monthly project {four people times twelve} // march

ok - forgive...i'm a little late in posting this! once again, squeaked the picture in on the last day of the month - on our toy covered living room floor! at least i'm giving myself a record of what really goes on in this household - we must pick up these toys at least four times a day.

these pics were taken with the self timer feature on a wednesday (which i currently have off...sort of!), right as aa came home from work and seconds before we start the frenzy which is getting dinner on the table, a bit of play time and then bedtime routine before aa and i crash out just to start our crazy days over again. life with two babes is a whirlwind and to top it all off, i'm now back to work. started back on march 22 - 1 day after my girl turned five months - 5 MONTHS?!! how can it be. i have very mixed emotions about being back to work - on one hand, it is nice to have a bit of time to myself, even in all the craziness that is my work life these days, but on the other hand, i miss my babes so much and i know that this time flies by - my biggest fear is that i'll regret not taking this time to just be home. it's a topic of discussion near daily and really i take it day by day, sometimes hour by hour. we'll see what happens.


kellen has been testing boundaries, limits and our patience these days! we had a rough couple of days early in the month with lots of hitting (of me and maya), throwing things (at me and maya...including a 5 pound weight on the girl! ah.), and all around mischief. i realize that this is all part of his development, but sometimes it's all i can take! the 5 pound weight about took me over the edge! these outbursts seem to come in waves and i can see them coming by the glimmer in his eye and the devilish smile on his face. i've been really trying to focus on showering him with attention, which i think is part of why he acts out - he just wants some attention!

moving on...he's been loving gymboree these days, learned to climb out of the crib this month (yikes!), is really a big helper and LOVES sesame street, especially cookie monster and elmo! he's been adding to his collection of guys and things that have to sleep with him in his crib at night - currently there are the following stuffed animals: two monk monk's (monkeys), big T (teddy bear), teddy (#1!), lizard, doggie and duckie, two cookie monster diapers, his blanket and some assortment of books - anywhere from 3-8 different ones! he's such a funny and sweet boy! i simply can't get enough!

my maya girl...5 months - really almost 6 months! i'm falling more and more in love with my girl by the day. she's still super demanding - don't even think about putting her down and walking out of sight! and yes, i'm still sleeping all night with her in my arms and no, she isn't taking a bottle...which has been a bit of a challenge with me back to work. we are SO lucky that grandma jan has been able to watch her on mondays and that she's willing to bring her to me 1-2 times to eat. my sister has been watching her for about four hours on tuesdays and daddy has been home with her on thursdays and also bringing her to me 1-2 times a day to eat. that is all changing on monday when she will start in the little torch classroom at the stringer child development center at nike - same classroom that kellen started in a year and a half ago. i have such mixed feelings about it - feels like she's so young to be in group care (kellen started at 9 months), but it will be nice to be able to go over and feed her when she's hungry.

the girl is getting so big and learning new tricks - march 7 she rolled over from back to tummy. she's pivoting all around, reaching for everything, grabbing her toes and really expressing herself with her voice! poor girl had a terrible rash on her face the last month, but i think we finally found the trick to keeping her clear - grandma el's ointment (hate that word!). one of the main reasons for the rash - TWO new teeth. the first one broke through march 12 and the second one march 29. those babies are sharp!!! it's hard to believe that solid foods are right around the corner - where does the time go???

the biggest thing in my world has been starting back to work. i'm supposed to be working part time, but there is a tremendous amount of work to be done right now. i'm feeling more and more that i might as well officially go back to full time, since i'm working it anyway - may as well be paid. especially considering that once maya starts at stringer, i would have to pay nike to work at the part time hours! not such a great feeling! back to work, meant finally a new haircut! bye bye pony tail, hello shorter do! i loved it the first and second day, but i've been having trouble doing it myself and i'm starting to think i'm ready to grow out my bangs.

oh - the BOB's are finally on sale! now i just need to figure out which one i want to get - the orange with 16" wheels or the black with 12" wheels!


we've been on a bit of a pancake kick lately. we've been alternating between two different kinds - this recipe for perfect pancakes and a cornmeal pancake that's made with yogurt, whole wheat flour and well...cornmeal (along with some other key ingredients!). i make a bunch of little "baby" pancakes and kellen eats them right up with a little syrup on the side for dipping. the best part is we freeze the leftovers and have breakfast or snacks for kellen on the go during the week!

my book for book club this month was the day the falls stood still. a great read that i highly recommend. we all met up at flying pie pizza for pizza and beer on a friday night. felt so good to be out of the house on my own...it so rarely happens these days!

i'm drawing a blank on anything else that happened this month - may need to start a written log so that when i finally get around to this i'll remember what we were up to! i'll try to do better next month...but no promises! ha.

monthly project {four people times twelve} // february

we squeezed in a family foto on the last day of february! seems like such an easy task, but one that just doesn't happen unless you make it happen! it's too easy for one of the kids to be sleeping, to not have showered and be looking like crap or just not having the energy to wrangle two kids for a pictue.

these pictures were taken at mcmenamins kennedy school. we took the kids to a concert aimed at kids & parents called You Who!, which was very cool and requires a post of it's own. afterwards aaron and i ate pulled pork sandwiches from podnahs. the kids were both sleeping, so we picked them up to go and pulled into the parking lot of whole foods and enjoyed them! aaron loves pulled pork sandwiches - it's almost guaranteed that if there is one on the menu he'll order it!

kellen is really coming into his own - oh boy that boy is really learning how to push all the right buttons! he's so cute though and daily he does something that will just melt your heart. i taught him how to give eskimo and butterfly kisses - he thinks butterfly kisses are particularly funny. sometimes we'll be laying on his pillow before bed and he'll turn to face me real close with both of his hands on my face and rub noses. my heart becomes a puddle of goo right there!

oh and he started calling me mom this month. MOM! with attitude. mostly it's still mama or mommy, but every now and then it's MOM! or even sometimes Angie. seriously?! some of his favorite phrases include, "not right now!", "two more minutes" (even if we offer five! ie. bedtime in five minutes.), "more in there?"

this month our household was down and out with the flu and colds for about 2-3 weeks. it was bad! maya seemed to start things off with a slight fever and a little bit of throwing up. her case was MILD compared to kellen who started throwing up on a thursday and didn't stop until sunday. the kid is now skin and bones because he literally sustained on water/juice and applesauce for a week. aaron also got taken down by the virus and didn't emerge from our bedroom for about 36 hours. i don't know how i escaped (knocking on wood), but i did! let me tell you, it was a LONG week though. i thought it would never end. on one of the worst days when all three were sick, i think kellen watched 10 hours of sesame street. no mom of the year awards for that day!

sweet maya finally started laughing! kellen and i were being silly and dancing/singing to the freeze song and she busted out a little belly laugh. super cute! she had the one episode and hasn't done it since. i guess we havent' been funny enough. you know i'll pull out the freeze dance song again if that's what it takes for me to hear that giggle! she's still being SUPER stubborn about taking a bottle. aa says she laughs in his face and then gets pissed. we've tried many different kids, all with no luck. this makes for a stressed out mama who is going back to work part time in 2.5 weeks. makes my heart race just thinking about it.

it was my month to host book club this month. it gets even trickier in our small house with two kids to entertain, but we managed! aaron and kellen went over to visit uncle adam and baby bennett, while maya napped a bit and then enjoyed being held by all the ladies! i made brunch for dinner - spinach and pancetta strata and mushroom cheese frittata, along with bacon, fruit and my homemade cinnamon rolls. we discussed the movie the blind side and then had a gift exchange. kind of random to have a gift exchange, but we usually do one in december for the holidays and last december we decided to buy gifts for kids. we ended up missing the little gift exchange and decided to do it this month instead! fun to get a little gift randomly.

we had fun making heart sugar cookies with kellen on valentines day. he LOVED putting the sprinkles on. i attempted heart shaped pancakes but failed miserably! it doesn't work to just put the cookie cutter on the griddle and pour the batter in - the batter sticks to the cutter and the cutter gets HOT!

kellen went to the dentist this month and for the first time had his teeth actually cleaned! he did so good and we learned a few tricks that have been making our nightly teeth brushing and flossing routine go a little easier. now he just needs to learn to spit!

people are telling me that maya is starting to look more and more like me. not sure if it's true, but i'll take it!!

the BOB's still have not gone on sale at rei! errr!! i even went in and chatted up the sales people - they would just tell me that it would happen soon, but wouldn't give me a date. that was a few weeks ago!

it seems near impossible to get one good picture of the four of us! the first five pictures were self portraits and none were all that good. the second two were taken by andi and we just couldn't get both kids to look at the camera! we'll see if we have better luck next month. either way, i'm happy to have the pictures - imperfections and all!!!

monthly project {four people times twelve} // january

i have a huge list of blogs bookmarked on my computer. some i read almost daily, others i just check in every now and then. there is a photographer, tara whitney, whose photography style i really like. not sure how i found her, but i check in every now and then...this morning i found a post where she started a monthly project to take a picture of her family each month to post and then jot down notes from that month. i like it. we rarely get a good family photo...make that we rarely get a family photo. i think we have all of two pictures of the four of us! so, i've decided to join in! care to join as well???

i'm going to cheat right off the bat and use this picture taken in december. we don't have one from january and four people times eleven just doesn't sound as good!!! this picture was taken at madison's birthday celebration. we've been on a roll for birthdays with 8 birthday parties in the last 8 weeks (including one this weekend for baby bennett!).


speaking of being on a roll - maya has rolled over from her tummy to her back twice. the first time was a few weeks ago - jan 7 - when she was eleven weeks old. not that i'm trying to compare (but i guess i am!), kellen did it the first time when he was seven weeks old and was rolling from his back to his tummy by fifteen weeks. hmmm...is someone being held just a little too much?!


actually our girl turned a big corner in january - she's finally sleeping WAY more on her own. good thing too, cause my arms were getting tired! january 13 it just happened - she napped on her during the day and then that evening i swaddled her up in some brand new swaddle blankets, fed and rocked her to sleep then actually laid her down and she didn't start screaming for the first time ever! she slept until 2am (ish), i fed her and then laid her back down again until around 6am. could. not. believe. it! was it he blankets? was she just ready? i'll never know and really i don't care. just happy that she's doing it!


kellen's words and language development is just expoding! and he's starting to give up his words for the real ones - ie. no more wa wa, it's water (which is somewhat sad for us!). he's an incredible big brother - always concerned for where baby maya is and loves to give her kisses and beep her nose. he loves books like crazy and tends to want to read the same ones over and over and over! he absolutely loves the garbage truck and every thursday he awakens to the sound of the garbage truck and yells for me to take him outside to watch. the garbageman waves and it makes his day! his two year molars are pretty much all in now, so yay to no more teething! (right?!)

we tried and failed to get a picture with the two kiddos at picture people last weekend. k just would not sit still for a picture with m. he barely stayed still for a picture of himself, but we did get one good one of just him! frustrating, but there was nothing we could do. huess i didn't need to buy those coordinating outfits that i bought for that picture! oh well, we'll try again soon.

we went to the beachhouse for a weekend in january. it's so nice to just relax and not feel bad about sitting on the couch pretty much the whole day! we managed to take one walk to the coffee shop with kellen in the bob and maya in the ergo.


i've been stalking the rei website for their annual bob stroller sale to purchase a double! can't wait for that!!! maybe it will give me the motivation to pick an event to start training for. i was considering the first ever portland half marathon - but it was too expensive (really the half is more than the whole? couldn't do it on principle!).

aa is as committed as always to his workout and physical therapy regime. he gets up daily around 4:45am to get it all in - i am in awe of how he does it.

we've been watching mad men on dvd from netflix. i love netflix! we've also gotten into modern family. the office dissapoints so far! i loved my book club book selection in january - five quarters of the orange. a great read if anyone is looking for a good book. i'm hosting in feb.

i've been trying to cook more interesting and healthy meals for our family. so far the last couple of weeks i have done a pretty good job. my next mission is to get kellen to eat more...make that some amount of vegetables. currently the only veggies he eats is the carrots in the apple carrot sauce i buy him at trader joes! yesterday we made a smoothie and we put a bunch of spinach in it. he ate it up! high five to me!!! :)

also food related...trying to waste less and be more conscious about the food that goes into our mouths. watching food, inc and an oprah about it has inspired me to want to buy a whole cow from a local farmer, well...maybe just a quarter!

i started taking a baby boot camp class at the nike gym. great class, but since it's all nike spouses that take the class...it made me wish that i was a nike spouse (can enjoy all the benefits at working at such a great company, but get to stay home with my babes!). not looking forward to going back to work. :(