Swim Grad

Today was Eva's last day of swim lessons for this session. Pictures aren't that great, however, I want you all to notice...her hair is sopping wet! For those of you that have heard the story of Eva's last three sessions of lessons, this is a huge accomplishment! She had some random sub today, and she isn't bat an eye at him, bobbed her whole head under water, and even jumped (without reaching down to grab our hands first) into our arms in the water. What a turn around for her...and she has actually graduated up to the next level now, yahoo! Go Eva!

One Rat Down/Healthy/Snow Day

Boy, I sure feel monotonous, but at least I can stop writing about the kids health! Poop cultures came back negative and Eva has steadily improved over the last three days with no vomiting at all!! Yahoo!! I guess it was a virus, and she caused some sort of injury to her intestinal wall which continued the symptoms when the virus was long gone. Whatever, if she's better, that is all we care!
I would have made my sister Jen proud last night! We finally caught one rat last night on a glue trap. Now of course these things have been my bane for many weeks, but I instantly felt sorry for the terrified creature stuck hard. I promptly put a towel over it to calm it, donned gloves, talked soothingly, and went to work with a bottle of rubbing alcohol. It worked like a charm, and I soon had the creature bounding away into the frozen night with no major injury to it's body. It felt very good to set it free and not kill it...much to my husbands dismay. He was ready to kill the mother "explicative". There is no entrance from the outside, so I felt comfortable with it. Now for other (s), which I proved existed last night with some cereal left out...
Our winter weather is turning into fun as the girls can enjoy it with their new health too. We headed back behind our house to the old golf course yesterday, first just Kira and Mommy, and the with Eva and daddy later. Quite a big hill, which Kira loved and Eva thought better of. We returned to a much smaller hill for her enjoyment closer to the house. Fun stuff!

Weekend in Seattle

We braved Eva's bizarre illness and headed up to Seattle for our xmas/Jen's bday/Santa Train celebrations. Eva really enjoyed herself, but then took a turn for the worse and actually stated acting sick during the day which hadn't happened the previous 11 days. And then Kira started with nighttime vomiting, diarrhea, so we headed home a day early on some treacherous roads to be near our Dr. It took 4 1/2 hours, but we made it home grateful, safe, and a bit miserable.
The train was a highlight. All the kids really loved it, and the snowy blizzard outside the windows made it especially Christmas-like. All the kids shocked us and sat happily on Santa's lap and informed them of their wishes. Eva asked for milk and cookies (to which Santa said (Those are for me, what do YOU want!?") And she answered that she would like a bell. Ella asked for some obscure toy (which Kirst and Lance FINALLY figured out and found), and Nate asked for a BIG orange helicopter...good luck on that one Jen and Andrew!
Everybody send some positive energy our way for some healthy kids.

And The Sagas Continues.......

We couldn't possibly still be dealing with rats and vomiting Eva, right??!! Unfortunately, Eva continues to vomit, and we are waiting to collect a poop sample from her to test for parasites. Never thought I would look forward to a poop so much.....I just want this over for everyone, I feel so bad for her. Kira started ding the same weird things.....so that tells us it's nothing too serious in Eva as it can be passed on. I am thinking giardia....but whatever it is, I want to know, treat, and moveon with being healthy, this has really taken a toll on us all.
Super Rat was caught in a glue trap, somehow escaped it, and then proceeded to push the rest of them out of his way, one flipped up on the refridgersator and you can bet that is not coming off without massive amounts of acetone. Mike and I can not make BUDGE (so how in the heck did the rat get off it??! So both the rat guy AND the they guy who installed the furnace convened here today (we figured the rat must be getting in and out somehwere in it since everything else is sealed), and sure enough discovered some possible entries into the crawl space. Of course they are impossibel to access to seal off, so we have a ring of glue traps out. To get anywhere in the garage, it has to cross one. The thing will probably jump over them knowing our luck. Rat bastard!

Goodness Gracious, throw me a bone!

Would you believe, both of our sagas continue? We thought Eva was better. We took her to the Dr. for a THIRD time on Monday b/c she threw up once again on Sunday evening. She was still acting pretty happy and normal on Monday, and the doc still feels with reasonable certainty, with all tings considered, it is a weird virus. The alternative is some pretty unpleasant tests, and thus far, her symptoms have not warranted it, and why put her through it if we can avoid it. Monday passes vomit free!!! Yeah! Then last night, she did it AGAIN. And now she is complaining of her ear hurting (which commenced while she was vomiting, and want constant pressure and coolness on her ear. God, am I really going to go to the Dr again??!! More than anything, I am just worried. The longer the this vomiting continues, the more likely it is something more serious.
Now the rats. We thought we really had em this time. We very creatively and effectively closed off the hole underneath the water heater...quite a feat with only 3" of space clearance. Next morning, the two wheat stalks in a dying flower bouquet had been skillfully removed and shucked. By deduction, there is another entrance we're unaware of, OR (the horror!) they're nesting in the garage somewhere. So all through naptime yesterday, I removed everything from the garage, checked, put some loose items in bins, looked thoroughly for these little buggers.....NOTHING. All sleeping bags have had to be washed and will now be stored inside to remove any temptation there. The clean bags are sitting on the floor upstairs in the luandry room (while the vomit-covered bedding washes and drys) until I figure out how I am going to oragnize them..when I get the time that is. So my guy returns today to put down some giant glue boards.....not exactly pleasant for anything involved...but they won't touch the peanut butter on the traps.

Rats

Much to my horror, while my sister's stroller was parked in our garage overnight, some rats came out and chewed giant holes in it to get to the crumbs!!! Aggg!!! Disgusting!! So now everything in the garage has been thoroughly sanitized, and to be sure they were really gone (we had the outside entrance professionally closed, laid traps, no sign anywhere of them in the traps or otherwise, so after two days of being trapped, figured we caught them while they were out and about and they couldn't get back in) I left a small package of crackers on the floor of my freshly cleaned garage. I woke up, checked, and all 12 crackers were still accounted for....success!!! And then...............as I was checking my freshly sanitized strollers for dryness, AGGGGGGG, there were little chewed up pieces of the stroller on the floor!!! How can this be???!! They would chew a stroller with almost no remnants of anything edible, unless you consider lemon Lysol to be, and leave a fully accessible feast untouched? Someone help me...I thought I understood rats, but apparently, these rat(s) prefer dulling their teeth chewing NOTHING rather than an easy feast. Now I understand then term "rat bastards" so well.

Jumping Fun/Train Ride

We finally had a freeze, and my dahlias, which were still green and blooming kicked the can!! December......who'd a thunk it?! We've had a crazy week at the Simpson household. Eva had some sort of virus which caused her to throw up (in the middle of the night only of course) for three days in a row. The spots on her cheeks turned out to be broken blood vessels from throwing up. Then the diarrhea started, and she she wasn't able to make it to the bathroom, that was day four 1/2. Then that same afternoon, day 5, she vomited twice again...which we eventually figured out was because she had drunken too much water at once (24 ounces), and then was as happy as a clam! Last night was the first solid night of sleep we have all had in 5 days, so we were grateful! I am SO over laundry at this point! Not only did we have pukey/poopy bedding/clothing/towels/rags......................
We have rats!!!
Here's Kira, jumping like a big girl...pretty sure this trampoline does not have 1 year olds in mind, but don't tell her!

We also headed into town for the market, and a train ride.

November

Well, since I've been so delinquent this month, this blog is a summary of anything of note in November of 08!!

• Kira is a BIG fan of chairs she climb up into of her own accord. Of course at the beginning of the month it was to sit in, and now, she pushing the envelope and standing, even in her wooden rocking chair, joy!
• Eva is finally really grasping the idea of Santa this year, and really loves all the "beautiful Christmas lights". She is very into imaginative play, so it is no surprise I caught her playing with some of the yet-to-be displayed decor!
• Kira and Eva continue to really enjoy one another......most of the time anyways! In one video clip, you can see them playing chase, and Kira does one of her piercing squeals as she takes off for big sis. And then in the other, well, make sure the volume is turned up so you can really appreciate it. Eva, as only Eva can, ever so discreetly moves from being sweet and gentle rocking of her sister to rocking a little more roughly so Kira falls out...listen for what Eva exclaims as she catches Kira in her arms, as if it was pure coincidence! (Please pardon the lack of editing abilities in the clips!
  
• We also ventured out on another hike for one of Eva's friend's birthdays. It was a nice little jaunt to the Gorge, and of course they were falls we had never seen as they were trails too short for us in the past......my how kids change things!
• Eva's hair redefined bedhead one morning, does she have her mommy's hair or what??!!!
• My mom and sister Kirsten came down for Thanksgiving. The older girls were simply THRILLED to decorate the entire tree...a little uneven in the disbursement, but they diligently put up every single ornament on their own! As you can imagine, Mammy was coveted at every turn, and here you will see her reading with all the girls. Notice how Kirsten's girls sit quietly listening intently to the story while my two wiggle and touch those around them....oh genes. I guess my spazzy energy is coming back to haunt me in my children!
• Although no pictures to attach with it, Eva has continued her swim lessons. Her previous teacher had left her a bit traumatized and fearful of the water again, and had Eva so anxious, that she started having her first nightmare. It kept recurring and she would wake up crying that "the house is going up and down". It took us awhile to tie the two together, but she felt so anxious/stressed that the teacher was going to dunk her or free float her in the deep end again, it manifested into this nightmare. Wouldn't you know, as soon as we went back to another teacher for the next set of lessons, it immediately stopped. On a happy ending, Eva is doing even better back with her old teacher, and will finally, willingly put her own face in the water, progress!! Meanwhile, Kira and I swim in the background and she submerses herself willingly and seems to enjoy it already..............
• Mike had a great end of the month at work. He was the first and 2nd place winner in a sales contest at work and they handed out loads of fun prizes and gift cards, he brought home quite the booty! It's nice when his work is recognized.
  

Happy Halloween!

It was a fun filled week at the Simpson's! Eva's school had lots of Fall festivities planned, and she got to wear her costume to school too. Trick-or-treating was fun, Eva thought it was AMAZING, after all, there was candy involved! It was a reminder of days past when she got home and poured over her pieces of candy, coveting each piece! Kira on the other hand was simply thrilled just to be walking everywhere outside to her free abandon!! I tried several times to hold her hand down sloped sidewalks, but she would have none it! We've taken to calling her Frankenstien as she walks with both hands out in front of her, quite cute! We capped the weekend with a visit from my siter's family and enjoyed the rainy weekend together! And in case anyone is wondering...Eva DID pick her own costume.

Kira's walking!

Out of no where this afternoon, Kira was standing up and as an afterthought took a few steps....was it fluke? We continued to encourage her, and no, it was for real...she has started walking, just like that!

October 17th

Hi all. We are having some beautiful Fall weather now, and are trying to enjoy it as much as possible! Eva's new things: she likes to tell me and other cars when it is time to go in the car by watching the lights. Try explaining a right turn on red to a toddler......forget it!! She also had another vaccine yesterday, and for the first time ever, she didn't cry and seemed quite proud of herself talking abut it with the dr and nurse as we walked out. Kira's new things: She now climbs the stairs up, quite rapidly. She is also, while standing up, doing little hops and throwing herself on the ground, totally laghing at herself throughout the entire porcess, She has also discovered Eva's old plush pink kid-sized chair and absolutely LOVES to crwal up into it and sit/play/hangout/jump...you get the drift...ANYTHING! In the video clip, she finally figured out how to blow on the recorder and...well, you'll see what she thinks of that! She is still signing very well, and has added Eva to her vocab (sounds a wee bit like Baba). I always marvel at how quickly they acquire new abilities at this age.

We love you Gretty!

My sister's dog passed away this weekend after a brief fight with cancer. We will all miss Gretta and all the different ways she made us smile and pull our hair out! Here's to you Gretticans, I know you are happy and free from pain now and eating all the delicious foods you love so much. You will be missed.

Beautiful Fall Weekend with the Fam

Mom, Jen and Family spent the weekend with us. We took full advantage of the beautiful fall weather and took a train into town for the farmer's market and hit the pumpkin farm the next day! The barrel train AND the MAX train were big hits with the older kids, as well as frolicking amongst the giant sequoias.

Kira's Standing Up!

On her birthday no less, Kira decided that she was ready to try this new trick of standing up all by herself! She seems quite proud of herself and will perform for us often. I fear the walking is just around the corner! At least it is cleaner in time for the wet and muddy winter weather!

Happy Birthday Kira

Kira Sorrel, one years old, is it really possible?! Mammy, Tia J, Uncle D and cousins Nate and teeg made it down for the festivities. As thepictures will attest, Kira thought the cake was pretty tasty, and the new toys pretty exciting!

Weekend Fun

The cool rainy weather has started in earnest, and so we look to indoor activities to entertain the little ones! Eva and I put up our Fall Decorations (to which she was exclaiming, "Ohhhh, Christmas Time!!") I did correct her, but the lights to her mean Christmas....at least until she Trick-or-Treats again this year, and then I am sure, Halloween will always be remembered in the future! SHe gets so excited to see the pumpkins too. We'll be heading to the pumpkin patch soon to 'stalk' up on corn stalks, pumpkins, and gourds. We took care of our friends kids and I planned an evening of more structured activities so that we didn;t have to referee the whole night! We made some "Boot Tracks", painted pumpkins (no pictures here, I had to be to on-top of the kids with the paint!), and played Hullabaloo. When Kira joined them, she was estatic, so into watching the older kids and dancing with them. She is really amping up the interaction with her sister and others and imitates amazingly well their vocalizations. In the video, she finally learned how to nod her u and down well, so she really amped it up to entertain herself (and us!).

Neighborhood BBQ

We had our first ever neighborhood bbq as a way to hang out with the neighbors we don;t normally get to.. It was a big success and everyone seemed pretty in to it! I was a little worries how our night would go as both girls were especially grumpy all day Saturday, I braced myself. Eva was fighting a cold, and every little thing caused a major, mucous-laden meltdown. I thought for sure there would be conflicts with all the kids, but she held it together for most of the evening until...........the Popsicles came out. Keep in mind at this point, she had already had 2 kinds of cake and a cookie, and it was almost time for bed anyway...we're not talking about a sweet-deprived child here. I of course said no, as did a couple of other moms, but some kids did have them, and boy was she MAD. She continued to talk about it up until bedtime books and and the next morning as well as we asked her about her favorite parts of the night before. Eva is with her friend Jon Jon in the picture, they are very sweet with each other (most of the time).
Kira was having a tough day too. She seems to be going through some sort of sleep transition, and I'll be darned if I have figured it out completely yet. So on Saturday, she had ONE short nap and kept giving us the sign for night nights, but when you would put her down, she wouldn't sleep! I think I tried putting her down over 6 times unsuccessfully that day (ARGGG!!) So uncharacteristic of her, and she was grumpy the whole time she was awake. She too had a gunky nose, so I am sure that was part of it. Anyway, Mike was a trooper, and finally got her down for a quick nap 5, and then she played her heart out all over the street. She seemed especially amped and excited about the fact that she was able to roam so freely where normally she can't. Not surprising, she need a bath before bedtime! In the pictures: whenever she gets a hold of a sword or light-saber now she wields it about and turns herself around in a circle. And the wagon, she is using that to walk around and around in a circle. quite ecstatic and pleased with herself! She is well on her way to mastering and assisted walk.

Mama's New Do

Totally sick of my mop of hair and ready for a drastic change, I went in for change!! I was hoping to have enough hair to donate to Lock of Love, but I was just over an inch short of the necessary 10 inches to donate, bummer! I told my stylist that I had only two major priorities: I needed to be able to style it in less than five minutes, and I needed to be able to get my hair out of eyes. And away she went! I totally enjoyed watching the mound of hair accumulate. I love the change, the first major change in more years than I can remember! Eva didn't seem to notice, and Kira smiled at me and immediately grabbed my hair......who knows!?

Kira "Walking"/Eva vacuuming

Eva has decided that she really enjoys this small vacuum we use on the hardwoods. One day, she had infiltrated the refrigerator once again (while I was out of the room) and had spilled stuff allover the floor. Of course being the saavy mom that I am, the punishment fit the crime and she had clean up her own mess off the floor. Little did I know, it wasn't a punishment at all, but a real treat for her. This morning she asked for the "yellow baby vacuume" and started away, lucky me!! She ended by saying, "Yep, I a helper mommy!"
Kira has really taken to the walking practice. She loves to practice while we are holding her hands, and then we tried the scoot scoot assited walk. Here's a clip:

Today we're starting swim lessons again with Eva and my intention is not to stop until we have her swimming...we'll she what happens!

Mooing Kira/Dancing Eva

This was too much not share! We were having our pre-bed playtime, and in the first short clip, Kira is imitating a toy she is playing with, a cow mooing. In the 2nd, Eva was getting her groove on to "I Know a Chicken" by Laurie Berkner when she busted out in this voice...funny! Quite entertaining for me!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Nightly Romp Session

Every night after dinner, at least until the daylight continues for us, Eva wants to head outside for some good-old-fashioned romping!! Sometimes it happens indoors, but regardless, it happens. She seems to need the physical energy outlet (as if she has none throughout the day!), and especially wants to be with her Daddy. My guess is that it is mostly the ladder. You know how it is, Mommy plays one way, daddy another. Of course Kira joins in on the fun now too, and we are learning that she is a reall thirll seeker. She seems to LOVE going fast, steep..whatever. Things I would have thought would make her timid make her squeal with glee...I guess we have another adreniline junky on our hands. I wonder where she gets it??!!

Weekend Fun

We got to see our friends Marco and Jen for a bit while romping around the Carney's house. Eva was busy being mother hen to the 3 babes, in the ost physical way possible of course! Kira has started with some pretty hysterical scowls that she dons out when she is unfamiliar with someone. We tried to get a video of it...but by then she thought Jen was OK! Sunday saw us at our friend Kristin's party for some romping around in the sunshine. Eva discovered one of the many motorized toys right off the bat and was on it for at least an hour or more, mostly content to being chauffered around. When she finally DID get behind the wheel, even with all the room, she managed to nearly run into a couple of cars. Totally obessed.