almost 1.

zonked mid-nursing

night night little s - your last night as an 11 month old baby...

i've been awake since before 4am, when s woke crying, wanting to nurse. i didn't give in, and after an hour, could go back to bed. but then my stomach was grumbling, and i was thinking of all the things i had to do, and i couldn't get back to sleep. ran errands with the kids - went to 4 places, all before 9:30am. abuelos visited, then off to soccer, then off to get z's hair cut. s fell asleep on the way there, and during most of it. then back to home for lunch & nap time. guess who didn't nap???? no surprise there. luckily, s played by herself while i baked cake & washed vegetables. then off to teach for two hours - i was falling asleep. so hard to stay awake. then up to dinner in a rush, which wasn't cooked, which needed to be cooked in a rush, and then veggies to finish prepping & roasting, then dishes to be washed, & children to be put to bed. little s was zonked. either she'll sleep well, or she'll wake up early because she fell asleep before eating all her tummy could hold. off to bed for me. tomorrow is going to be beyond busy. i need a break.

update

have more pics to post of z's birthday party, which was last last saturday, but just haven't had the time. j has been working so much, it's been all i can do to just keep the house running. i'm behind on my work, behind on planning s's birthday... and now i need to try sleep training s again. i had started about a month ago, but then s got z's cold that just wouldn't go away & got worse & worse, & the doctor said to stop the training & just nurse when she wanted it, so i did. nowt hat she's a lot better, i have to try again. which means much less sleep for me than usual, unless she's magically going to not need any training (hahahahahahaha).
so z had a party at indoor goals on the 13th. lots of his friends came. then we went home & opened all the presents, with all grandparents & j & m present, along with pizza. both kids woke up early the next morning at 6:30am, and z insisted on opening each new toy/game & playing with it. i managed to get 2/3rds of the thank you notes written (and managed to get z to sign them) by the time the morning was up. after s had a quick nap, i took the kids to pick up my friend b, who was visiting in town for the weekend, & we drove to multnomah falls, as he had never been. then we came home, and visited for the rest of the afternoon, roasting some vegetables. i took him to the airport after a quick dinner, and then it was off to bed for the kids. j was on the phone for over 5 hours that afternoon. no fun.
z had his 4 yr check up this past wed. he got a dtap & polio shot (one in each leg), and was still sore from it the next day, making soccer class really painful. i fell down this weekend on my knee, and it is still hurting (and one kneels a lot as a mom), so i can understand how it might've hurt to run around for him. i also had blood taken on tuesday, & finally got a flu shot, so it's been a sore week, i guess. z is down to the 80th % for weight, and 50th for height.
j was working all the time again this week, although i got to escape for an hour on wed night to see the ladies in the neighborhood. friday night the kids & i went to the grocery store after dinner, while daddy was helping grade routes at stoneworks. sat he helped judge the competition there, so i took z to swimming class. then we returned a gift & got a new one (hungry hippos - yay!) at toys r us, then we went to the childrens' museum, & then stopped at the bagel place on the way home. s did well for missing a nap (although she fell asleep on the way to the museum, & napped there in my arms for a bit - quite a good workout without a stroller). we went out for dinner to the oak hills mcmenamins. today, j took the kids to church after sleeping in a little, so that i could have a nap. z went to a play with grandma - the bfg- while s & i ran errands, & j worked. busy busy busy busy busy. off to bed...

z's 4th birthday

singing and blowing out candles...

z's 4th birthday

grandma & grandpa took us out for lunch at burgerville! they got z these huge balloons. s absolutely loved them, too!

z's 4th birthday

in the morning, we got some birthday doughnuts...

halloween fairy

grandma left something for the kids....

uh oh!

oh dear! i came out of the shower to find this mess! s has taken a definite liking to toilet paper.

mmm...doughnut

i can't remember why we got doughnuts today... it's a very rare occurrence

mmm...doughnut

first dougnut? can't remember, but she likes this one!

mmm...corn

first corn on the cob, and she loves it!

school bus

z is so good with his little sister! what a great big brother.

school work

caracol = snail

swifts

we went to watch the swifts land in the chapman elementary chimney. our littlest one fell asleep on the way home - it was a long day for her!

first day of school 2012

at least one was looking at the camera... still so cute!

one part is still stuck

j is not pleased

finally, success!!!

we purchased a new faucet for the sink... installing it was not easy.

seaside

flying a kite

yay - it's high in the air!

close up shot

making sure it's not warm enough to swim in

happy baby!

s-bug & tired mommy

beach baby

seaside

yay - seafood!!!

happy baby!

we went to seaside after being in central oregon. this was our first dinner, which was fantastic until an older lady approached our table and asked z to stop kicking his legs against the seat. i couldn't quite believe it. he was barely making any noise, and had been on his best behavior. we were about to leave anyway. stupid lady. i was so offended. it was a FAMILY restaurant - not a nice, sophisticated place. our kids were not running around, or being loud. it sort of ruined the dinner for me.

sunriver redux

playing outside the sunriver complex

siblings playing together

z feeds s

z and s playing

after our visit to paulina lake, we drove to sunriver and stayed there two nights (and finally got some showers & baths!). we had been awarded a free two night stay in a river lodge suite because the june stay had been so rotten. this is why it always pays to complete surveys! it wasn't anything fancy, but we still had a great time relaxing as a family, swimming at the sharc, eating good food, and enjoying (gasp!) a little cable tv (z loved the disney channel - a good way to unwind before bedtime).

kids' concert

z & i went to an oregon symphony kids' concert this afternoon. he really liked it! however, he slept on my lap through the whole middle part, but the parts he did see, he enjoyed. he was very patient and well behaved. we stayed downtown after church & got some lunch. it was fun to eat outside in a park & run around before the concert. we have tickets to all of them, so i look forward to some more mommy/z dates in the future!

paulina lake

z at the shore of paulina lake

after napping - much happier!

s & daddy

on the lava flow - obsidian

hello there!

paulina lake

we made it!!!

the lake at sunset

we went camping for two nights at paulina lake in august. j's brother & family were supposed to join us, too, but the kids had hand foot mouth disease, so they had to skip it this time. s threw up on the way down there, so it was a mad rush to get groceries purchased & get to the campsite before dark. thankfully, b went out ahead of time to get us a campsite. thanks, b!!!

z's camping look

mmm! s'mores!

same shot with flash...

bundled up the next morning

z's silly face

s, z, & mommy!!!

it gets below freezing there at night. the first night was rough for s & i, but we napped a lot the second day, and the second night went much better.

z & his neighbor friend, s, with her grandfather, on their new swing!

 

our pipe started gushing one evening, so we had to turn off the water until a plumber could come. most inconvenient.

the capped off pipe, and the hole which needs to be filled

z slaved away to get the job finished

yay! i

z with his neighbor friend, p

boys will be boys!!!

hmmm... how do i eat this?

first steps!

s takes her first steps (at ten months)!
she's a little walker now. not crawling yet, though. not the best combination!

s is trying on her hand-me-down snow pants, just in case she needs them for camping at paulina lake