My Cell Phone is Broken but Clean!

PLEASE send me your CELL PHONE and HOME PHONE NUMBERS!
I dont know any of them by memory and there is no way to get them from my phone!


Ellie decided to wash my cell phone, so now it doesn't work. It actually hasn't worked since last Thursday, so I hope you haven't called!

I've used this opportunity to switch providers and to get a local number. Bye, bye Sprint, my carrier of an entire decade!

I've switched to Verizon and should receive my new phone in the mail in a few days. I made way too big of a deal about trying to decide between Verizon and AT&T! Thanks Shannon for trying to help me, and for laughing at me! I deserved the teasing, but now I think you told me to go to Verizon because that's what you use. Conflict of interest???

After several hours of seriously fretting over the subject, I realized that it's just not that big of a deal!! Sometimes, I get so caught up in the details that I forget how small the issue is!!

Anyway, I'll send you my new number if you'll send me yours!!

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah)

Oh, yum! It's a quinoa night!

Mmmmm...


What a mess. Somebody clean me up!

It took me about 20 minutes to clean all this up! Next time, I'll feed it to Kevin instead of letting Kevin feed himself, although he doesn't really like for me to feed him anymore!

My new favorite food... Quinoa! A complete protien. A great alternative to rice for some dishes. A little crunchy. Super yummy!

"Quinoa, an ancient grain from South America, is full of good carbohydrates -- the body’s preferred source of energy -- as well as high-quality protein, potassium and iron."

"Technically quinoa is not a true grain, but is the seed of the Chenopodium or Goosefoot plant."



One of msnbc.com's top 5 foods to boost your muscle power!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26777340/?pg=5#Health_COT_musclemass

Yummy Quinoa Recipe....
http://www.traderjoesfan.com/Articles/Articles/Quinoa:_The_Mother_Grain/ (Garlic Chicken Stir-Fry with Quinoa, Peppers and Basil)

Or just cook with chicken broth and add some dried italian seasonings while cooking. Then, once its cooked, add lots of chopped, fresh basil and chopped ripe tomatoes! Yum! Yum!

Princess Party

Our neighbors had planned a princess party for the girls - dressup, hair, painting nails, etc. They had to cancel the party, so Ellie and I had our own princess party! She asked me to take these pictures. She said she'd give me her best smile! :-) I didn't expect to have such a girly-girl, but she loves dresses, princesses, and shoes.

The Arboretum

Ellie watches as Chris pretends to get lost in the hay maze. She looks mezmerized by her Daddy!

We took a trip to the Arboretum this weekend for the fall pumpkin patch! They had a band playing music, and it was a beautiful day! While we listened to the music and relaxed, Kevin kept walking about 20 feet away and standing right by another family! We sent Ellie down to get him once, and she thought she was so big!

Trip to Austin

We went to Austin to visit family a few weeks ago. I asked Ellie to help me pack her clothes. We counted the number of days we'd be gone, and then Ellie went to her room to get 3 of everything - one for each day! She then lined everything up on the couch in nice, neat piles all in a row. I didn't ask her to do this. She definitely gets this skill from Chris and not me!!! She was so proud!

Ellie and her cousin, Pug, had so much fun together! I don't think they had a single disagreement, and they played so well together! When we came home, Ellie said, "Pug just knows so much about everything!" She was impressed with his knowledge of bugs, Star Wars, dinosaurs, and other random things! They slept together for two nights in the same bed... very cute! They stayed up until past 10pm just talking!

A Trip to the Zoo!

We went with our neighbors and a friend from CA to the zoo last week.

Kevin and Violet rode together in the stroller. They were very cute together. Violet wasn't feeling well, and Kevin kept touching her leg and patting her. I think he was trying to help her feel better. But he also grabbed her pacifier and put it in his mouth! Violet is about 3 weeks younger than Kevin, and it's very cute to see them "play" together!

A Geography Lesson from Ellie

"Mommy, did you know there are 7 continents? But some of them died, so now there are only 50 states. And our continent has so many people on it that we dont know what do with all of them. Did you know that, Mommy?"

She is learning about "Earf" (Earth) at preschool. It seems as though some of it is sinking in (and getting a little mixed up as well)!!

Kevin Loves the Dishwasher

Kevin - 13 Months

Kevin loves hats. He finds this hat and then puts it on immediately!

Kevin loves to do whatever big sister does...

Kevin eats lunch with the big kids...

Kevin's first day of Mother's Day Out...

Kevin feels so big when is allowed to feed himself with a spoon...

"Yeah, for me!" Kevin claps.

Spitting out the spoon. When the food is all gone, the spoon becomes a toy...


Kevin's favorite toy for the month... He loves to put the lid on and take it off.


First the lid goes on...

Then it comes off... Wow! What fun!

Kevin after his first haircut...


Grandma introduces Kevin to chips...

Granny tickles Kevin's cheeks...





Kevin and Ellie coloring...

Ellie put a bow in Kevin's hair one morning and called him Kevina, her baby sister, all day!


About a week after his first birthday, Kevin got his first haircut and learned about 5 new words in one week! Throughout the rest of the month, he's learned a few new words, but he doesn't use many of them often. Dog and Duck are among his favorites!

Da - Dog (He LOVES dogs! He says, "Da, da, da, da!!!")
Du - Duck (He also loves ducks!)
Bu - This was great because he was calling birds "du" for a while!
Hi
Bye
Nana - Banana
Nigh Nigh - Night Night
Eh-Yee - Ellie (he's only said this one a few times - when we went to get Ellie from preschool.
Mo - More

He loves touch and feel books! He also loves the books where you can press the buttons and hear songs.

He learned to scribble and made his first drawing for me. Completely on his own, he opened the marker box, picked up a piece of paper, scribbled on it, and walked to me in the kitchen with a big smile on his face, a marker in one hand and his drawing in the other. So sweet!

He's very into putting items inside bowls. It's cute and fun to watch him try to put large objects into small ones! It's fun to see the wheels turning as he learns that books don't fit in yogurt containers!

He also loves to put on hats! He's often walking around in his cowboy hat or Ellie's big pink Easter bonnet! If he sees a hat, you can bet it will be on his head within seconds!

He still takes two naps a day, and he still needs them both!

He has also figured out how to unscrew the top to my mascara and lip gloss. I dont know how he figured this out, but it can make a pretty big mess!

He started going to "Mother's Day Out" once a week from 9:30 to 2:30. This gives me a chance to go to the doctor or dentist child-free!! I also plan to begin using this time to volunteer at a pregnancy center. That's my goal, but it's been more difficult to implement that I thought it would be. Life is just so busy. I'm working trying to slow things down a bit! We'll see how that goes!

Kevin's First Haircut

Kevin received his first haircut on August 10th! He looks handsome and all grown up. But I prefer the longer hair look, so we'll be letting it grow a little more!

A Mighty Tug!

"Ouch! Ouch! My leg is stuck in my car seat! Ouch! Ouch!!!"

A few seconds later...

"Mommy! I just did a MIGHTY tug and SUDDENLY my leg broke FREE!"

New Neighbors

Our neighbors are truly amazing! On each side, we have two fellow stay-at-home moms with two young children each. A few houses down, we have a family with 3 older children, two of which are babysitters!

The above photos are of Ellie with her new playmate. Ellie and Sophia play several times a week. But Arden and Daniel, don't worry. She still really, really misses you!

Sophia's mom, Pam, and I have been running in the mornings several times a week. Chris and I are just amazed at how welcoming and caring our neighbors have been. We can hardly think of a better situation and never expected for things to work out this perfectly so quickly in our home. Being surrounded by such wonderful families has really made the transition from Stanford so much easier.

But, dont get me wrong, I do miss my Stanford mommy friends. Each of you has a special place in my heart! How I miss all our playground and playdate chats... always challenging each other and searching for ways to become better mothers, wives and friends. You are truly an amazing group of women! Thank you for everything you taught me over those two busy, busy years!! I know I am a better person because of the loving examples you were to me. Sappy, I know! But very, very true!

Ellie as a Loving Sister

Ellie is such a loving big sister. When I give her a cookie or treat in the car, Kevin immediately screams. Then, without any prompting, Ellie gives him a piece. It makes me smile with pride each time.

Today, she said, "I already decided that on this day, I want to do things to help you. I decided that I'm going to have a whole day with no punishments and no bad behavior". I think the favorite thing she helped me do was pick out Kevin's outfit for the day. She was so proud when we put it on him (plaid overalls with an aligator shirt!).

When Kevin falls asleep in the carseat, she immediately says, "Now I can hold his hand, and he won't even cry!" She often sings songs to him while he sleeps. Here is a video of her singing to him in the car after he fell asleep.