Stats

We recently had Makenna's 9-month check-up and the twin's 3-year check-up. They are big kids and definitly following more after Brian. Here are their stats:

Makenna:
20 lb. 3 oz (50-75%)
28 1/2 inches (75 - 90%)

Alli:
36.8 lb (90%)
39 3/4" (95%)

Nick:
41.6 lb (>97%)
39 3/4" (90%)

I've spent more time at the doctor's office than I'd like in the last couple of months. Makenna has had two ear infections, we've all had pink eye and colds. Not to mention Nick's whole sickness (remember that?). I took him to see the specialist a week ago and she thought the last episode could have been giardia and the other periodic vomiting could be migraines. More lab work and follow-up visits to come, yay!

Overall though, I feel blessed to have such healthy and happy kids!

December ... So Far

Just like everyone else, we have been busy getting ready for Christmas. The cards have been sent, the food has been purchased, I'm almost done with the shopping (only 2 more quick things to pick up), and I wrapped presents last night. Brian finished working for the week and I'm looking forward to some family togetherness, both with the immediate family and my extended family. We are going to take our kids to a movie, zoo lights, and swimming sometime between now and the New Year. We are planning to spend Christmas with my family. My brother David and his wife Natalie are coming to town and we are all going to spend a couple of days at my grandparent's house in Berthoud (unfortunately, without grandma and grandpa, they are wintering in Arizona...we will miss them). So, besides preparing for Christmas, here's what we've been up to lately.

Makenna had the privilege of opening the first gift of Christmas (with lots of help from her brother and sister). It was a Little People Nativity Set. I've wanted our family to have one since the twins were her age. They all play with it every day and its kept the curiosity away from my Nativity.
















We celebrated Brian's birthday! I brought the kids to have lunch with him at Red Robin and we had a small family get-together later in the week. Our tradition is that we make a cake for each other on our birthdays. He picked a chocolate malt ice cream cake. It was a 3-day process to make, but delicious. I also let the kids each pick out a present for him. Alli chose a bubble set and Nick chose a Doc (from the Cars movie) night light...haha

Makenna was all dressed up in her Christmas dress on Sunday. Adorable, if I do say so myself!

Poor Nick. Alli has been REALLY into dressing up lately (in fact she is getting two more dress-ups for Christmas...shhh). She sometimes convinces Nick to dress up with her. Here he is in full princess/butterfly gear.

Hope that you all have a Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It was my turn for Tot School again last week and the theme was Thanksgiving. We did lots of things - read stories about Thanksgiving, made finger puppets, made turkey puppets, pretended to play instruments in a Thanksgiving parade, and dressed up like Pilgrims and Indians. We also had a mini-Thansgiving snack and another "turkey food" snack (rice krispies, raisins, and cheerios) and pretended to eat like turkies - so silly!

Nick's Truck Party

Ever since Nick started playing with toys, he has been obsessed with toys that have wheels. Especially big construction-type trucks. When I gave him a few party theme choices, I wasn't surprised that he picked a truck party.

His party was an hour after Alli's, over lunch-time. We started out playing with toys and coloring truck pictures. Then we had hot dogs, chips, and fruit (Nick's favorite). He also got to have 3 friends at his party (since he is 3). After lunch he opened his presents and then we had cake. I made him a dirt cake with trucks on it. He loved it and wanted the trucks off of it as soon as he saw it.

Brian made him a sandbox for his birthday. It was a cool day, but just nice enough for him and his friends to go outside and play for about 20 mintues.

To finish off the birthday (and to give myself a break) we went to Red Robin for dinner. We let them pick what they wanted off the kids menu. Alli chose spaghetti and Nick chose macaroni and cheese. The servers brought them ice cream sundaes and balloons and they sang to them. It was a really fun day!

Pink Princess Party

Alli and Nick recently turned 3! I was hoping to be able to have another combined party, but Alli was very insistent on having a Pink Princess Party for about the last two months. I didn't think Nick would really enjoy this theme (haha) so I decided to have two small parties on the same day.

We started out the party morning with getting ready for Alli's party. I decorated Makenna's room for Alli's party since her room is painted pink. We gave Alli a present right before she needed to get dressed - it was a new pink dress-up dress with a matching crown and earrings set. She was so excited!

I wrote on the invitation for the girls to wear a princess dress. They were all adorable. Alli got to have three friends since she is turning three. My mom and sister also came (BIG help!).








They decorated crowns, colored a princess picture, danced, opened presents, and had cupcakes and a special pink fizzy Kool-aid drink. Alli loved all her presents and loved playing with her friends. I can't believe she is already 3!

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year. I was so worried that Nick would be sick, but he got better right before the big day! Of course I was sick on Halloween morning; luckily I was feeling much better by trick-or-treating time.

We went to the pumpkin patch about a week before Halloween. It was a beautiful day and very busy Saturday at the pumpking patch. We found two perfect pumpkins. The only problem was that all of the wagons for carrying pumpkins were already taken. Alli was SO upset. If we would have known we would have brought our own wagon. She cried the whole way home ... luckily only 5 minutes. To make her feel better we told her that when she got home she could pull the pumpkins in the wagon around the neighborhood. This made it all better. We even put Kenna in the wagon and she seemed to enjoy the ride.

The next step was carving pumpkins. We did this the day before Halloween. We let Alli and Nick each pick a pattern out of the book. Alli picked a bat and Nick didn't care so I picked out a castle for him. They had fun helping us pull out the icky seeds. Alli only tried it once, but Nick kind of got into it. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the finished product. Alli and Nick loved going outside in the dark in their pajamas to see the pumpkins glowing. They thought it was spooky and Alli kept reminding herself "its only pretend"! They insisted on going out to see the pumpkins every night until they got thrown away (which turned into a big tradgedy).

On Halloween night my sister was so nice to have us over for dinner and treats. Alli dressed up as Cinderella, Nick as a fireman, and Makenna as a dalmation. Of course they thought trick-or-treating was the best thing ever and Alli has told me over and over again since that she wants to do it again. Okay, how about in a year?

Learning Numbers

A couple of weeks ago it was my turn for tot school again and the theme this time was numbers 1-5. The first project we did was a number chart with a seasonal theme. I cut out shapes of pumpkins, cats, spiders, leaves, and candy using the cricut and then had the kids glue them onto the chart. It worked out really well for me to put glue dots on the paper for the kids and for the kids to pick out the shapes.

The second project was number caterpillars. Alli and Nick really liked this project because they saw a Little Einsteins movie about caterpillars and they have been collecting leaves outside to "feed to the caterpillars".

For playtime I had number file folder games and a number puzzle.

I also set up a "store". I saved empty cereal boxes, shampoo bottles, egg cartons, etc. and put them all out on a bench. I printed out play money and gave the kids each $5. I told them that everything was $1 and they could each pick out 5 items. It worked for about 2 seconds and then it turned into a free-for-all with the kids grabbing anything they could and not caring at all about the money (they even started stealing items from eachother)! They really liked this game and ended up playing it for the majority of the time each day, but I don't think they really got the counting concept from it. Ha ha...maybe when they're a little older or one-on-one. I'm just glad it kept them busy and happy.

Golden Gate State Park

Nick is doing much better now...big relief. He stopped throwing up on Friday night and he's been fine since. I still don't know what all of that was about, but I do feel somewhat confident that a virus was involved since the whole family was sick at some point or another. I just don't understand why he was sick for 2 1/2 weeks and the rest of us were sick for only a day here and there. We are still going to talk to the GI specialist to see if something else is going on.

About six weeks ago we spent a Saturday morning in the mountains, enjoying the beautiful fall weather. We went near Golden Gate State Park (nice and close, we didn't want to drive too far with the kids). I love Golden and these mountains. It brings back memories of college and days when I had time for trail running and mountain biking ...aah nostalgia. But anyway, on this day we went on a very short hike; 1 mile tops. The kids enjoyed it and ran the first 1/2 mile and then Nick dragged the last 1/2 mile. The trail we went on had lots of old farm equipment on display. Nick especially like seeing all the equipment as he likes anything with wheels. We are going to try and do more hikes and maybe even a {very short} backpacking trip next year. Afterall, this is why we live in Colorado!

Update on Nick

It's been another long week. Aside from my family (including my entire immediate family, plus my sister, Russ, and my parents) getting a stomach virus, Nick has continued to throw up at least once a day, usually at night. He went to Children's Hospital this morning to have an upper GI study. They gave him a solution to drink that included a bromine dye and watched it progress through his stomach via x-ray. They didn't find anything abnormal. Which is good, but also frustrating because we still don't know what is wrong. He has an appointment with a gastroenterologist next Thursday at Children's. Until then we are going to try a test for parasites and then maybe an antihistamine to block any allergic reaction he might be having. The antihistamine will make him really drowsy, so we are holding off on it for a while. He is pretty happy all day long, but is losing weight and is a little more demanding. He also HATES going to the doctor right now so that makes it harder too. I think he keeps remembering a couple of weeks ago when they pricked his finger and drew some blood out of his arm. Not fun. I feel bad for him, especially with Halloween coming up, escpecially since he spent part of last Halloween in the hospital. I guess its just not his best holiday. Thanks Courtney, my mom, and my dad for helping so much!

Babies

On a whim I rented this movie from Netflix and watched it one night while Nick was sick. I though it was totally mesmerizing - maybe because I have a baby or maybe because I am sleep deprived. It is a documentary that follows 4 babies from different parts of the world from birth until shortly after their first birthday. Alli and Nick watched it with me the next day and they both seemed to like it too. Anyway, if you are interested at all in babies you should check it out.

I have some other posts I want to catch up on, but I've been taking caring of a sick Nick the last two weeks. We aren't really sure what's going on with him. He is fine all day and then wakes up every night between 9 and 1AM and throws up for a couple of hours. I feel so bad for him and so helpless because nothing we have tried has worked. I've taken him to the doctor and then talked to the doctor almost every day last week. He might be getting an upper GI scope this week to check things out. Alli and Makenna were fine most of last week, but have both thrown up this weekend. So, it could be a virus too. Who knows? I am grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord over the last two weeks, but I really want my family back to normal.

Casa Bonita

If you grew up in Colorado, you've probably been to Casa Bonita. I haven't been in around 20 years, but my mom and my sister talked me into it today. The crazy thing is that it is exactly the same as I remember it as a kid. EXACTLY. I thought maybe they would have remodeled or revamped the menu. Nope! The food is still overpriced and terrible, but the sopapillas are good (it's fried dough with honey - hard to mess that up!). The cliff diving is still fun to watch. Yep, same games, same decorations, same carpet!

Alli and Nick were completely mesmorized by the place, mostly the water fountain out front and the waterfall and dive shows. Not to mention the "spooky cave" with giant spiders that made Alli cry (oops!). The best part of the whole trip was seeing it through the kid's eyes. But I hope they remember it, becuase we probably won't go back again.


The twinsters playing in the fountain out front. I'm just glad they didn't decide to go swimming!













Enjoying (not really) our lunch. Lindsey was siting at the table, but then the gorilla in one of the shows scared her, so she sat in Makenna's high chair because we told her it would protect her...haha.





































They had a bazillion of the little rides like you see at the grocery store. The kids got to each ride a few times. Big smiles!

















































Side note: I have been to the Mayan in Salt Lake and it seemed very similar, although the food and ambiance were better there. And sorry if the formatting turned out wierd on this, Blogger is acting strange tonight. I don't know whats going on.

Don't Drink Milk and Drive

Any mom who's had a toddler that needs naps, but refuses to take them will appreciate this. Nick has been fighting naptime since we changed his crib into a toddler bed. At first he was ultra-crabby by around 4PM, but lately he's been pretty happy and actually has a hard time going to sleep at night if he does happen to get a nap. This week, however, he's been waking up at 6AM (instead of 7) for some crazy reason. For selfish reasons I really hope that he stops doing this!

He had a big day today and he must have been tired. I put a movie in for him to watch during quiet time and I went and made some phone calls for church. I came back and he was totally sprawled out like this, asleep. It looks like he was riding his truck and crashed off...hahaha. He slept like this for a little more than an hour. See Nick, you need a nap sometimes and you should stop waking me up so dang early!

Nick and Brian in California

So I get to take a turn putting a post or two on the blog (this is Brian). In August I flew with Nick and my mom to California for my uncle's 60th birthday party.

I spent the better part of my youth in the Santa Cruz area of Northern California, so I thought that it would be fun to go back and see family and to show Nick where I used to spend a lot of time.

We had a great time. Nick was a really good kid. This was Nick playing at the beach. He really loved it and I wish that I had planned the beach trip out better and we could have spent more time there.

Here is a video of Nick having the time of his life playing at the beach.

I decided just to take Nick because we didn't have that many miles for the airline. Once I arrived at the airport, I was glad that I had just one kid to keep an eye on. Don't get me wrong, Nick was great, but there are just so many fun things to explore and touch in an airport for a two year old.

My Aunt Gail was also nice enough to let us stay with her. Nick had a great time at her house. My cousin (4 years younger than me) lives just up the hill from my aunt. My Aunt Gail told Nick that Chris (my cousin) likes cars, just like Nick. A few hours later when Chris came down for dinner, Nick greeted him at the door: Nick - "Hi, I like cars!" Chris - "Oh, hey there, I like cars too."

Nick really loves trains. So I decided that I had to take Nick to Roaring Camp. Roaring Camp is in the mountains above Santa Cruz (Felton). They have restored old logging narrow gauge trains that were used in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The ride that we went on goes up through the Santa Cruz Mountains through a redwood forest. The train climbs up a 9-10% grade over trestles and sharp switch-backs. We thought that we would get the best seats and sit in the car right behind the train. We couldn't understand why no one was lining up for that car. Then we realized two things; from the back you could see the train better around the sharp corners and that old train makes a lot of noise. Nick had a lot of fun, but I think that whistle was a little bit too much for him and he pulled my arm over his head every time the conductor blew the whistle.

While visiting a park that my mom used to play at, and that I played at when I was a kid, we passed a fire house. One of the firefighters happened to hear us walking by and invited us in.

While the photo is a little bit blurry, you can tell from the look on Nick's face that he was pretty excited. I would like to claim that I planned this great treat for Nick, but it kind of just fell in our laps.