Toothless

Brendan's front tooth was so loose that, with a little Daddy help, it came out last night. I think its a cute holey smile.

23 months

Recently Darby hit the 23 month mark. I cannot believe she is not already two. She acts so mature for her age and she is so big. She is over 34 inches and weighs 30 lbs. She talks in full sentences easily and usually with proper pronoun usage. She does so many things the other two can do. She insists that she can "do it myself!" She loves to sing the alphabet song (which she has most of the way down) and tries to count. She loves books, piggyback rides, coloring, eating, babies, learning games on my iPhone and her stuffed animals. She gets along really well with her siblings. Darby also shows some interest in the potty, asking to go sit on it if her sister is.

I will be interested to see how the new baby rocks her world. She already sees herself as a big girl so I might have that in my favor as the baby takes over the youngest spot (and the crib, and her old toys and clothes). Only time will tell.

Artsy Eva

Eva got all sorts of painting supplies for Christmas and she has played with them every day since. Her paintings all look pretty much the same but she has such fun creating them. Washable fingerpaints are the best!

Christmas 2011

On Christmas Eve we had a yummy dinner with dessert (note the chocolatey faces on the kids below), a family devotional where we watched the Nativity DVD, read Luke 2 and talked about the real reason for Christmas. Then the kids got to open one present. They all chose the one from my mom. Eva opened up her present that my mom made and exclaimed (and I am not making this up), "A purple dinosaur! That's just what I wanted!" Brendan also received a dinosaur, a pterodactyl, which he promptly named Terry. Darby opened her hooded towel but wasn't sure what it was. However, once it was on her head, it became a cape for a superhero and she was quite excited. Jason got a collectible Wembley tie and sock set from my sister. He was impressed that he now had Wembley SOCKS! I opened a present from Brendan - a cute wreath banner made from his handprints. One day I won't be able to believe they were this tiny.

After the kids went to bed (relatively easy too) we stuffed stockings and watched a Christmas classic, Better Off Dead. I had forgotten how funny that movie is.

Christmas morning we opened the rest of the presents. It was funny because everyone was playing with everyone else's presents. At least I know they will get some use. :) I won't list all the presents that the kids got, just the favorites. Brendan's favorite was, of course, LEGOS. Eva's faves were the paints and other art supplies she got. However, since we were heading to church soon, she wasn't allowed to use them and that disappointed her. Darby's latest love was the stuffed lion she got from Aunt Amanda. She wouldn't be parted from it and brought it to church with her. Jason got a new tie, book and DVD set. My presents were a book, CD and the setup to turn VHS into DVD. Another winner for the whole family (because I like to play with it too) is Color Studio for the iPad. Jason picked that one up all on his own. Good idea, Honey. Here are some pictures.

It was really quite perfect to have church on Christmas. Our sacrament program was amazing. The choir sang, soloists performed and our ward orchestra played amazingly beautiful arrangements. The Primary sang two songs as well. It was lovely.

The rest of the day was spent at home, leisurely playing with new and old toys. No one fought. Jason made dinner and we had lots of treats. It was a wonderful day. I hope yours was too.

All I want for Christmas is . . .

Brendan lost a front tooth right before Christmas. It was super loose and so Jason decided to help it along. He tied some floss to it, gave a count of three and pulled. It bled a little but Brendan was glad to have it out.

His class keeps track of how many teeth they lose each month and he is excited to tell them that he lost one over break. The other front one is loose too. Who knows? Maybe he will have a big hole in his smile when he returns to school.

Take 2

We decided that we had so much fun at Great Wolf Lodge last time that we wanted to go back. The day after Darby got her cast off, we left for Charlotte. It was so fun once again but I htink we stayed too long. We had exhausted all the fun things to do before our stay was over and so we spent quite a bit of time watching TV in the hotel room the last day. Mental note - 2 nights is plenty and research other things in Charlotte to do. One time I will have to try the spa there too. Anyway, highlights were:

1. The water park, of course. I spent my time mostly in the splash area with Darby and sometimes Eva but I did get a break to go tubing in the wave pool. I can't wait to try the slides next time when I am not pregnant. The kids all had a blast. Excuse the lack of pictures. Water + camera = disaster.

2. Magiquest. Daddy took Brendan this time. He even bought his own wand. Here is "Dragon King" Brendan with his wand.

3. Concord Mills Mall. We knew there was a LEGO outlet there and Brendan had been looking forward to that more than anything else. He saved his allowance and spent it all in that store. He was elated!

The girls each got a stuffed animal at the Disney Store, which became attached to them thereafter.

4. The decor. GWL knows how to dress things up for the holidays. There is always something cool to see. During the clock tower show they made it snow in the lobby. Awesome!

One day a balloon twister was there. Bubbs wanted a fish. Go figure.

5. The food. We bought groceries for breakfast and lunch but we ate out for dinner and treats. The treats at GWL are YUMMY!!

The downsides of our trip were:

1. Though the kids had their own room this time (with bunk beds and a TV - they were in heaven), we still had sleep issues. Oh well. Par for the course in traveling with kids, eh?

2. An Eva disappearance. I woke up to hear a door close at 5:45am one morning. I thought it was Brendan getting up to use the bathroom, which was on the other side of their room so I couldn't see it. I went back to bed. Then around 6am Darby started to stir. I went in to check on her and, lo and behold, no body was in Eva's bed. I shook Jason awake and he got dressed to hunt for her while I called the front desk. They alerted security and within 2 minutes a knock at my door revealed a sleepy Eva in a security guard's arms. She had been wandering around our floor for 15 minutes and another guest found her and called the front desk. We had another talk about not leaving without a parent and barricaded the door (the door had been locked and the security lock was flipped over too, but she could reach it on her tiptoes). Sigh . . . that girl!

Before and After

Darby got her cast off today. The first thing she did when it was off was flex her arm a bit and point to it saying, "Look! It's an arm!" It was funny. She was so excited to see her arm again that she kept twisting it around, checking it out and practicing clapping. She still uses her left hand more than her right now. I think it will take a while for her to remember she can now use her dominant hand again. Doc says that the bone is healed and there's no special treatment afterwards, just to let her go back to her normal routine. Good thing because we are going to the water park tomorrow!!

Big News!

Jason here. So I just got news that I was selected for the Army Endodontics Residency. I had changed my mind on doing another of the residencies, the 2 year AEGD, after they made it a mandatory masters degree program. My a buddy is one of two guys left out of six and he says it is just not very good right now. I also considered doing Oral Surgery but decided against it after seeing too much facial trauma in Afghanistan and figured it wasn't for me. Instead I will be doing root canals, which is fine because I like doing that.

In fact, during dental school I was the endo study club president at Pacific. I had such mediocre grades and board scores that I figured I didn't have a shot at the training though. My predecessor at 3rd Group applied for the Army program and was denied. He subsequently was accepted to Harvard. Needless to say I didn't have great confidence that I would get accepted this year and had resigned myself that I was going to have to wait a few application cycles. But that wasn't the case! I got a call from the DENTAC Commander on Friday morning giving me the good news.

Needless to say Christine and I are pretty stoked. The residency is located at Ft. Gordon, GA and here at Ft. Bragg. We hope to stay here of course, and if we stay then we will be here until 2015, which is nice.

Ward Christmas Party

This year's Christmas party at church was great!! First of all the food was already on the tables so we didn't have to take the kids up to the buffet and juggle plates. And it was yummy. Score!

Second, we had an orchestra playing for us. Seriously, our music director created an orchestra from the ward members. I couldn't believe how many men, women and teens we have in our ward that play an instrument. A string quartet was playing as we entered the cultural hall. And the program after dinner was beautiful. I loved it!

Eva found her favorite buddy and they ran around most of the time.

It was a great party and we made it home in time for bedtime. Another score!!

Christmas Cookies

I like the traditional of making sugar cookies, icing them with the kids and then delivering them to friends and neighbors every Christmas. This past Monday we did just that for Family Home Evening. Maybe someday I will make the dough but this year I needed things simple and bought the refrigerated kind. The kids were so excited to frost them. It turned out quite messy but that was expected.

We ate a few before we left for delivery. Eva worked very hard to make her Christmas tree beautiful to give away to friends (well, beautiful to a three year old). And then Daddy ate it by accident. She was crushed.

We then bundled up and walked over to our friends house to deliver the cookies, explaining that the kids decorated them (wink, wink). It was a fun family holiday outing.

Lately

Life at my house is rarely dull. I really should pull the camera out more often than I do. Here are some recent random moments.

Superheroes

Apparently you must have a cape and a hat to be a superhero. Pants optional.

Pirate ship

Who knew that pirate beds were so small?

Modeling

Darby knows how to work it.

Writing

Brendan decided that he wanted to practice his writing and came up with this sentence about the Wright Brothers all on his own, receiving no help from me.

Gaming

Brendan is amazingly good at our Xbox Kinect games. Its pretty funny to watch. His favorite is a river rafting game.

Reading

I am very grateful that my kids love books (and their daddy) so much. It warms my heart.

The things kids say

Eva came to me today and told me that she had fallen off her bed (she hadn't). She said, "Now I need a cast. A yellow one." Now I kind of wish that Darby's cast was more annoying to her so Eva would see it's not something she should aspire to.

Jason and Brendan were playing the silly game of putting a hand on one another's head and saying that it was a brain sucker who was starving. Then Brendan told me that he was a zombie and had eaten Daddy's brain. Eva, a bit distressed, said, "Spit it out, Brendan. Spit it out!"

When I asked Darby why she had taken her clip out of her hair in the car, she said, "Because I'm a turkey!"

What?!

Fear of Vacuums

My kids have all been afraid of the vacuum. Eva apparently wanted to save all things on the floor from the dreaded Dirt Devil. So this is what my couch looked like as I vacuumed the carpet.

Thanksgiving Break

We decided to go to visit some friends in South Carolina for the Thanksgiving Break. Shawn has been a friend of Jason's ever since he joined the Army over 10 years ago. They moved from the Northeast to SC about a year ago and we are excited to have his family so close. His wife, Kristen, and I are blogging buddies and joke that we talk more than the guys do. They have a son, Parker, who is between Eva and Brendan in age and a little girl, Emmaline, who is a few months younger than Darby. The trip to their house was supposed to be a little over 2 hours but ended up being over 4. Note to self, driving on Thanksgiving weekend is NUTS. We went 2 miles in one hour. As we reached the end of the hold up, we saw over 15 smashed cars pulled off into a rest stop with police and tow trucks and other emergency services. Confirms my belief that NC drivers are crazy tailgaters.

Anyway, we arrived much later than expected but stayed up late regardless, even the kids. The next day Kristen made most of the Thanksgiving meal (thank you!) and it was very tasty. She made this sweet potato dish that was a big hit with everyone. She even made it twice over the weekend and we all ate it up both times. I had way too much pie as well but I figure it only happens once a year, right?

The women

Shawn rang the dinner bell before we ate

The little kid table

We adults spent most of the time chatting, sharing our techie products, cleaning up after the little ones, juggling kids and their personality conflicts and generally just hanging out. The guys and the boys even camped outside in a tent one night with a campfire out back. Brendan thought that was great.

It was a very pleasant weekend and we are going to have to get together again soon.

Who wants to sign it?

Darby had her appointment with the orthopedist on Wednesday morning, right before we left to South Carolina for Thanksgiving Break. I got to see the x-rays this time as the doctor told me about the injury. Because toddler bones are flexible, they tend to bend rather than break unless there is extreme pressure. The x-ray showed that both arm bones near the wrist were bent at an 8 degree angle. What happened to Darby is that her bone bent and started to break but barely. Think of bending a pencil until the point it just begins to snap. He told me that she would need a cast, more of a protection against future breakage should she fall or bump it while the bone healed. He also said that it would likely come off in a month.

Darby chose to have a purple cast. She was amazingly good while the nurse wrapped her arm in the fiberglass gauze that makes up a cast. The nurse kept remarking what a little arm it was. It is a really cute cast but still so sad to see such a small girl in a cast at all. But she doesn't seem bothered by it at all. For that, I am grateful.

Why monkeys shouldn't jump on the bed

I have to amend my previous post. Darby wasn't fine after the fall from our bed. I began to notice little things that led me to believe something was wrong. She asked for help climbing up the stairs. She cried when I put her shirt on. She screamed as I put her arm through the car seat straps. She wouldn't clap or give high fives with her right hand. Then I took a closer look. Her right wrist was indeed swollen and had a small bruise. When I called the doctor, I was told to go to the ER since they didn't have x-ray capabilities. We ended up spending 4 hours total there. Good thing that Jason was home and had the other 2 kiddos or it would have been BAD! Darby, however, was sweet as pie and very compliant. She was timid but allowed the doctor to examine her. She had three x-rays done, also behaving really well, and lastly, I was told that she had a buckle fracture in her radius. That is a small break that began to happen but had not made it through the entire bone. She needed a splint and I was to call the orthopedic pediatrician in the morning to set up an appointment to cast it. I am so grateful that she thinks the splint and sling are cool. It helps that there are pink dinosaurs on it. She kept pointing to it and giggling. She even showed it off for the nurses in the hallway as we walked by. It is both so cute and so sad. Now on to the Thanksgiving holidays with part of Darbs out of commission. We'll see how that goes. Poor baby.

Our Three Little Bears

Here's a brief update about our kiddos.

Brendan is doing very well in school and still really likes it. I think he has a small crush on his teacher. At parent teacher conferences she told us that he is above grade level in most things. He is now reading so well that he started the Accelerated Reader Program and was recently asked to be part of a gifted program. However there are noticeable problems with his social skills. We and his teachers are working with him on that. I will likely talk to his pediatrician as well. He is growing like a weed again and I had to replace all his pants so he wouldn't look like a scarecrow.

Eva is still not potty trained and I am out of ideas. I have backed way off, reminding her to go potty but not really pushing it. I just hope she has the desire before the baby comes. She has only mentioned speech class once so I wonder if she has forgotten about it. She too is outgrowing her clothes. Why do they all seem to be growing out of clothes at the same time?

Darby has been accident prone lately. At playgroup she knocked a table over on herself, completely freaking herself, me and all the other moms out. It was scary. She had a goose egg on her forehead but is fine. However, I was worried about her all day and kept a close eye on her. Yesterday she fell off our bed and, after crying for a long while, she got really tired. I ended up taking her into our bed because I was worried about her. But once again, she is fine. Her vocabulary is amazing and she speaks pretty clearly. She is in the "I do it myself" phase. Its hard to believe she's not 2 yet; she seems so much older than the other two were at that age.

And here they are in the bed that is "just right".

Jamestown

After staying the night in Williamsburg (and eating the worst pizza I have ever had at the hotel) we took off to see Jamestown. Jason was practically giddy with excitement at the prospect of more history. We decided to do the drive tour first and so we drove around the island and stopped to read each sign. It was interesting.

I can see why the settlers chose to stay there - its gorgeous land! Then we walked to the glasshouse where we got to see men actually heating, blowing and shaping glassware. It was really neat!

Lastly we went to the Visitor's Center to get tickets for the settlement and were disappointed at the price. It was not free for Veterans Day like the rest of the area's sites and we just couldn't see spending over 40 dollars when the kids wouldn't really understand it anyway. Oh well, another reason to go back later. :)