up and chuckled that the girls were so engrossed with playing with trash. Guess we don't need to buy them very many toys this Christmas!

A sweet smile from my sweet girl.

My Grandma

2011-10-07T21:33:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday my mom came home and told us she had received a call from one of her siblings letting her know that her mom had been rushed to the hospital. Things did not look to good on Tuesday evening and we were quite worried about my grandma. On Wednesday morning my mom decided to fly back to Pennsylvania after talking with one of her sister's. She booked a red-eye flight and left late Wednesday night.

My grandma has congestive heart failure that she's been dealing with for awhile but this was the worst episode she has had. Thankfully she's doing better. She does currently have a touch of pneumonia, fluid in her lungs, and an infection in her legs. She is on antibiotics for the infection and that is getting better. The doctors are not able to remove the fluid from her lungs right now since my grandma is on medication that makes her blood thinner (my dad thought it might be medication for high blood pressure but we're not sure). They are taking her off the medication so that her blood can thicken up before they go in to remove the fluid from her lungs. Hopefully tomorrow (Saturday) or Sunday they'll be able to remove the fluid and it's possible that she might be able to go home on Monday.

I'm quite thankful my grandma is doing better but she could still use your prayers. My mom most likely won't be returning home until the end of next week.

16 months

2011-10-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

Today Layla is 16 months. I completely missed her 15 month post (as well as aunt Karen's birthday and my birthday) but we were in the midst of moving to Oregon. It's hard to believe we left Texas a month ago and sold our house two months ago.

Layla is definitely a petite child. At her 15 month check up she was only 19 lbs. She fell in the 20-25th percentile for pretty much everything if I remember correctly. We'll see how much she grows by her 18 month check up but with the amount of moving/climbing/mischief she gets into I doubt she'll have gained much weight.

But she does eat a lot! Some mornings she will eat 2 bowls of oatmeal plus some fruit and then start asking for crackers an hour or so later. Currently her favorite food is blackberries. Blackberry bushes grow like weeds out here in Oregon. My parents have A LOT of blackberry bushes and I'll need to take some pictures to show you all. Layla knows right were the bushes are and will point and nod her head when you ask her if she wants some blackberries.

There is one blackberry bush right next to where my dad parks his truck. The rest of bushes are farther down the yard/meadow, so most of the time Layla will head to this bush when she has a blackberry craving. My dad could hardly get his container filled with blackberries because Layla kept eating up every blackberry he picked.

Even Sanaa got into the blackberry picking. At first she wouldn't eat them but now she likes them.

Layla is also a snuggly child. She loves to run up to any of us and give us a hug.

Layla really enjoys seeing herself in a camera or on the computer. She tries to say "cheese" when she's pretending to play with a pretend camera (a.k.a. Nate's alarm clock).

Layla loves her big sister and has started to play with Sanaa more. If Sanaa is laying on the floor Layla will almost always sit on her. Layla also really enjoys playing peek-a-boo with Sanaa.

Layla's quite moments are brief but she will sit and look at a book. She won't sit still long enough for me to read to her. Instead she pulls the book away from me and runs off so that she can sit and look at it by herself.

Like Sanaa, Layla loves being outside. Her favorite activity outside is swinging. Last week we went to a park and both girls ended up swinging for a good 30 minutes.

Raising tomboys

2011-09-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

Sanaa and Layla have always loved playing outside and have always preferred playing in dirt than with toys. Sanaa loves to dig to find creatures and Layla just likes to dig. I have no problem with them digging and playing with dirt but yesterday they added a new fun activity to their outdoor play.

Hunting for slugs.

In the past Sanaa has always been fine with just looking at all the slugs that come out when it rains. But yesterday she decided it was time to collect every single slug she could find and put them in her bucket. I'm sure she had at least 20-30 slugs in her bucket at one point. (Before putting the slugs in the bucket, she put in rocks and dirt to make a "nest" for the slugs. I tried to explain that slugs don't live in nests but she disagreed.)

We spent hours finding slugs and even Layla got in on the action. Layla has always done her own thing outside so I was very surprised when she began helping Sanaa by picking up the slugs that had crawled out of the bucket and dropping them back in the bucket. GROSS!!!!

I don't want to stop my girls from exploring outside but yuck! I did thoroughly wash Layla's hands (several times) after we were done playing outside.

This morning as we walked outside to head to the van, we saw more slugs and Sanaa was very excited. She wanted to catch them to put in her bucket again but we didn't have time. As we pulled out of the driveway Sanaa said to me, "Be careful mom! Don't run over the slugs my friends!" Oh dear. I really need to get her out of the house more and around kids her own age.....

Sanaa and Layla also enjoy playing near my dad's old pickup that he intends to restore some day. Here it appears that Layla is attempting to fix something on the truck but she's really pulling out rocks that she had previously dropped inside the truck.

Layla was doing her fake cry, so Sanaa sat down beside her to comfort her.

And then Layla rested her head on Sanaa's arm. I love seeing moments like this between the girls.

Wry neck

2011-09-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard of wry neck? I hadn't until Wednesday. That day started off normal. The girls and I drove up to Portland to attend BSF (Bible Study Fellowship). It was my second time to attend and the girls first time. I was in my discussion group when I ended up being pulled out by one of the childcare workers. I initially thought they were coming to get me because Layla wouldn't calm down. But it was actually Sanaa they were concerned about. She was complaining of neck pain and a headache. They asked if I'd like to check on her and I said yes since she's never complained about head or neck pain before.

When I got to her classroom she seemed okay. She held her neck a little but I wasn't that concerned. I tried to get her to go back to her classroom but she refused so I took her with me back to the main area so that I could listen to the main lecture. Sanaa did quite well and was really quiet during the lecture. However, during the last 10-15 minutes she began to whimper more and more. I had sent a text to my mom earlier who suggested that when I arrived back in Newberg I should take Sanaa to the Urgent Care clinic to get her checked out.

I left BSF early since Sanaa appeared to be in more pain and we headed back to Newberg. My mom met us at the clinic and watched Layla while Sanaa was checked out by the doctor. He diagnosed Sanaa with wry neck which apparently is common with kids. From what I understand wry neck is a strained muscle accompanied by muscle spasms. Most of the time kids will wake up with neck pain because they've slept wrong. But a child can also strain their neck muscles by just turning their head wrong or something simple like that.

Sanaa seems to be doing some what better today. She's kept her head tilted to the left over the past couple of days and doesn't turn her head much. But she's not whimpering in pain and doesn't complain about any pain. Hopefully she'll be back to normal over the weekend.

Sanaa watching a get well soon e-card from gramma Carol.

Painting with mud. We haven't had much rain but that hasn't stopped Sanaa from mixing up mud and smearing it on my parents deck.

Layla enjoyed helping Sanaa paint the deck with mud.

Ready for rain! Last weekend I bought the girls and I rain boots. Both girls really like their boots. If you're wondering if Layla is wearing boy boots the answer is yes. The store didn't have any girly rain boots her size but had a bunch of little boy boots. Do they think girls don't like to play in the rain or mud?

House Hunting

2011-09-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

On Friday Nate, the girls, and I went house hunting with our realtor here in Oregon. Earlier in the week we made the decision to walk away from the first house. We had a the home inspection done about a week and a half ago and some serious issues were found. The owner (Fannie Mae) was not willing to negotiate in regards to repairs. Instead they strung us along for a few days before making it clear that they were only interested in selling the house AS IS. They could have informed us about that when we first looked at the house instead of waiting so long. Since the repairs in question were going to cost us $7,000+ we terminated our offer.

So on Friday we started all over with the house hunting. However, much to our surprise, our interaction with the Fannie Mae realtor wasn't over. On Friday morning the Fannie Mae realtor emailed our realtor saying, "Termination received. End of conversation." A few hours later the Fannie Mae realtor called our realtor stating that they were willing to work with us if we'd like to come back and reopen the negotiations. They would pay half the cost for the furnace, take care of the plumbing, and the dry wall. Really? They couldn't negotiate earlier? Our realtor said she'd talk it over with us but we had no intention of going back to that house.

We looked at 8 houses on Friday and the girls did awesome! Sanaa viewed it as an adventure and towards the end started asking us if we could look at another house.

The first 3 houses we saw we liked. We decided to make an offer on the third house we saw. Our realtor submitted our offer this morning and this evening the owners accepted it. They didn't even make a counter offer! That caught us completely off guard but we are very excited! This Wednesday we'll have a home inspection done on this new house and we're praying no serious issues are uncovered.

If all goes well with this new house we'll close on Oct 27.

Play time

2011-09-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

These pictures are a mix from my phone and the camera. Nate knew exactly where the camera cord was. Yay!

Layla attempting to wear grandpa's boots.

Swimming! My parents had turned their hot tub off and were planning to empty it so they could clean it. My mom let the girls and I use it as a pool. Sanaa LOVED it. I spent over an hour in the hot tub with Sanaa while Layla napped.

But Layla did get some time to swim with us as well.

Little monkey. Layla's new favorite activity is climbing on the side table so that she can climb onto the chair. She does it a few times every day.

Riding grandpa's motorcycle.

Rain! We've been in Oregon for almost two weeks and this afternoon it rained for the first time. The girls had a blast playing and running around in the rain. They have no idea that they'll get to see a lot more rain in the upcoming months.

Sanaa was most excited about the mud that the rain created. In fact when we came outside she yelled, "Yay! Mud!" Then she got to work "painting" things and had to include our van.

Layla's first experience with corn on the cob. Both girls really enjoyed the corn from my mom's garden. This morning Sanaa asked for more. Hopefully more of the corn will be ready by the weekend.

My mom has had an over abundance of tomatoes this year. Sanaa was helping us pick some. Layla helped too, but she preferred to pick the green ones so I sent her with my dad to pick some blackberries (which she LOVES to eat).

This bin of tomatoes was used to make salsa. We have since refilled the bin with new tomatoes and have 2 grocery bags full of tomatoes in a fridge in my parents garage (my dad calls it the shop since it's where my dad and brother fix things). And there are still A LOT of tomatoes on the vine that are not quite ripe yet. Have you ever seen yellow tomatoes? I hadn't, but my mom had a yellow tomato plant.

Last weekend we made 25 pints of salsa. This weekend my mom plans to make spaghetti sauce. I think we'll also end up just canning some whole tomatoes as well.

First lesson learned in Oregon

2011-09-13T13:33:00.001-07:00

Last Friday Nate had off so we headed out to the coast for a few hours. The girls had a blast but I definitely was reminded about Oregon weather. The weather at my parents house in the valley was great! It was warm (upper 70's) when we left and the high was forecasted to be in the 90's. Thursday night I had checked the weather at the coast and it was forecasted to be in the upper 70's-low 80's with sun (lots of sun).

So Friday morning we woke up and dressed in shorts and t-shirts, packed a picnic lunch, and grabbed all the other items we'd need at the coast (buckets/shovels, blanket to sit on, towels, etc).

As we got closer to the coast I saw clouds and lots of them. I checked the current weather on my phone and it said it was foggy and 53. What!?!?! I kept hoping that by the time we arrived it would be warmer. I had packed extra clothes, but they were all short sleeve and shorts. I had no jackets or pants for anyone in the family.

We arrived at the beach and it was foggy and cold. Fiddlesticks! Sanaa REALLY wanted out so I opened the door to the van and she said, "Oh no! It's so cold!"

We had just driven 1 1/2 hours and I was in a foul mood since the weather had not cooperated AT ALL. I headed off to the bathroom (i.e. walked quickly!) while Nate stayed in the van with the girls and searched on his phone for a place we could buy warmer clothes.

Nate found an outlet mall and we headed over. I bought pants and jackets for everyone. Our cheap little excursion to the beach ended up costing us about $130 since we didn't have the appropriate clothing.

Stupid weather.

But all the items I bought we'll be wearing more as the weather cools.

First lesson in Oregon learned: Regardless of the weather forecast for the coast, ALWAYS take pants and a jacket along.

Once we all had warmer clothing to wear we enjoyed our time on the beach digging in the sand, finding rocks, and watching the waves and seagulls.

Since arriving in Oregon we have played outside a lot! There is so much to explore at my parents house. Sanaa has also started going barefoot every where. She didn't do this in Texas, but here we'll head outside and one of the first things she does is take off her shoes (or flip flops depending on what she is wearing).

Layla loves being outside too and if I don't let her out when Sanaa is out she will let me know how much she disapproves of that decision.

I have more pictures on our camera (the above pictures were from my phone) but I have no idea where the cord to connect the camera to computer is. I had packed the cord in a place that I would remember, but I obviously packed it in the wrong spot.

Our 4 day trip to Oregon

2011-09-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

One week ago today we arrived in Oregon and I still haven't told you about our trip. So here is post with LOTS of pictures as I catch you up on our 4 day trek from Texas to Oregon.

We left Texas Wednesday around 11am after Layla's 15 month check up. We drove to Hesston, KS (where I spent 9 years of my life) and spent the night with a good high school friend and her family. Sanaa was VERY excited about seeing Ian and Bethany again. I let her stay up way past her bedtime (close to 10pm) so that she could play with them.

Sanaa and Ian playing on the top bunk bed.

We left Hesston early Thursday morning and drove to Cheyenne, WY where we spent Thursday night. However, we had one minor hiccup during our drive Thursday which I'll tell you about in a moment. But first, check out this McDonald's play area in Hays, KS. It is awesome!!! The girls had a blast playing as we stopped for a mid-morning snack.

The girls also worked hard on their drawing and coloring. Throughout the trip Sanaa would attempt to draw the different things she saw. She drew clouds (circles), mountains, (scribbles), and trees (more scribbles). But at least she's trying!

The hiccup in our trip on Thursday occurred just outside Oakley, KS. My mom was driving the van at the time with the girls and I in it when we heard a pop and the van began to swerve. She maintained control and we were fairly positive we had just had a flat. My dad and Nate were following behind in the moving truck and got to watch everything happen. My mom pulled over and since I was on the passenger side I jumped out to check the passenger tires. The front tire was fine, but the back tire was not as lucky. It wasn't flat, but all the tread on the tire had ripped off.

My dad and Nate took the bad tire off and put the spare tire on while I attempted to entertain the girls inside a hot car with the windows down. Both girls wanted out bad, but we were on the highway and there was no way we were getting out of the van. The weeds along the shoulder were quite tall and had small little prickly ball things in it.

Once the spare tire was on we drove to Oakley, KS where we inquired about a tire shop so that we could get a new tire for the van. The girls, my mom, and I had a small picnic in the waiting area while my dad and Nate stayed with the van. My dad apparently helped the tire store employee put the new tire on. This whole ordeal only took about 1 1/2 hours, which was much shorter than I expected. We got back on the road and drove until we arrived in Cheyenne, WY.

Friday morning we woke up early again and were on the road by 7am. We had a free continental breakfast at the hotel (which was really good!). While in Wyoming we made a stop at Little America for some lunch and $0.50 ice cream cones! Both girls loved the ice cream.

Friday evening we ate dinner in Snowville, UT which I kept accidentally calling Smallville. Oops, but it was small! We ate at a little mom and pop diner and at first were the only customers in there. By this point you can tell Layla and Sanaa were getting tired of sitting. Neither of them would stay seated during dinner. Layla preferred to stand in her high chair and plop down on top of her tray. Sanaa just liked to stand in the booth.

We spent Friday night in Burley, ID. Saturday morning we had another nice continental breakfast at the hotel and hit the road again around 7am. The girls were such troopers the entire trip! We had our moments where it was hard to keep Layla happy and that was definitely draining. However, we stopped about every 2 hours for a break and leg stretch which really helped the girls. Throughout our 4 day drive we stopped at various rest areas to let the girls run around.

During our trip we repeatedly asked Sanaa if she would like to ride in the big truck. She always said no. Layla rode in the truck with Nate and my dad and enjoyed it, but Sanaa really didn't want to. Saturday was our last day of driving. We stopped in Pendleton, OR for some gas and an early dinner. I told Sanaa I really wanted to ride in the big truck and asked if she'd ride with me. She said okay, so we jumped on the chance. We got her in the truck and as I buckled her into her car seat she started crying. But we drove off any way. She cried for a good 20 minutes, but then as she watched the scenery she started to enjoy it. We ended up seeing lots of fun of stuff and she had a great time pointing out different things to my dad.

We arrived at my parents house Saturday evening around 8pm. On Monday we unloaded all our belongings from the truck into a storage unit. I completely forgot to get a picture of how the truck looked with everything packed inside, but here are a pictures couple from when we unloaded it.

It's good to be here in Oregon, but still doesn't feel like we're living here. We are currently living with my parents so it honestly feels like we're just here visiting for a time. The girls are having a great time playing outside and really like to be back with our cats. However, we somehow managed to bring the hot Texas weather with us. This week has been the hottest week Oregon has had all year! It's not nearly as hot as Texas was over the summer but it has been in the mid to upper 90's most of the week and my parents don't have central a/c..... But at least the evenings/nights cool down into the 50's.

*******************************
On a different note: the home inspection went fairly well. There are definitely some big things we would like to have fixed (heater not working, plumbing leaks, and chimney issues). We've submitted our requests and are now waiting to hear back. It's a foreclosure and we're dealing with Fanny Mae, so things are taking awhile. They definitely don't respond very quickly. Our realtor said that if we don't hear back from them by Monday or Tuesday we'll just start looking for a different house.

Oregon house

2011-09-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of updating to do for you all, so over the next couple days I'll try and catch up. But the first thing I wanted to make you all aware of is we may have a house here in Oregon. This afternoon (4pm PST, 6pm CST) is the home inspection.

But let me back up to the beginning. After our house in Texas sold at the beginning of August, Nate began looking at houses here in Oregon. He was only able to look on his days off and only had two opportunities to house hunt before flying back to TX with my parents to move the girls and I out to Oregon. The first day of house hunting Nate saw several homes that we liked and would have worked. However, we quickly discovered that the homes we like get snatched up quick. On the second day of house hunting, there were 3 homes (I think) that we thought about putting an offer on. However, the homes were either pending or had multiple offers (like 5) already on them.

One of last homes Nate looked at on the second day was the one that we are getting the home inspection on. Nate really liked the house and it met all of our criteria. So I let him put an offer down without seeing it. (I did see pictures and he did take a video of the house for me). I knew I'd be in Oregon before the option period was over and could see the house myself before we were stuck with it. Our offer was submitted the Monday before we drove out to Oregon. On Tuesday the bank countered back (it's a bank owned home). Their counter offer was only $2,000 less than what the house was listed for and we honestly didn't know how easy it would be to work with them. So when their counter offer came back we decided to walk away from the house. We didn't want to deal with negotiations while on the trip out to Oregon.

Wednesday we left Texas and began the long drive out. I think we were almost in Oklahoma when our realtor called Nate. The realtor for the house in Oregon called our realtor wanting to know if we were going to counter their counter offer. She told him no, to which he asked if we could make a counter, even if the counter was only $1,000 more. Nate and I just looked at each other. Seriously? How weird. So we went ahead and countered back adding only $1,000 to our initial offer. We didn't care if we lost the house or not.

The next day Nate got an email letting us know the bank had accepted our counter offer. That blew us away! Since we were somewhere in Kansas we couldn't sign papers. We had until this past Sunday to sign the papers and until this Friday (Sept 9) to get the home inspection completed.

We arrived in Oregon Saturday evening. On Sunday after the girls nap, my parents, Nate, the girls, and I drove over to the house to look at it and sign papers (if I liked it). I liked it. I REALLY liked the living area (kitchen, living room, dining room, den, and backyard). The bedrooms are small. Really small. The closet in the master bedroom is tiny. In fact I'm not sure where Nate will put his clothes. :-) The hall closet was tiny. All the closets seemed small. But we wouldn't be living in the bedrooms and I really wanted a nice living area, which this house had.

So we signed the papers and set up an appointment for the home inspection. If all goes well, we'll close on Oct 3. I've been praying for God to show us what house to get and have a complete peace about this house. If the house doesn't work out, I'm fine. If it does work out, that's awesome!

I'll let you know what happens!

Only 3 days left

2011-08-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

Only three more days left in our house. I've been taking a few house shots but still have some rooms I want to take a picture of. The day for us to move has seemed so far off but now it's literally around the corner. Today Nate's parents watched the girls all afternoon for me so that I could get a lot of packing done. And I did get a lot done but that's also when it hit me that we're moving. We are really moving. I'm sure come Tuesday and Wednesday I'll be crying as we pack everything up in the truck. This house has so many memories for us. It's the first home Nate and I bought together and it's the home that we brought Sanaa and Layla to after they were born.

Before I get all weepy here are some random pictures of the girls from the past week or so. This will most likely be my last post until we are in Oregon, so please pray for us as we make the long drive out there next week (we leave Wednesday). We're hoping to arrive in Oregon on Saturday. Also pray that the girls do well on the long car ride.

Eating oatmeal with a spoon.

She eventually gave up on the spoon and figured using her hands was much more effective.

I pulled the highchair out of our pantry and both girls thought it was the best thing ever.

You've been warned! If you lay on the floor, Layla will climb on top of you.

(Do you like Sanaa's slippers? It's only in the 100's here but she insisted on wearing her slippers.)

Seriously? I step out of the room for 1 minute and find both girls on top of the coffee table.

Decorating one of the boxes for me before I packed some more kitchen items.

Riding her tricycle around the house.

I have no idea what these two were up to. But I made sure to get a picture of it.

SOLD!

2011-08-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

Our house is sold!!!! Incredible! Here is the timeline.

Thursday Aug 4 - House listed on MLS (2pm)

Thursday Aug 4 - first showing (6:30pm)

Friday Aug 5 - 3 showings and 2 offers

Saturday Aug 6 - began countering the first offer, had 5 showings

Sunday Aug 7 - 12:15pm the buyers accepted our 2nd counter offer, the option period began

Monday Aug 8 - one showing

Wednesday Aug 10 - home inspection

Saturday Aug 13 - received home inspection report and what the buyers wanted fixed; negotiated with buyers; settled on cash amount in lieu of us fixing anything

Sunday Aug 14 - buyers signed the home inspection agreement

Tuesday Aug 16 - option period ends

We'll close Aug 31! Nate and my parents will fly here to Texas on Aug 30 (my birthday!). We'll load the moving truck that afternoon and evening. On the 31st we'll finish any cleaning in the house and packing, sign papers, and hand over the keys to our house. We plan to pull out on Sept 1. The timing on everything is awesome!

I was talking with a friend at church on Sunday who commented that it was amazing how God has worked out everything with our move to Oregon. Nate and I tried twice to move overseas but those doors were closed on us. Then we started thinking and praying about what to do here. The only real reason we decided on Oregon was because it was near my family. It was either Oregon or California. But God threw the doors wide open for us to move to Oregon and all the details have worked out perfectly. I made the comment that who knew us moving to Oregon was God's plan and there could definitely be worse places for us to suffer for him. :-)

I'll spend these next two weeks packing, playing with the girls, and meeting up with friends to hang out. The best part is that there will be no more showings! I don't have to keep the house clean anymore!

And keeping the house clean has been a challenge with Sanaa and Layla. I took them outside yesterday to swim. They spent all of 5 minutes in the water and the next hour playing in the dirt.

We got our kitchen counters and sink replaced. Now you may think it was just so we could sell the house but I found an alternative use for the sink. It works great to rinse off two very dirty girls and I don't end up tracking dirt through the house.

I turned Layla forward facing in the car today. Yes I know the new recommendation but the poor girl couldn't even stretch her legs out. It looked so uncomfortable and about half the time she got made at me when I had to put her in the car. I did not want her uncomfortable and grumpy during the upcoming 30+ hour drive to Oregon. Layla is enjoying the new view! And Sanaa looks SO big next to her. It'll be much easier to entertain both girls this way. (I took the picture while parked in the driveway in case any of you were wondering).

This morning we met Sanaa's friend, Skyer, at a splash park. I haven't been here in 2 years. I didn't go last year because I had a newborn (at least I don't remember going but now my memory is failing me). Both girls had a blast and I'm wiped out! Sanaa and Layla kept going different directions so it was really nice to have Skyler's mom there to help me keep track and chase down whoever decided it was time for a walk through the grass. I took a ton of pictures at the splash park but only posted a few.

How we're doing

2011-08-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

Now that Nate has been in Oregon for a full week while we remain here in the Texas heat I've gotten a lot of questions asking how I'm doing. I'm doing okay. Some moments of my day are really bad and really stressful and some are good. So I guess if you balance everything out I'm doing okay (neither good or bad).

The girls, especially Layla, are a handful. Sanaa has been throwing some huge tantrums when she doesn't get her way. Layla has been clingy and fussy, but also appears to be working hard on her gross motor skills. Today, for the first time, I caught her on top of our coffee table. I did get some video of her actually climbing up but it wouldn't load for me. I've also caught Layla attempting to scale the baby gate at the bottom of our steps. She was half way up the baby gate when I came around the corner. So when Layla is awake, nothing gets done.

The girls are also doing some fighting. Layla almost always wants what Sanaa is using and Sanaa thinks it is great fun to run and get a toy Layla wants before Layla gets there. This morning I heard some screaming/yelling/fussing and turned to find Sanaa laying over the bus seat while Layla attempted to sit on it.

Morning bed head.

One of the more peaceful moments between the girls.

The girls are constantly rummaging through my closet and both seem attracted to this particular shirt. I'm not sure why Layla needed it on her head while playing the keyboard, but I'm sure it made sense to her.

Sanaa and her friend Lilliana having a picnic. Typically these two fight most of the time they are together. But this day they played really well. I think they only got upset with each other once. It was amazing and even Lilliana's mom commented on how well they played with each other.

Just another example of the girls wanting what the other one is using.

We spent most of last weekend at Nate's parents house while there were multiple showings at our house. Here Sanaa and Gramma Carol are bowling.

Walking with dinosaur feet.

Playing piano together.

Cooling off. I'm very ready to be in a place with cooler weather!

Quick update

2011-08-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

This will be a quick post because I'm very tired. I have a lot of admiration for single parents and those who have a spouse that travels frequently for work or is overseas fighting. Being a single parent is hard work and exhausting!

I wanted to let you all know the latest on the house. Our house was listed on Thursday afternoon even though the sign went up on Tuesday. It took a little time to get the pictures and everything up on MLS. Four hours later we had the first showing. On Friday we had three more showings and two offers. On Saturday we had 5 showings and we countered the first offer. The couple countered back Saturday night and we made one final counter late Saturday night. Sunday at noon was the deadline to hear from them before we moved onto the next offer. Shortly after 12:00 on Sunday I got word from our realtor that couple A accepted our offer. Wow! We are now in the option period.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning from 11-1 the home inspection will take place. I'm dreading the inspection. As a buyer, the home inspection is great because you get to see what you're buying. As a seller, you dread it because you have no idea what issues your house has or what the buyer will ask you to take care of. So, I'm praying that no major issues are discovered and that any negotiations will go smoothly. Our realtor said we most likely wouldn't hear anything for a day or two as the couple looks over the home inspector's report. Hopefully we'll hear something from them either Thursday or Friday. The option period is up on Tuesday.

On the upside, our realtor heard from the realtor of couple B today and they are still interested and wanted to let us know that their offer is still on the table. So we do have a backup offer if this first offer should fall through.

For sale

2011-08-03T18:29:00.000-07:00

The sale sign is up in front of our house. Nate left this morning with his co-worker on the long drive to Oregon. A few minutes ago he sent a text saying he was in Hays, KS. The girls are in bed. The cats are with Nate and the house is very quiet. A lot quieter than I'm use to. I feel like I should be doing a lot of things but instead I'm forcing myself to rest and relax tonight. I've been going constantly for the last 2 weeks trying to get the house ready to sell and I know I need to take a break from packing because for the next month it's just me and the girls around here and I'm going to need lots of energy to keep up with those two.

I was going to post some pictures and realized I haven't taken all that many. Probably because I've been so busy. But here are a few.

Daddy and Layla before church on Sunday.

Trying to get a picture of all three of them but Layla wouldn't cooperate. How do you like Sanaa's pink shoes with her yellow dress? She has become VERY opinionated about what she does and doesn't want to wear.

On Monday Layla turned 14 months old. I was going to do a post but completely forgot. Below are the two pictures I took of her on Monday.

Sanaa has started to enjoy playing inside the chest we're using as our coffee table now. I've been keeping the girls toys in it so that the toys are hidden when people come to look at our house but Sanaa likes to empty the chest and climb inside instead. Here she is pretending to sleep.

Sanaa growling like a tiger. Yes, she got that big tiger in the chest all by herself.

Moving westward

2011-07-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

Yep. The rumors are true. We're moving. Nate has accepted a transfer to a store in Portland, Oregon. We are really excited but also a little sad. We'll be moving away from Nate's parents and a lot of good friends, but we'll moving a lot closer to my family (my parents, brother, sister-in-law, aunts, uncles, and cousins). I have a lot of family in Portland and Salem. My dad grew up Salem and I was born in Salem. Granted I've spent most of my life away from Oregon but I do love the state and am really looking forward to living there.

Nate leaves next week (Aug 3) and will drive out to Oregon with a co-worker who just wants to go along for the ride. How awesome is that? We had been praying for a driving partner for Nate and one of his friends at work jumped at the chance. What an awesome answer to prayer! Nate begins working at the store in Portland on Aug 8.

The girls and I will stay behind until the end of Aug/beginning of Sept to continue packing the house. We're praying that the house sells fast. I would love for our house to sell before the girls and I leave for Oregon, but we'll see. God can do anything!

Yesterday we met with our realtor and signed some papers to begin the process of selling our house. It'll go up on the market next week. I still have quite a bit of painting and packing up to do before the house is the ready for potential buyers to come through. I have gotten a lot done over the last week and a half, but there's still a lot to be done. I should be working right now but I really needed this brief break.

The girls (at least Sanaa) is very excited about this move and will ask every day if we are leaving for our trip. The fact that I've been packing up her toys and other items around the house has only made her more excited. She'll even "help" me by throwing whatever she can find into a box.

Layla isn't nearly as helpful but she is cute. Instead of packing, Layla prefers to rummage through the boxes to see what treasures she can find. I've discovered the best way to pack with her is to have an idea of what I want in a box and quickly pack and tape it shut.

Nate's car no longer has a spot in the garage. It's slowing being filled with boxes and book shelves.

Last week we had to flooring installed in our living room (finally!) and we had the kitchen counters replaced. Here's a before shot of the kitchen counters and then a close up of the sink area with new counters.

I'm really loving these counters and wish we had done this sooner! The sink is also a lot deeper which is awesome for washing dishes! Once I get the all the junk cleared off the rest of the counters I'll take a better kitchen picture so you can see the entire counter space.

The other thing I've been doing is painting Nate's study. You saw some of those pictures in the previous post. The walls are finished, but now I'm working on trim. The trim was in bad need of a fresh coat of paint. The problem I've just discovered is that if I paint all the trim (like I have been) I'll need to paint the doors as well. Ugh. Guess I know what I'll be doing these next couple of nights. I also need to paint our banister since the paint has started peeling off and finish clearing out our rooms upstairs.

So much to do and so little time.... Guess I better get back to work. I'll keep you all updated as best I can on the sale of our house and our move to Oregon!

My painting buddy

2011-07-24T20:07:00.000-07:00

On Thursday I began repainting Nate's study. In the past my mother-in-law has been my painting partner but since she is suffering on a cruise in Australia (I'm being very sarcastic!) I had to look elsewhere for a painting partner.

Luckily, one lives in my home.

When Sanaa heard the word the painting her ears perked up and she began begging me to help. Since Nate was home I figured why not. Nate could watch Layla and Sanaa could help paint a wall. So we got to work. Sanaa had so much fun and took her job very seriously! She was careful to not get a lot of paint on her brush and hardly dripped at all.

I'm thinking the two of us should start a painting business..... especially considering the estimate I got when I briefly considered letting someone else paint the room..... $530!

$400 just for labor. Seriously?!?!? It only took me a total of 6 hours over 2 days to paint (being interrupted by 2 kids tends to stretch things out). 400 divided by 6 is 66.67. So, why in the world did I get my master's degree when I could be making $66.67 an hour painting rooms?

The Pond cousins

2011-07-22T20:28:00.000-07:00

Uncle Caleb email this picture a little while ago. Here are the Pond cousins (and aunts and uncles if you want to include us adults). Our girls look huge compared to the 3 1/2 month old twins! When did Layla get so big and when in the world did Sanaa grow up so much?!?!

At this moment in time Isaac was the only one crying, but had the camera snapped a few seconds earlier 3 out 4 of the kiddos would have been crying. Sanaa was the only one who was okay with taking the picture.

Cousins!

2011-07-22T19:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Nate's brother and sister-in-law came to visit for two days and the girls and I got the meet Natalie and Isaac for the first time (they are 3 1/2 months old). My first niece and nephew. What a special treat! We had a wonderful time with Caleb, Sarah, Natalie, and Isaac the past two days and are sad to see them leave. These are just a few of the many pictures taken over the past two days.

Isaac smiling at Layla.

Layla checking out Isaac.

Nate feeding Isaac. Since Layla refused the bottle Nate never really got to feed her, so feeding Isaac was a special treat. Isaac is one hungry boy and inhaled this bottle!

Natalie having some tummy time and Sanaa hanging out with her.

Sanaa showing Natalie two puzzle pieces that go together.

Sanaa "holding" Isaac (she held his hand).

The brothers and the cousins.

Sanaa helping Caleb water plants at Papa Gene and Gramma Carol's house.

Helping uncle Caleb turn off the water. Shortly after this picture was taken Caleb got sprayed by the water because he forgot to release the pressure. It was quite entertaining.

Tickle time with uncle Caleb.

Random pictures from our week

2011-07-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

Last week Nate had a dental procedure done. The dentist had to knock Nate out, so Nate was fairly out of it for 1/2 a day. I ran upstairs to take Nate some water at one point completely forgetting that the cats water was on the floor. When I came downstairs I found Layla completely soaked with water all over the kitchen floor. She was happily splashing in the giant puddle she had made. I began cleaning up and gave her paper towel to help. Isn't she a good helper? She likes to sweep as well!

Layla saw that Sanaa was eating. Any time someone is eating, Layla thinks she needs to eat as well. Here she is begging Sanaa for some applesauce.

Sanaa thought feeding Layla her applesauce was the coolest thing ever!

Layla thinks it cool to have her feet on the table during meals.

An attempt to get a picture with the girls before church this morning.

Attempt #1: Not bad. Sanaa is smiling.

Attempt #2: Layla has had enough but Sanaa is still looking.

Attempt #3: Layla is definitely finished!

We should have stopped after the first attempt.

Ready for church!

"Look! I got Sanaa's cup!"

Sharing Stinks!

2011-07-17T11:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I removed Layla's baby seat from our van. The straps were getting too low on her. Ideally you want the shoulder straps to be even with the shoulders but Layla has grown so much that the straps were lower down on her back. So I took Nate's car seat from his car intending to use it for Layla. Sanaa decided that she wanted Nate's car seat and gave Layla her car seat.

Layla is still facing backwards. We saw the doctor on Friday to make sure that Layla didn't have an ear infection. Thankfully, she doesn't, but she does have a bad cold. Anyway, they weighed her at the doctor's office and fully clothed she weighed a whopping 18 pounds 12 ounces. Haha! So even if the requirements for children hadn't been changed she still couldn't face forward.

I brought the infant seat in the house and of course the girls immediately start fighting over it. Why is a car seat in the house so much cooler than a car seat in the car?

Interview with Sanaa (age 3)

2011-07-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine interviewed her 3 year old son and wrote down his answers. I thought that was an awesome idea and decided to do that with Sanaa (and eventually Layla). My goal (which we'll see whether or not it happens) is to update the answers each year and see how Sanaa has changed. Plus it'll be fun to look back in 10 years and see how she answered some of these questions.

The interview:
What is your favorite color? "Color!"
(Umm... not what I asked. She never did say a color and I honestly don't think she has a favorite color. She loves to identify colors but isn't picky about what color she is wearing.)

What is your favorite song? "Jesus Loves Me" (and then she started singing)

What is your favorite game? "Dance!"

What do you like to do outside? "Pool and play with toys"

What is your favorite book? "Brown Bears (translation When Will It Be Spring), red Curious George, blue Curious George"
(We have 2 large Curious George books that each have 8 stories inside. One is red and one is blue. We have to read at least one story from them every night!)

Where do you like to go? "That way. Cave."
(Hmmm.... I was wanting to see if she would answer something like the park or store or Starbucks but she didn't understand this question and I did try to phrase it a couple different ways.)

Who is your friend? "Jack"
(Umm.... I don't know any Jack's. I asked her several times but she stuck with Jack.)

Who is your church friend? "Gabe"
(Okay. Really? At first I thought she said Dave and then figured out she was talking about a different boy named Gabe who isn't even in her class. I seriously thought she would answer Skyler.)

What toys do you like to play with? "Layla"
(Oh dear. Layla isn't a toy but she stuck with her answer!)

What is your favorite food? "Pretzels"

What is your favorite drink? "Drink!"
What do you like to put in your drink? "Cup!"
What do you like to put in your cup? "Water!"
(She wasn't following me here. She is constantly asking for chocolate milk and likes to help mix it. Since she had just had some I thought that would be her answer but we never got there.)

What is your favorite tv show? "Wild Kratts" (it's on PBS for those who are curious)

What is your favorite fruit? "Grapes"

What do you like draw? "Circles. Arrow"
(I tried to ask what she enjoys doing hoping to get her to say color, play with play-doh, paint, etc but she didn't understand what I was asking. Since she loves to paint and draw I changed up the question.)

What is your favorite animal? "Nooo!!! I don't like animals!"
(She was getting tired of questions and a little grumpy.)

What is your favorite Bible story? "Noooo!"
(Yep. Time to stop. She was suddenly in a bad mood. Probably should have stopped with the previous question. Guess we'll try again next year!)

Layla's 1st words

2011-07-09T17:17:00.000-07:00

I've been stalling at posting this because I know once I do her first word(s) will be official. For a little while now Layla has been saying, "Dada or Dadee" and will pat Nate when she does so. I didn't want her first word to be "Dada." It was suppose to be "Mama." But nope. She won't say "mama."

However, she does also say "grager" (cracker), "meow" (when she sees our cat), and "uh-oh." Mama hasn't even made the top 3! Layla will also growl. She growled at me which was pretty funny. She can also sign "more" and "please."

Playing peek-a-boo

I was looking back to see at what point Sanaa started eating without her tray and it was right around 13 months. So I thought we'd give it a try with Layla. She does pretty well and seems to enjoy eating meals off a plate like the rest of us. However, when she's done she'll just pick the plate up and throw it.

Family Fun Day

2011-07-08T12:11:00.000-07:00

Nate has had the past two days off so we decided to take the girls to the Children's Museum this morning for some family fun. We needed a break and the museum was a lot of fun. The girls had so much fun exploring everything! Nate and I were going two different directions following the girls around. Taking both of them by myself would have been really hard. We will definitely have to go back to the museum again. I know Sanaa wasn't quite ready to come home.

Driving the fire truck.

Layla on the fire truck. She really liked the slide at the end and kept trying to go head first down it.

Creating a face.

Layla was captivated by the spinning the wheels.

Both girls spent a good amount of time playing instruments.

Sanaa did make a beeline for the water area. She also enjoyed the sand area.

Sorry this picture is dark. I was taking it from the water area. Layla was riding a horse in the farm area.

In the garden area playing with the giant seeds.

Milking a cow. This was cool since water came out when you "milked" the cow. I showed Sanaa what to do and she got down to business.

Potty training and naps

2011-07-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

What a week. Sanaa has made huge progress with potty training. Up until last week she and I butted heads when it came to using the potty. She wanted nothing to do with wearing underwear and if I did manage to get her to sit on the potty she refused to actually go and waited until she was wearing a pull-up.

Last week (2 days before her birthday) I went to change her pull-up and she ran off. I was not in the mood to chase her down, wrestle her, and put on a new pull-up so I left pantless and pull-upless. I sat her little potty near her, told her to sit on if she needed to pee, and then walked to the kitchen to finish cleaning up. I finished what I needed to and then sat down in the living room for a little break. Suddenly Sanaa jumped and ran to her little potty yelling, "I need to poop! I need to poop!" I jumped up just as she sat on her potty and a few seconds later she actually peed! I was SO excited!

The following two days it was hit or miss. Sanaa had her 3 year check up during that time and I talked with the pediatrician who was excited that she had finally used the potty but suggested that I don't make a big deal about whether or not she goes and to start rewarding her for a dry pull-up or dry underwear instead of rewarding her for using the potty.

This week has gone okay. When we are home she only wears underwear. Pull-ups are only for long outings or when we're at church. Monday and Tuesday we had several accidents but Sanaa was good about pointing out where she had peed. Yesterday and today have been awesome! Yesterday we had zero accidents and she pooped in the potty (for the first time). Today we only had one accident while we were out running errands. I tried to get her to wear a pull-up to the store but she flat out refused which led to an accident. Oh well.

She has gotten very good about recognizing when she needs to go and will start yelling, "I need to poop! I need to poop!" She'll say that regardless of whether she has to poop or pee. And the best part is that she doesn't ask for any rewards. She just likes to flush the toilet which appears to be enough of a reward!

Below are some pictures of the girls having art time. Layla has started to enjoy drawing and Sanaa still loves painting.

On a different note. For the last week or so Layla has started refusing one of her naps. If she takes a morning nap she will not go down in the afternoon. If she misses her morning nap (due to us being at church) she'll take an afternoon nap. Do those of you with young kids remember at what point your kiddos dropped from 2 naps to 1 nap a day? I can't remember when Sanaa made that transition. I remember thinking it was way too early and I wanted her to continue taking 2 naps. Unfortunately, I think Layla might be at the point where she's only needing/wanting one nap.

Holidays

2011-07-04T17:40:00.000-07:00

Over the 8 1/2 years that Nate has worked in retail I have steadily grown to dislike any and all holidays. While most everyone else is enjoying some extended time off from work and hanging out with family or friends, my holidays don't look much different than any other day of the week. There's no extended time with family since Nate works just about every holiday. There's no long weekend for us. He might get one day off over the holiday weekend but never the whole thing. Thanksgiving and Christmas are by far the hardest for me to get through. Not only is scheduling time with Nate's family difficult but Nate is not allowed any vacation time AT ALL from Thanksgiving through New Years. So I struggle with getting through holidays (almost any holiday at this point) and since we now have kids I struggle even more.

Growing up we'd travel to visit family for different holidays. Holidays were a time to spend with extended family. Both sides of the family. Even though we didn't live near any family, my parents tried to vary which side of the family we spent time with so that we could build relationships with both sides of the family and not just one side. I can remember spending the 4th of July with family in Missouri, Thanksgiving and Christmas in Pennsylvania, or having family visit us in Kansas. Building relationships with both sides of the family was important.

It is so different now. Most holidays it is just us and Nate's parents (and I'm not saying that's bad because his parents are awesome!). But I want my girls to be able to spend various holidays with cousins or uncles and aunts and not just Christmas if we're lucky. I want my girls to have the chance to get to know their cousins and uncles and aunts and not just know of them through pictures.

Part of me would much rather be living on the other side of the world where I knew that I couldn't spend holidays with family. Living here and being so close yet so far from all our family (but Nate's parents) and being restricted by Nate's schedule stinks.

Since April Nate has been seeking a transfer with the company he works for. We're trying to get out to Oregon, but so far it hasn't worked out. I don't know (or understand) what God's plan for our family is. Our long term plans to live in another country have not worked and now we're pursing other options. However, Nate continues to pursue open doors but those doors keep closing. So I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated with Nate's schedule. I'm frustrated with not being able to spend any holidays with my family. I'm frustrated with not understanding where God is trying to lead us.

So I'm sure this is not the type of 4th of July post you expected to read from me but this is our reality. This year there won't be any fire works or grilling out or time with family. Nate spent the day at work. The girls refused to nap and went to bed early. I'm sure I'll continue to struggle with holidays but I do hope that with time I am able to figure out how to make the various holidays special for our girls.

These are just some random pictures from the past few days.

Sanaa "fixing" her toy.

Layla's first experience with play-doh. She saw Sanaa playing with it and threw a tantrum because she wanted in on the action as well. Anything her big sis does she needs to do as well.

Sanaa went to a princess birthday party this weekend. She came home and dressed Keldorn up with the jewelry and princess crown she got at the party. He's such a patient cat!

My new coffee mug Nate got me while he was in CA. It's perfect since I'm not a morning person!

A few more hours

2011-07-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

I have survived my time without Nate..... for the most part. His flight gets in around 7pm tonight. I definitely have a new respect for single parents and those who have a spouse overseas fighting or a spouse that travels a lot for work because it is hard work being the only parent available. I am plumb exhausted and have had very little time to myself to do anything.

Wednesday night I actually had to book my first paid babysitter! I had a teenager from church come watch the girls so I could go teach. I was SO nervous about leaving the girls. I know the gal from church is very competent and she is very sweet, but I think it was the fact that I wasn't leaving the girls with a family member or close friend that made me so nervous.

Yesterday was by far the hardest day. It began with Sanaa waking me up shortly after 6am. That was a shock to my system to be roused from a deep sleep by a little girl standing right next to my head. Then after breakfast I buckled the girls in the van and we headed off to Sanaa's 3 year check up. Less than five minutes into the doctor's visit I had both girls crying/screaming at the top of their lungs. Sanaa is okay with the doctor if the visit is for Layla. But Sanaa is not okay if the visit is for her. I had really hoped that by now she would be better and not so afraid of the doctor. Wrestling a 3 year old is not my idea of fun at 8:30am when all the nurse wants is to check her weight and length. Layla of course started crying because the nurse looked at her and because Sanaa was crying.

Once the doctor came in, Sanaa had settled down quite a bit but definitely did not want the doctor to touch her. Thankfully we have a very patient doctor who is really good with kids. On the upside, there were no shots for Sanaa!

Then we came back home to hang out for the rest of the day. Throughout the day the girls fought off and on. I managed to get Sanaa down for an afternoon nap but Layla was very wound up and wanted nothing to do with a nap. By the time I got Layla down, Sanaa was just waking up. Ugh.

Since yesterday was Sanaa's birthday I tried to make it a little special and we had a movie night. The three of us watched Toy Story (the first one) together. Sanaa LOVED it, but the nap and the movie completely back fired on me and Sanaa was up until close to 10pm. She couldn't stop talking about the movie! Around 9pm when I thought she was in bed for good I finally hopped in the shower. However, when I came out I found a little 3 year old on my bed. Seriously?!?

One of the more peaceful moments between the girls while Nate has been gone.

Sanaa got a little train set from my parents and she loves it! I might have to buy some more track so that she can make a completed circle.

Layla picked the smallest cabinet to sit in this morning. I guess it's just her size.

Currently Layla LOVES to carry around a purse or bag. This is something Sanaa never got into so it's really cute to see Layla doing this.

Yep. She found the crackers again. But this time she didn't need my help to open them. I think her big sister gave her a little help this time.

Sanaa got an AquaDoodle mat from one of her friends. She has enjoyed drawing on it while Layla prefers to be in the way.

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July weekend! I'm not sure what we're doing. Probably not much since Nate will be back at work.

Happy 3rd Birthday Sanaa!

2011-06-30T11:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Sanaa! It's hard to believe that you are 3! You are such a blessing to our life.

You and I definitely butt heads and you have a very stubborn streak in you, but you are also a very caring and loving little girl. It is so much fun observing you as you use your imagination and creativity. I'm so happy and lucky I get to be your mom!

Wearing her new sunglasses and tank top from great grandpa and great grandma Strawsburg!

Happy Belated Birthday Uncle Caleb

2011-06-27T07:54:00.000-07:00

Wow. I get the award for the worst sister-in-law of the year. Uncle Caleb celebrated his birthday last week and I completely missed the blog post. I remember thinking to myself at the beginning of June that I needed to remember Caleb's birthday because that was a very busy week for me with teaching and prepping for Sanaa's birthday party. I even reminded Nate a few times last week that Caleb's birthday was coming up and I still missed it.

So Happy Belated Birthday Uncle Caleb! We love you!

These pictures were from Christmas and unfortunately are the most recently pictures that I have of uncle Caleb with the girls. Hopefully we'll get to play with uncle Caleb, aunt Sarah, Natalie and Isaac soon.

The starfish cake

2011-06-26T20:48:00.000-07:00

I figured I would show the starfish cake in a separate post.

This is how it looked when I started. I baked a 9 x 13 cake and then cut the starfish out of it. I printed off a starfish template from the internet and used that as a guide to cut out the star.

I had some good sized chunks of cake left over after I cut out the starfish and figured I could come up with some idea for them.

Here is the final product. Sanaa at first wanted an orange starfish, then she wanted yellow, and then she decided on green. So I made a green starfish with orange and yellow accents. As I was decorating it I took a break and decided to see what colors starfish came in. I actually came across a green and orange starfish here! How cool is that?

With the extra pieces of cake I decided to ice them blue like the ocean. All the white shells and starfish you see around the cakes (or on top) are chocolates. I found some chocolate molds at Michaels.

A shot of Sanaa's starfish cake with the candles. I know she is only 3, but she REALLY wanted the balloon candles on as well.

So there's the starfish cake. It was a lot of fun to make! As the girls get older I think I'm going to have a lot of fun creating cakes for their birthdays. Baking and decorating is almost relaxing for me. Plus, it's a fun challenge to see whether or not I can create what I set out to make.

Sanaa's 3rd birthday party

2011-06-26T20:36:00.000-07:00

Sanaa was SO excited about her birthday party yesterday. We had two of her friends over in the afternoon for some swimming/playing and cake and ice cream. The girls had a blast! Here are some pictures of the afternoon.

Sanaa, Skyler, and Lilliana (Layla napped through the swimming part of the party)

Sanaa checking out her cake. When we started singing she ran into the living. She wouldn't even come back to blow out her candles. So Skyler and Lilliana blew them out for her. I have no idea when Sanaa will get past this phase of not letting people sing to her. It's so weird!

Sanaa of course came back to eat the cake!

Layla enjoyed the cake as well. She actually tried using a fork.

But decided using her hands was a lot more fun.

And once she had eaten her slice of cake I guess she decided to lick the plate as well making sure she got all the yummy sugar she could!

I tried hard to maintain some kind of order while opening presents but that did not last as all the girls got in on the action.

I'm not sure what I was doing in this picture. Most likely I was trying to catch the tissue paper that was flying around.

Mother May I?

2011-06-24T19:32:00.000-07:00

Do you remember playing 'Mother May I?'

I do.

And today Layla reminded me of that game as she walked up carrying a box of crackers she had managed to find in the pantry. I attempted to take the crackers out and give her the empty box to play with but she wasn't fooled one bit (and let me hear about it!).

What a week

2011-06-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks Layla has started getting up extra early. Last week she consistently woke between 5:30-6:00. On Sunday (Father's Day) she gave Nate the wonderful gift of waking at 4:30am! He tried to get her back down but she refused and we really didn't want Sanaa to wake up.

Monday night we had some severe storms roll through. Around 3am Tuesday our power went out. That woke up Sanaa who appears to be afraid of the dark. The storm was also really strong! The wind was blowing the rain so hard that we could hardly see the street from our front window. We let Sanaa sleep with us but since she never sleeps in our bed it was a bit awkward for all of us. Around 4:30am or 5am Sanaa finally fell asleep only to have Layla wake up around 6am.

We had more storms Tuesday night and another power outage around 6am Wednesday. And yep. Both girls were up at that point. I honestly figured with all these sleepless nights that the girls would sleep in more or take naps. But no such luck. Layla continues to wake early and she fights being put down for a nap. Both Wednesday and Thursday Layla only took 1 two hour nap. I thought 2 naps a day lasted longer than just a year. Am I wrong? I'm not ready for Layla to give up the morning nap, especially if she's going to continue to wake before 6am.

We've also spent time outside swimming. At least that's what I had hoped the girls would do. Both girls played in the water for about 5 minutes and then made a beeline for any dirt they could find.

Tomorrow is Sanaa's birthday party! She is VERY excited and has been talking about it all week. She requested a starfish cake which I've been working on today. With it being so hot the icing doesn't want to cooperate very well so I've been taking frequent breaks and placing the icing and cake in the fridge to harden some. I will post pictures at some point this weekend.

Nate's grandma

2011-06-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

Late last night (11pm central time) Nate's grandma passed away. We were amazed at how long she hung on. Nate and I were told that her death was peaceful. The funeral/memorial service will be next week. Nate will be flying out to CA to attend. The girls and I will be staying home.

For those who have been praying I would ask that you continue to pray for Nate's grandpa who is also not doing well health wise. Also, pray for his salvation. We're fairly convinced that Nate's grandma did accept Christ as her Savior (a huge praise!), but we still don't think his grandpa has made that decision. Also pray that Nate's trip next week goes smoothly and that the girls are fairly well behaved while he is gone.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to Nate, my dad, and my father-in-law! All three of you are very special to the girls and me. We are extremely lucky to have you in our lives.

We love you!

(This is blurry since it was taken with the camera on my phone)

Super dad carrying both girls. We had to wake Sanaa up from her nap so that she'd actually go to sleep in the evening and she appeared to be a little confused.

Grandpa Lind reading the directions to make bird food.

Playing and laughing.

Sharing her eggs.

Enjoying some Papa Gene time.

Perspective

2011-06-17T17:55:00.000-07:00

This has been a loooong week (I honestly thought today was Saturday and was disappointed to discover that it's only Friday). Although the class I've been teaching has gone really well, the girls have been a handful. Layla has been waking up every morning around 5:40-5:45am. She has not been taking very good naps. She cried for 2 hours today before finally falling asleep for a nap. She was a grump Monday and Tuesday, which was most likely due to her shots. Sanaa won't nap at all and of course is grumpy by dinner time.

But even though both of them have to be exhausted, putting them to bed at night has been hard. They get some kind of second wind and are playing, talking, and goofing off. In fact, right now, it's almost 7:45pm and Layla has been crying for a good 25 minutes while Sanaa runs around the room laughing. It is so frustrating and extremely irritating. I'm just thankful that Nate is home tonight to help out.

I could go on and on with my list of complaints, but this afternoon Nate's mom called and suddenly this bad week was put into perspective. Nate's grandma (his dad's mom), Maxine, has taken a turn for the worse. She has round the clock hospice care, is now on morphine for pain, and is sleeping most of the day. She's also not eating much (if at all). It's been sad to hear the reports of her going down hill so fast. We're not sure how much longer she has.

For quite awhile none of us were sure whether or not she had accepted Jesus as her Savior. As she's gotten sicker she began asking for people to pray for her and read her Scripture. On Wednesday Carol's parents (they live close to Gene's parents) went and visited Maxine. Carol's dad asked her if there was a time in her life that she remembers asking Jesus into her heart and she replied yes. That was definitely encouraging and we do truly hope that she is saved.

So, yes. I've had a bad week, I'm still quite grumpy, my girls are going to continue to be obnoxious, but that shouldn't matter anymore. The class I've been teaching (along with the things that have been going on with Nate's grandma) have started to help me take my focus off myself and think about my girls and others who need to hear about what Jesus did for them and why He did it. My perspective is changing.

12 month check up

2011-06-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

This morning Layla had her 1 year check-up. It went like expected. Lots of tears! It didn't help that as we entered the elevator to go up to the doctor's office we met Dr. Berger (our pediatrician). Layla immediately recognized her and started crying. Meanwhile, Sanaa began carrying on a conversation with our pediatrician and showed her the boo-boo's and band-aids she is currently wearing.

Layla cried/screamed even harder when the nurse called us back. The nurse joked that Layla sounded an awful lot like Sanaa when Sanaa was 1. Sanaa is much better about visiting the doctor (she'll ask them what they are doing or do a little dance for them) but for the first 2 years or so she cried each and every time she saw the nurse. It looks like Layla may just follow in Sanaa's footsteps.

Anyway, Layla is doing great. She continues to be a very petite child: 18.05 lbs (10%), 28 1/2 inches long (25%), 17 1/2 inches for head circumference (25%).

A new rule is that children are now suppose to stay facing backwards in a car until age 2 so Layla doesn't get to turn around yet. I had heard this from a couple of my friends so I wasn't surprised. Even if that new rule hadn't been introduced, Layla doesn't even weigh enough for us to turn her around.

I hope you all had a great weekend and a great start to a new week! It's hot here so our plan for this week is to find ways to stay cool!

Our week in review

2011-06-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

It's been hot here and we've spent a lot of time in doors. I've taken the girls out briefly to swim or play but we don't last very long so I've had to come up with ideas to keep Sanaa busy (and to keep her from constantly asking to watch tv).

Hiding in the tunnel.

Playing in the princess tent and knocking it over. Knocking it over was a lot more fun then playing inside it and Layla more often than not was the one who would push the tent down.

We made pudding popsicles. Am I behind on this idea? I found the idea here and have no idea why I didn't make them sooner.

Nate really liked the pudding pops as well!

Layla is becoming more independent each day. She now wants to feed herself with a spoon. It creates a huge mess, but she needs to learn somehow and she really enjoys it.

Layla is a full time walker. The past 2 days she has been walking constantly and will even stop in the middle of the floor to lean over and pick up an object. It makes my job a lot more difficult as she toddles off to places she shouldn't be (i.e. the bathroom or behind the tv!).

Layla walking

2011-06-07T18:06:00.000-07:00

I have video of Layla walking! The past few days Layla has begun to spend more time walking and less time crawling. I think the crawling days are disappearing quickly. In the background you'll hear Sanaa cheering Layla on by saying, "Go! Go! Go!"

Parenting Perfection

2011-06-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

This is Nate.

I have achieved fatherly perfection. I would like to demonstrate how I achieved this for all of you fathers who have yet to get there.

Observe this video.

Now. A few things to note in why the following activity is perfect.

1. Sanaa is happy.

2. Sanaa is wearing herself out prior to bedtime.

3. The level of physical exertion by me is extremely minimal.

From a parenting perspective, I suspect that I've reached a sort of nirvana.

Cheers,

Nate

Learning lessons as a mom

2011-06-06T12:22:00.003-07:00

This morning got off to a BAD start and I had a few choice words running through my head when I knocked over a full pitcher of grape juice in the fridge....

........and then bumped the cat food off the counter as I reached for scissors.

I got everything cleaned up but was definitely short tempered with the girls as I tried to keep them out of the way. Once everything was cleaned, the girls were fed lunch, and Layla was down for a nap, I sat down for a much needed break and read some blogs.

I came across this blog where I was reminded that while I want to be a good example to my girls I will most definitely fail. The paragraph that jumped out at me said, "Having an imperfect parent is actually a blessing to my children. They get to see, from the start, that we all need God's grace...especially their crazy Mama. Just like children need to be able to fail gracefully, they also need to see me fail gracefully as well."

This was an encouragement as well as a challenge for me. I know other things will happen to test my patience and hopefully when those instances occur I can remember this post and change the way I respond.

On the upside, my fridge has never been cleaner and looks brand new inside!

Stepping WAY out of my comfort zone

2011-06-05T17:33:00.002-07:00

I typically keep our blog very family focused and use it to keep all of our out state family (which is pretty much everyone) up to date on what our girls are doing. But today is a little different. Whenever you all think about me, I would greatly appreciate your prayers. Beginning this week I will be co-teaching a 7 week evangelism class for women at our church twice a week (that's 14 total classes). To all you teachers out there, that probably isn't a huge deal, but 1.) I've never considered myself a teacher and 2.) I am A LOT more comfortable teaching young children as opposed to adult women.

Some of you already know the story of how this came to be, but for those who don't here's the background. This May I just completed my Certificate of Graduate Studies at DTS (Dallas Theological Seminary). After Sanaa was born I was burned out with school and took a long break. Just before the holidays this past year my father-in-law (who works at DTS) approached me and casually mentioned that my name had come across his desk on list to be dropped from seminary. I was still burned out but the fact that I was only 1 credit hour away from finishing the certificate motivated me to finish. So Nate helped me find a class with the least amount of class work that would also benefit us in the future. The class I took was Evangelism.

During the class one of my assignments was to present the gospel to a church staff member and I did that with our women's director at church. After I finished my presentation she told me I did a great job and that she was talking with another lady at church about doing an evangelism course this summer for the women at church. She then asked if I would be interested in helping and possibly teaching some. I said sure (this was in March) and totally thought I would only be sharing during one of the classes.

In April I met up with our women's director and 2 other ladies to discuss this class and me and one other gal ended up becoming the co-teachers. I remember calling Nate and saying, "I have no idea what just happened, but I'm now co-teaching the evangelism course this summer."

The timing of all of this is purely God since I just finished taking Evangelism at the seminary and the evangelism course for women at church has been tossed around as an idea but there's never been anyone to teach it. Yet at the same time I still don't feel qualified to teach. So instead of teaching I plan to share what I learned this last semester. But that still doesn't take the fear of talking in front of a group of people away. I don't like to do public speaking. It terrifies me.

So during the next 7 weeks (until July 20 when the class ends) I would greatly appreciate any and all prayers as I prep for this summer class. There is a rather big interest in the class and the sign up sheets at church this morning showed between 10-15 ladies for each class. Wow!

Butterfly birthday

2011-06-04T08:16:00.002-07:00

We had Layla's birthday party on Thursday night. It was a fun evening with some of our close friends. I didn't even think to get a picture of our friends that came, but thank you Mike & Karissa; Lance, Erin, & Abigail; Dwayne, Colleen, & Skyler; and Gene & Carol for making the evening so much fun! I know Sanaa and Skyler had a blast running around the house together!

I did a butterfly theme for Layla's first birthday. Both girls had butterfly shirts and the party hats that were passed down to us had flowers and butterflies on them.

Layla's butterfly cake I made.

Butterfly cupcakes.

Layla got very shy as we sang Happy Birthday to her. Sanaa hid around the corner! I guess our girls do not like to be the center of attention.

Layla was very aware that EVERYONE was watching her as she ate/played with her cupcake.

(As I was proof reading this post I just noticed that Layla had on her butterfly bib! That was not planned.)

Sanaa and Skyler talking about something and enjoying cupcakes. Sanaa is one day older than Skyler and they've grown up together at church.

(Before everyone arrived I gave Layla a party hat which she promptly ate, so she wasn't allowed to have a party hat.)

Nate, his dad, and Abigail (Lance & Erin's daughter). Abigail and her parents are moving to Florida this coming week, so it was extra special that they were able to come to Layla's party and we could spend some time with them before they move.

Happy 1st Birthday Layla!

2011-06-01T11:53:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday Layla! What a special treasure to our family you are. It's hard to believe that 1 year ago we were welcoming you into our family. I have no idea where this first year went. We did have some rough patches those first several months as you battled colic and didn't like to sleep. But now you are full of energy and smiles.

You are walking more each day.

Crawling is still a little faster for you, but you prefer to walk as much as you can.

You love throwing and eating your food.

You get a huge smile when daddy comes home and speed crawl over to him.

You try to follow your big sister around and want to do the things she does.

You love chasing our cats.

You've started to throw mini tantrums when a toy is taken from you or we stop you from doing something dangerous.

You like to be upside down.

You love water, playing in it and swimming in it.

You love to be outside.

You love playing peek-a-boo.

You also climb up on anything! Including chairs, boxes, step stools, and toys. You even managed to figure out that if you push the bus over to the chair, it's much easier to climb up on the chair.

We can't wait to see how much you grow and change this next year and all the new things you learn how to do. Happy Birthday Layla!

Sisters

2011-05-31T07:17:00.002-07:00

I decided that every so often I would try to show some pictures of the girls together. Sanaa has become a lot more loving/huggy towards Layla and is often trying to hug her. Layla isn't so excited about all the hugs, but she's often to busy to stop for much of anything these days.

Every morning Layla wakes up first and has a good 2 hours of alone play time before Sanaa gets up. Right around the time that Sanaa is waking up, Layla is getting a little grumpy but the minute she sees her big sister she gets very excited and get a new spurt of energy.

I've started eating snacks and lunch outside a lot. Layla is a messy eater and tosses food all over the floor. By eating outside I don't have spend as much time cleaning up after her.

(I love how I caught them both with their mouths open!)

Two sisters hanging out and watching a show together. Layla stayed like this for about 5 minutes before moving on.

Riding the bus is Layla's new favorite activity. Luckily Sanaa enjoys pushing her which give my back a much needed break!

A small victory

2011-05-28T17:39:00.002-07:00

Last summer I could not get Sanaa to wear a swimsuit at all. It was a huge ordeal and she would throw big tantrums if I tried to get her in a swimsuit. So I had my expectations set pretty low this year. For the past couple of days I've been talking about getting our pool out and wearing swimsuits. This afternoon when I looked at the thermometer and saw that it said 98 degrees I figured this would be a good day to pull out the pool. I asked Sanaa if she wanted to help me and she started jumping up and down and asking for her swimsuit! I showed her the 2 swimsuits I had for her and she picked one. I was able to dress her without her melting down. In fact I couldn't get the swimsuit on her fast enough. Yipee!!! Sanaa was SO excited that Layla and I also wore our swimsuits. :-)

Layla LOVED the pool, but I shouldn't be surprised because she loves water. Layla also has no fear and was continually trying to copy Sanaa by walking back and forth in the pool and falling. I'm keeping the water in the pool at a much lower level this year until Layla is more steady on her feet and gets use to the idea of a pool.

And finally, we had a mini celebration for Nate's birthday today. I bought some cupcakes at the store with the girls and we (well, mainly I) sang to Nate. We'll have another celebration on Monday with his parents. However, you might notice that Nate has the number zero on his cupcake. I honestly thought I had a 3 and a 1 but apparently don't or have misplaced them. All I could find was a zero, 2 and 6. I asked Nate which was his favorite number out of those three and he picked zero.

I sang Happy Birthday and just as I ended the song Sanaa leaned forward and blew out the candle. I wonder if that means Nate misses out on his wish.....

Happy Birthday Nate!

2011-05-28T07:47:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday! You're a wonderful husband and super fun dad! The girls and I love you very much. :-) We hope your day is fantastic (even if you do have to work...).

Lambs and rams

2011-05-27T17:42:00.002-07:00

Here are some final pictures from our time with my parents. My parents neighbor has a variety of animals (he's the local veterinarian). They have a horse, some dogs, two llamas, two rams, and a bunch of sheep. Sanaa fell in love with the rams and lambs. The first time she met the lambs and rams she was scared of them but she warmed up quickly and for the rest of the time we were in Oregon she frequently asked to go visit the lambs.

Isn't this a cute little lamb? It was so tiny it was able to squeeze through the fence whenever we came to visit it. This lamb was not scared of humans because it had been bottle fed since birth. It's mom didn't want it and left it an orphan. My dad asked his neighbor why the mom left this lamb and his response was that the mom didn't think the lamb was hers. She gave birth to a completely black lamb first and when this spotted lamb came out she didn't think it was really hers so she ignored it. Isn't that interesting? I wonder what would have happened if the spotted lamb had been born first. Would the completely black lamb have been ignored then?

Sanaa trying to pet and feed two of the lambs.

My parents neighbor also had two rams. In the past the ram they had was mean! But these must be new rams because they were quite friendly and let us pet them. However, Layla wasn't too excited about all these different animals.

But Layla did enjoy climbing up the gate to look at the sheep up on the hill. Layla is pretty much supporting herself. My dad said Layla wasn't really using his hands to help keep her up.

"Hey! Do you think I can squeeze through here?" (And yes, she did try)

Both girls climbing the gate to look at the sheep.

Tornadoes

2011-05-24T20:09:00.004-07:00

Several tornadoes touched down in the DFW area this evening. We are okay and only had strong winds and heavy rain at our house. At the time that the worst of the storms blew through I was at flute practice at our church. We had heavy hail there and heard that a tornado touched down a few miles south of us. Flute practice was cut short and we sought shelter with the other people at the church. There is a grade school connected to our church and they were having a graduation tonight, so some people were still left from the graduation. I'm quite thankful that the school was having a graduation tonight and the school administration stayed on top of the weather. Most Tuesday evenings there aren't very many people at church. I also got frequent updates from Nate which helped. All the flute ensemble members made it home safely.

Déjà vu

2011-05-23T08:05:00.002-07:00

I have more pictures to post about our time in Oregon and was planning to do that over the weekend. But we had some house problems that put that on hold. Maybe later today or tomorrow I'll get the rest of the Oregon pictures up.

We've had some strong storms come through since Friday and more water came into our living room behind the tv. Friday before it even started raining our flooring in front of the stairs began to bow upwards. Sanaa thought it was cool since she'd walk across the floor and yell, "It's squishy, it's squishy!"

On Saturday we had a company come out to look at the flooring that was damaged. They began pulling up the flooring and more and more came up until the entire living room was gone. Thankfully the dining room is fine. We currently have a dehumidifier and large fan set up in the living room to dry things out. However, we had more rain last night and more water came in. We stopped the water by piling ever single towel we own along the window area and fireplace, but it's a royal pain in the butt. We have no idea where the leak is coming from and until we can get that figured out we'll be living with concrete floors in the living room. I have joking said I was going to empty all the paint cans in our garage and paint the concrete an ugly marble color with the leftover red, yellow, blue, off white, and tan paint we have on hand. At least then we wouldn't have to worry about more flooring being damaged. :-)

Sanaa LOVES the giant fan and having the air blow on her.

Since the dehumidifier and fan make things really warm downstairs and we don't want our a/c running 24/7, the girls and I have been spending a good amount of time upstairs in the bedrooms where we have window a/c units. Thank goodness for those window units!

**On a completely unrelated note, we got word this weekend that Nate's grandma (his dad's mom) is not doing well health wise. She is being put on hospice care. The doctor gave her 6-9 months left to live. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated.**

A few of my favorites

2011-05-18T18:13:00.003-07:00

We returned home on Monday. I don't think any of us were ready to come back, but all vacations come to an end. The girls have had a rough couple of days adjusting to home for some reason. Sanaa is refusing to nap (she napped great at my parents house!) and is extra grumpy. Layla has the worst diaper rash ever and was up from 11pm-2:30am last night (at least I think that's how late she was up. I'm not sure since Nate actually spent most of the time dealing with her.). I've tried just about everything I can think of to help Layla. This afternoon and evening I even let Layla crawl around diaperless and thankfully she did not have any accidents!

Anyway, here are just a few of my favorite photos from our time with my family.

Surprise!

2011-05-14T20:04:00.004-07:00

The main reason for our trip to Oregon was to surprise my dad for his 60th birthday. We had a surprise party with most of his siblings (some live out of state) and it was great since I haven't seen my aunts and uncles in two years. They got to meet Layla for the first time and see how much Sanaa has grown up. Layla had a great time and practiced her walking between the various family members. Sanaa was a little overwhelmed with the amount of people and spent most of the time outside with my brother playing. She did however thoroughly enjoy the punch and said to me, "Dis is a good party" as she drank her third cup of punch.

Grandpa and his grand-daughters.

My mom made four different fruit pies. We thought about making a birthday cake, but my dad LOVES fruit pies, so fruit pies seemed more appropriate. Besides we had cake on his actual birthday.

We put candles in a pie and my dad (being the goofy guy he is) blew them out before we finished singing.

Sanaa began the party hiding under a desk.

But eventually she ventured out and tried to offer Layla some chips.

Playing with grandpa after all the guests left. Sanaa is handing grandpa another "cake" to eat.

The great outdoors

2011-05-14T09:05:00.002-07:00

When visiting my parents we almost always have some type of run-in with wild animals. To refresh you memory you can check out my run-in with a bat and the time we found a newt and slugs. I can now add snake to that list. Oh yipee!!! (note my sarcasm).

After Sanaa and I had finished helping my mom plant her tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, cantaloupe, and jalapenos in the garden I decided to walk around and look at the fruit trees my dad had planted. He planted about 16 different fruit trees (apple, pear, apricot, plum, cherry, prune, peach). As we were walking over to the trees Sanaa suddenly stopped, her eyes got big, and she just starred at the ground. My mom and I didn't know what was going on. Sanaa wouldn't move so I walked back over to see what she was starring at expecting to see some kind of bug. But no, she had stumbled across a garter snake! I tried not to freak out (I don't like snakes) and we watched the snake slither away. Sanaa thought it was pretty cool since this was her first snake to see outside of the zoo and we can all admit that seeing a snake in the zoo isn't that exciting since most of the time they are curled up in a corner.

We continued our walk through the fruit trees until something moved in front of my foot and I of course jumped and screamed as I discovered another garter snake. I told Sanaa the snake startled me and she wanted to find it and hold it. Ugh.

Some other (less scary) wildlife we've seen include the Western Tanager, which I spotted before my dad did. This was the first sighting for this year. It's not the best picture because I had to zoom in so much with the camera and the silly bird kept flying off to different branches.
We've also been checking in on the tadpoles hanging out in my parents fountain/little pond.

The ocean, Mother's Day, and hanging out

2011-05-11T10:05:00.002-07:00

We've had a busy but fun few days. On Friday we surprised my dad for his birthday by dropping in unexpectedly. We spent Saturday at the coast with my parents, my brother, and sister-in-law. It rained some in the morning (and was cold) but by the afternoon the sun was coming out some and it was beautiful. Sanaa and Layla had a lot of fun playing in the sand.

Sanaa on the hunt for more starfish. She and my dad did find some. She also found a snail inside a seashell. Very exciting!

Layla not pleased that I made her wear a hat and mittens.

Having a picnic snack.

Digging holes. The girls probably had the most fun doing this.

Layla really wanted in the hole.

Since keeping her out wasn't easy we put her in the hold and she loved it!

My Mother's Day picture with the girls. This is the only picture where Sanaa and Layla have their eyes open and are sort of looking at the camera. This Mother's Day was special in that it was the first one I got to spend with my mom since I was married (8 1/2 years ago).

Tackling uncle Ryan.

Layla walking from aunt Karen to uncle Ryan. She is getting good. She has taken up to 7 or 8 steps on her own!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Lind

2011-05-10T20:04:00.002-07:00

Happy Birthday Grandpa! We hope you had a super fun day. I know we've enjoyed celebrating with you!

The cake Sanaa "helped" me with by eating the icing I scraped off each time I made a mistake. (And I made many mistakes since writing on cakes can be hard). And yes, we did put the correct number of candles on the cake. Luckily we didn't set off any smoke detectors.

A long week

2011-05-05T19:37:00.002-07:00

It's been a long week around here and we aren't quite at the weekend. Layla has been sick all week. On Sunday she developed a fever and the fever stuck around until Wednesday. Monday we took her to the doctor and found out she had an ear infection plus a virus of some sort. Her throat was red with white spots but the strep test they did on her came back negative. I've been holding her a lot this week and find it quite difficult to get anything done. However, today she finally appeared to be feeling better. We had a good morning and she was almost back to her cheerful self. The afternoon was a very different story.

These are some pictures from this morning when Sanaa and Layla decided to play peek-a-boo.

I finally decided to give them a scarf instead so that they didn't pull the curtains down.

11 months old

2011-05-01T12:13:00.002-07:00

Wow. I know I say each month that I can't believe how old Layla is, but are we seriously only one month away from celebrating her 1st birthday? This year with Layla has flown by! Sanaa's first year didn't seem to pass by nearly as quickly as Layla's first year. I guess I need to start brainstorming on what to do to celebrate Layla's 1st birthday.

Layla enjoys making faces. However, I'm not quick enough with the camera to capture all the faces she makes.

This past Thursday while we were hanging out with our small group from church Layla decided to show off and take her first steps in front of everyone. It was awesome! She took 3 steps on her own and was very excited about her big accomplishment. The past few days she has continued to practice her walking. Three steps has been her limit though because she gets too excited and rushed and falls down. But I don't think it will be long before she's toddling around this house chasing her big sister.