18 Months And Still Kicking!

From 2012-05-04 fun

Charles is officially 18 months now. He can go to nursery! Hooray! Being 18 months does come with a few consequences, IE a wellness check-up. Let me take you on our trip to the Doctor.... Recently I began a long term babysitting gig. I have a nearly 3 year old for 2 days a week. Usually we have a great time. I had thought that Charles check-up was on Wednesday when I don't babysit. Alas I was wrong. So I thought OK I'll just take her with me since trying to find a babysitter in this area is nigh impossible. What can go wrong? My two usually do fine. So I told her before we left where we were going and why and that started her whimpering ever so slightly.

 "Well, it will be quick" I try to console myself and her. Half way to the clinic her whimpers have escalated to a repeated statement of failed self comfort, "Mommy will be here." I tried to reassure her that Yes, she will see her Mother soon when Lizzy pipes up, as ever oblivious to the distress she is about to add upon my poor little charge, “Your Mommy is not coming. You will never see your Mom." Thanks Lizzy. Nothing but love for you!  Welcome to full melt down town! Yay!

 By this time we are exiting the car in a full down pour and of course we are only in sweaters because it wasn't raining when we left. Oh joy! We attempt to rush into the building. I say attempt since there was a small skirmish over who was the privileged one to sit in the stroller.

  That solved, we ventured in and looked for the office. This was our first visit. I consulted my phone and found the right room number. We get in and immediately my kiddos head for the toys, my charge needed to be held so I picked her up and while trying to be consoling, attempt to check in. I receive a stack of paperwork and try to sit down when I am informed of everyone’s immediate need to use the facilities. So we pack up and head down to the restrooms. That accomplished we return and Charles is called.  We follow the nurse into the exam room and I get Charles undressed and put him on the scale. He does a little shiver and then seemed to flex all his muscles at once. The nurse was impressed! It was quite humorous.

 He is right on track developmentally. The doctor was very happy about his results.  His height was 31.75 in. which put him in the 33%. His Weight was 22lbs.  Which is the 6.74% I was surprised at how low that was, but the doctor assured me that he is fine, just active and running though calories at an accelerated rate.  I couldn’t argue that as at that very moment he was chasing Lizzy back and forth across the exam room. He also eats all the time so I am not worried. His head circumference was 46.2 cm. so that placed him in the 11.77%. The best part of this was not having to get shots! We all got a sticker and a treat and headed home. My charge finally stopped crying when I told her that we were going home to watch Toy Story, her favorite movie. Lizzy upset her further by saying we can’t watch Toy Story because she didn’t want to. Thanks Lizzy! You are a champ. 

Simple Simon give a way

I love reading this blog: Simple Simon and Co. They are two creative ladies who have awesome advice and inspiration for sewers and crafters. Also they have awesome giveaways. Like today! Check out their blog and you may win a  $150 Target gift card! Good Luck!

The Family

 I have had growing families on the brain recently. My Brother and his lovely wife are expecting their first child. My sister-in-law recently had her 6th child, and Daniel and I are now expecting our 3rd. I just sent my brother a manual entitled:Family Guidebook, put out by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. The book is free and is described as follows: "This guidebook is for all members, especially new members and those who have limited experience in the Church. It outlines the purpose and organization of the family and contains information on how to teach the gospel in the family, how to fulfill family responsibilities, how the family can be a Church unit, and how to perform priesthood ordinances and blessings." I found this resource last year after a heated debate raged though our ward. The debate was over what was an appropriate way to teach your children about, specifically, moral issues and sexuality. Being a relatively new parent and not having to deal with such issues at the time I was at a loss myself.  What is too much? What is not enough? I was thrilled to find a respected source for more then just moral issues.

 
A Parent's Guide tells you how to teach your child trough each stage of development from birth to marriage and beyond.
  I only wish I had thought to look to the Church earlier. I know that they are dedicated to the family. The General Authorities gave us specific council in 1995 in "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." I quote, "Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations." That is an awesome and serious responsibility. But as in all things we are not left alone to muddle it all out. So I turned to the Church's online Store and discovered a dearth of resources that are available. I got them all! Daniel and I went over each booklet and pamphlet in companionship study and I relished each piece of advice. We quickly put into practice a few suggestions to our family's continued happiness. 
  Now, because I hope that I am not the only clueless parent out there I highly recommend checking out these resources.  Use them or not, but I wanted you to know of their existence just in case you were wondering if there was any help out there. Thanks for reading my rant. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Visits

My parents we able to spend a few days with us this week. I love having them visit. We had such a good time. We checked out Vancouver Lake Park They had a strange kind of teeter-totter there:

From 2012-04-03 Fort Vancouver

Charles didn't like it much. Then we went to the Fort! I had wanted to go there for some time and we went on a rainy day. There was a school tour going on so we got to see and hear quite a bit. Lizzy held our Map.

From 2012-04-03 Fort Vancouver

The blacksmith knew quite a bit about the history, it was fun talking to him.

From 2012-04-03 Fort Vancouver

Then we went to the general store. Can you guess what is in those tied bags hanging from the ceiling?

From 2012-04-03 Fort Vancouver

It is Tobacco. Everything was valued by beaver pelts. As in, 14 salmon to 1 beaver pelt. Next we ventured in the kitchen when Mom was asked to wash the dishes. Little did we know how many other things were included in that chore! Mom respectfully declined. The cook tantalized us with Steamed brown bread.

From 2012-04-03 Fort Vancouver

and fresh apple turnovers. It smelled divine, but they can't feed the public, alas.

From 2012-04-03 Fort Vancouver

Then we checked out the other buildings and climbed the tower. Here's Charles on a cannon.

From 2012-04-03 Fort Vancouver

Then we hoofed it up the hill and had a delicious lunch at the Grant House. Next we checked out books from the Library. We ended the day by having Lumpia at home. Yum!

Added cuteness

My kids are adorable. No, no I mean it. Just take a look:
 Too cute oui? Lizzy fell asleep under her umbrella and Charles loves to play with Daddy's safety glasses. Moments like this make me glad that I am a Mom.

From 2012-04-05 Steampunk Dress

A little while ago I entered the giveaway on Simple Simon and Co.'s blog. It was for a child dress form from Mannequin Hub. And to my astonishment I won! I could think of no better way to show off my new toy then to introduce my Steam punk outfits for Lizzy and Charles. I decided to make Lizzy''s dress based on a few tutorials I found on pinterest a while back. The basis for the dress was made by wonderful Lady named Cami. Check out her blog to see the original. I tweaked it a bit by making the skirt separate to add more volume

From 2012-03-30 Steampunk costumes

and then I used these t-shirt flowers from Shannon's blog to embellish the neckline.

From 2012-04-05 Steampunk Dress

 I loved how it turned out. The only drawback is that the skirt is quite heavy, but Lizzy wore it all day, so I'd say that it is a success! Here's the back view:

From 2012-04-05 Steampunk Dress

Here is a lovey little lady:

From 2012-03-30 Steampunk costumes

And now for Charles! I wanted to do a little news boy look so Daniel found this great jumper that I promtly cut up and made into a vest and knicker combo and then added a bow tie for fun. The tie came out a little large, but I liked the look.

From 2012-03-30 Steampunk costumes

Isn't he too cute!

From 2012-03-30 Steampunk costumes

From 2012-03-30 Steampunk costumes

Here's a detail shot:

From 2012-03-30 Steampunk costumes

So this is my steam punked children's line. I had a blast making them and my kids seem to like wearing them.  I'd call that a win-win!

Stephen's Wedding

As per our usual we went on a whirlwind ride down to UT for my Brother-in-laws Wedding. We left on Wednesday night after dining with the missionaries. We drove three hours to Pendleton, OR. Stayed the night and woke up Thursday Morning to this:

From 2012-03-25 Stephen's wedding

 Nice huh? Luckily the sun came out and it turned into a beautiful day. We headed south and soon found ourselves in Idaho. Great! Only a scant 7 hours to go right? Not when Lizzy realizes that needing a potty break means free time out of the car. Yes, folks, she pulled this one out at least every half hour down to at some intervals of 10 minutes! Finally we refused to give her any liquid refreshment whatsoever, regardless of the pleas of "I'm Thirsty..." and told her that there would be no more bathroom breaks until we reach Uncle Sal's! After that announcement we finally made some head way. It was after 7 when we finally arrived in American Fork. Caitlin made her famous Mac and Cheese and then we settled in for the night. The kids did pretty good.  Then dawned the day of the Wedding.

From 2012-03-25 Stephen's wedding

After a brief breakfast we set out. First we headed to the church where the reception was to be held and met the groom outside. He filled us in on what needed to be done and we set to work.

From 2012-03-25 Stephen's wedding

Here's how the set up turned out. Nice huh? I liked the simple rustic chicness of it. Stephen had some wonderful friends helping out. We set up for the luncheon downstairs. Their building has 4 floors and 2 chapels that double as cultural halls. Then we ran to Tabitha's house. She was kind enough to watch the kiddos while we went to the Provo Temple. Luckily my phone has GPS! I haven't been there since I was in the MTC. We quickly found out  that driving on I5 was pointless so we stuck to State Street. The ceremony was beautiful and I was happy to welcome Heather as a member of the family. As we waited outside for the new couple to appear I was pleased to notice this sweet sister:

From 2012-03-25 Stephen's wedding

 They think of everything here!  Here they are! Don't they look happy?

From 2012-03-25 Stephen's wedding

 And here's one of my favorites:

From 2012-03-25 Stephen's wedding

The day was perfect and after taking some pictures Daniel and I went to pick up the kids and head back to the church for the luncheon. It was fun to finally get to talk to the family. Next we hollowed out a ton of bread bowls and then I followed Lizzy and Charles outside and watched them play. Here's Lizzy showing off her skills:

From 2012-03-25 Stephen's wedding

 Then I went to Caitlin's to recruit her help in getting a present for Theya, my niece. We waited until Sal came home then headed to the Peppermint place to pick up some candy and then headed to Smiths where I picked up some painting supplies for Theya. After Sal dropped us off at his house, Lizzy and I ran to the reception. It was nice and soup was Superb.

From 2012-03-25 Stephen's wedding

 Daniel and Tony took up posts keeping the buffet filled. They did a great job. I was a little disappointed that there was no dancing, but I was feeling a little ill anyway so it was probably a good thing. Daniel was too busy to dance anyway. I am so grateful to Cynthia! She held Charles most of the day for me. Then after cleaning up we went back to Sal's to rest. We said our goodbyes in the morning and went to Lowes to make a project with Tabitha and then spent a few hours with them before heading back home. It was a fun trip.