Kids Update (Pictures Coming Later)

Miss E loves to sing. She will often request of me, "Sing!" Her favorites right now are:

• If You're Happy and You Know It (which she calls "Happy and ya know" while stomping around clapping sporadically)
• Mister Sun (She sings this by singing the word sun over and over)

She absorbs more than we realize. I read to her from her First Bible Stories book about David and Goliath. Naturally I acted it out - I hit myself in the forehead with my hand to illustrate David whacking Goliath with a rock. Two days later, I was changing the baby's diaper while Miss E read the book on the floor next to me. Suddenly I realized she had the book open to the David page and was whacking herself in the forehead!

Miss E is also experimenting quite successfully with forming her own sentences. "I drinking the water" as she drinks nasty water from a bucket in the backyard. Mr N tells her they will go for a walk later. She responds, "No, right now!"

Her super-keen hearing is handy. The baby sleeps in the closet (big, walk-in) at night because he likes it dark. I was doing dishes with the water running while Miss E ate breakfast. She looked up and announced, "Baby crying." Sure enough!

* * * * * * *

Bonesteele is getting impossibly chubby and cute! He loves to smile and coo. His main obsession in life right now is getting his fists into his mouth. As soon as he can coordinate it, he is definitely going to be a thumb-sucker.

He usually sleeps from 9 pm - 3 am, then from 3:45 - 7 or 8. His sleeping is still quite erratic though. My post-baby insomnia has returned (had it something awful after Miss E was born). This morning Bonesteele woke at 1 am, then 5 am. I never fell back asleep after that second waking. Finally decided to just get up and ride the exercise bike for a while. Might as well do something constructive if I'm not sleeping right? Hopefully by the time Bonesteele is about 4-5 months old I can get him sleeping through the entire night, so I can get some more sleep each night!

Somehow Bonesteele can sense when I have left and Mr N is in charge of the house. Then he promptly wakes up and cries until Mr N grudgingly agrees to cuddle him in the crook of his arm to nap. Then Bonesteele snuggles in for a snooze. Tricksy, no?

I Have...

(the items in bold are things I've done)

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby’s diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said “I love you” and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don’t
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all fours
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids (Mayan)
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in an historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one
133. Gone deep sea fishing
34. Gone roller skating
135. Run a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunchbox
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a campfire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter

What about you?

Miss E's Stats

At her 2-year checkup yesterday, we learned that Miss E weighs 31 pounds and is 35 inches tall! What a big girl! (92nd percentile for weight, 85th percentile for height.)

Her articulation continues to improve. She likes to copy what we say. "Clean shirt." "Why?" "Geez." Mr N and I often remind each other that "The Sponge" is listening to what we say. It helps us keep our language prim and proper. She has started using manner words with prompting. That makes us very happy. She also shrieks "Put me down now!" when we change her diaper. That makes us laugh.

Smiling Baby

Miss E Hits Two Years!

Wednesday was Miss E's second birthday. She spent most of the day fishing with Daddy at Detroit Lake.

When they got home, we had a little family party. There was a cake and presents!







Miss E is growing and developing at an astonishing rate. She seems to learn something new every day. Here are some insanity-producing things she has just started doing:

• Shrieking randomly and loudly.
• Taking off all of her clothes and her diaper in the morning in her crib. Luckily, no accidents yet. Sometimes we duct tape her diaper on. Oh yes, we do.
  
• Whining until we pay attention to her.
  

Here are some adorable things she has just started doing:

• Yesterday she nursed her baby doll, put it to sleep in the bassinet, and put it in her shopping cart. She told it to "sit down" in exactly the voice I use to ask her to sit down while shopping.
• Last week we went shopping as a family. Dh manned Miss E while I browsed around with the baby. Miss E ran from rack to rack, pulling things off, holding them up to herself and announcing, "This is cute!" What can I say, she learned to shop from the best.
• She finally started saying "I love you." The 'love' is hard for her to form, so she says the whole sentence very slowly: I...wuvvv...you. Picture my heart bursting into a million pieces.

We really love Miss E to an impossible degree. Happy birthday, Miss E!

Bonesteele's Blessing

Bonesteele hangin' out with his big sister.

"Yeah, I'm MAN enough to sit in a pink bouncy seat!"

Bonesteele was blessed June 1 by Mr N at our church service. Lots of family was able to attend - it was so nice to see everyone! Mr N said Bonesteele would be a happy baby and that is certainly true so far. Bonesteele has started smiling and cooing a lot in the past week. He is a sweet baby, and very low maintenance. He is easy to put to sleep, though he is still waking every 3-4 hours at night.

Isn't Uncle B's hair so pretty? (hee hee)

Saturday most of the family went to the coast. Grandma N, Bonesteele and I stayed behind. We had a nice relaxing day and went for a long walk around the neighborhood. The Ns at the coast went to Pacific City. They ate at The Pelican (highly recommended) and played on the beach. Miss E got totally soaked, as she is impervious to the cold! She had a great time running in the frigid waves of the Oregon Coast.

Sunday morning was the blessing. As I was dressing Bonesteele for church, I discovered to my dismay that his adorable christening outfit was too small - it didn't even fit over his head! So we had to quickly improvise. He wore a white onesie and the little white shorts from his christening outfit. With a hand-crocheted blanket wrapped around him, no one was the wiser.

After sacrament, everyone headed over to our house. We all chatted and had a good time. Some uncles earned their keep by playing with cousins M & E in the backyard until they were all exhausted. I made the crowd homemade chili and cornbread. It was weird but fun to make such massive batches of food. Since it was the Ns eating, there were barely any leftovers. Ha ha By Sunday evening, everyone had left, and it felt awfully quiet in our house! We had a great weekend and I'm really glad so many could make it for Bonesteele's blessing.

Mr N Goes Under the Knife

Mr N had a septoplasty on Wednesday May 28. It was a surgery to fix his deviated septum. We underestimated how hard it would be on him! He had to wear a mustache mask for several days, and was in a lot of pain. He couldn't pick Miss E up either, which turned out to be nearly impossible for him (he only followed that rule for 2 1/2 days). Ladies in our ward at church very nicely provided two delicious dinners for us.

Mr N was on Vicodin for a while, and slept almost all of Thursday and much of Friday. There is no rest for the wicked though - Friday evening family started arriving for Bonesteele's blessing. He was quite tired by the end of the weekend. Monday morning he had a follow-up appointment, and everything seems to be going pretty well. There was a scare Monday evening that perhaps one of his nasal passages had collapsed, but it seems that hasn't happened. His breathing now is quieter than I have ever heard it, and he seems to be snoring quieter and less often. Mr N reports that for the first time in his memory, he can breathe out of both nostrils!

Pictures of My Little Ones

Miss E tries out the new table. (Thanks Mom!!)


Power to the people!


Check out that hair color!

My babies

Day 2

Little feet

Welcome to the family

He's Here!

Bonesteele arrived this morning at 11:54 am, April 18. He is absolutely adorable!!!! He weighed 9 lbs 6 oz and is 21 inches long.



More to come later! :)

Visit to the Capital

A few weeks ago we went to the capital to enjoy the cherry trees in bloom. Fortunately we went during a 45-minute break in the rain. Good ol' spring in western Oregon!

Miss E was enchanted by the flowers.






In the above picture, Miss E is pointing down, because that is where she wants to go! The rushing water of the fountain kind of freaked her out, she didn't like being too near it.


Well, she wanted down until Mr N walked under a cherry tree. She liked reaching for the blossoms.


Pointing at "fow-fow!"

Quote of the Day

“Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world, a mother’s love is not.”

~James Joyce

Easter Weekend

Travis and Jeanie came down from Seattle for Easter weekend, primarily because I am pretty much the only one in the family who hadn't met Jewell yet. She is an adorable little baby! Plus, it's always more fun at holidays to be around family. Friday was mostly spent chilling, though Mr N and I managed to give more money to Target. Saturday the boys went fishing. Jeanie and I ventured to the bookstore with 2.5 children. Jewell doesn't like driving in town, but everything went fine. I picked up a Rachael Ray 30-minute meals cookbook, since most of the recipes I make right now take about an hour, and I just don't think I'll be up to that once I have the baby.

When Mr N and Travis got home, we had the Easter egg hunt. (Sunday's forecast was rain, plus it just fit better with our schedule.)




Miss E quickly caught on to the whole idea, as you can see from the above picture!



I loved snuggling up with little Jewell, who is such a sweetie. She is almost two months old in this picture. And yes, she has red hair! Her dad is blond, her mom is brunette. Not sure about the postman...



Miss E sizing up the baby. She actually did pretty well around her, and with coaching would pat Jewell on the head, or point out her body parts. She does however have no concept of being quiet when the baby is sleeping, which will probably be an issue once Baby #2 is born.


Here are the girls in their cute Easter dresses. Um, yeah, totally lousy shot of Jewell's. I think Travis has a better one on his blog. In fact, also lousy one of Miss E's. Oh well. It's cute, take my word for it. It has a little bunny and many flowers. Courtesy of Grandma J! Thanks!

Sunday afternoon Mr N's parents were able to come over. (They are spending spring break in Seaside.) So Grandma N got to be entertained by her active toddler granddaughter, and hold her serene baby granddaughter.


I love this picture - she looks so absolutely innocent.

Dinner turned out quite well. Everyone helped, which was great, since, you know, I am eight months pregnant. We had a glazed half ham, steamed asparagus, salad, and crusty French bread. Mr N's parents brought New York cheesecake and fresh strawberries for a delicious dessert.

Travis, Jeanie & Jewell left around 3 pm so they could make it back to Seattle at a decent hour. After they left, Miss E switched into major "show off" mode, which was hilarious. Her grandparents have mostly just seen her at their house, where she is reserved and clingy due to the unfamiliar surroundings. In the comfort of her own home, she really turned on the charm.


And decided Mr N's socks would be an awesome accessory.



This Easter was very enjoyable! It was certainly more fun than if had just been Mr N, Miss E and me.

Gleneden Beach

Last week we had the opportunity to go to Gleneden Beach for a couple days. We had a really fantastic time. I think it might have been the best mini-vacation we have ever had! We arrived Thursday night and tucked Miss E into bed. Our room had a fabulous ocean view! The ocean was very rough and the surf was so loud. Our suite was very nice - 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, with a fireplace, full kitchen, and of course that marvelous view.

Friday morning dawned blustery but sunny! (Those of you from the Northwest know what a miracle it is to have a sunny day in March.) Mr N made bacon, eggs & toast for breakfast. Yum-may. Then we headed out to the beach.

Miss E fears no elements. With her trusty sippy cup, she was ready for whatever came her way!

Miss E and I pause in our meanderings for a photo op.

We tested Miss E to see how far away she would get from us. The answer was pretty darn far! The beach was pretty much deserted, which had something to do with it. If lots of strangers are around, Miss E hangs closer to her parents. She didn't want to get very close to the ocean at all. (Previously, at Pacific City, she waded right in and got soaked.) I think that was because the ocean was so rough and loud at Gleneden that weekend.

Action shot!

Back at our room, Mr N and I settled into patio chairs to enjoy the view and the surf sounds. Miss E found a puddle nearby and splashed in it until her shoes, socks and pants were very muddy. Toddler heaven!

After Miss E's nap, we went to Tidal Raves for a late lunch. It's heavy on the seafood, so Mr N had a hard time finding something to eat. But my vegetable stir fry with salmon skewers was very good. Then we headed up to Lincoln City to go to the outlets, where we found some great deals on clothes for the kids.

Saturday morning Mr N had to leave inhumanly early for work, so Miss E and I checked out around 9. We picked up Mr N from the house back in town and went out to breakfast! Where Miss E ate only grapes!

We had such a great time together as a little family. We wanted to make this trip while we were still a family of three. We had such fun that we are hoping to squeeze one more mini-vacation in before Baby #2 arrives, but who knows if we'll be able. His due date is just one month away. So sometime in the next six weeks, our family will grow to four.