random

last friday was such a nice dose of sunshine. i didn't realize how much we needed it! the kids and i hung all day with our friends - literally, they couldn't get rid of us! we walked to the park, had a picnic and then just chilled in their backyard while the kids ran around. so nice! it also became clear to me that maya is really no longer a baby. she climbed up the play structure and went down the big slide - ON HER OWN, and toddled around trying to keep up with the big kids. so cute, but makes me kinda sad! kellen has decided that gracie is his new best friend! the next day we woke up and the first words out of his mouth...are we going to gracie's house?!







did i ever mention that we are down to just a one diaper household?! after a frustrating day of attempting to potty train, i posted a vent on facebook and after some good advice, tips and comisseration i realized that it was really me not fully committing to no diapers. so february 24 was the last day we used a diaper and aside from an accident here and there (although they seem to come in multiples, hmm.) we are potty trained! we do wear "nighttime undies" aka pull ups, to bed...but honestly 90% of the time he wakes up with them dry! he wears his undies to nap and (knock on wood), we've yet to have an accident in his bed. it feels so good! the one downfall...getting him down to bed can sometimes be a challenge now. he is up as often as five times each night, telling us he needs to go potty or even "the poop is coming out!" and lo and behold he usually comes up with something. oh and the other day after telling me he needed a little space, i came to check on him to find him painting his toenails! opps!






last saturday i coordinated a little baby celebration for my sister in law who is about 4 weeks away from having our second little gassner nephew. we're very excited to meet the new little guy! most of her closest girlfriends gathered for dinner at mother's bistro (appropriate, eh?!) and to make it a little more special i made this paper flowers for each place setting. they are so cute, although quite time consuming to make! super fun though...the kit was from paper source, one of my favorite stores to browse and buy when i need to be creative! paper source will always have a special place in my heart, as all the supplies for our wedding invitations came from there...long before they opened a store in portland.





big girl maya started refusing her high chair about month ago...so she's moved onto a booster seat! my how time flies! where did my baby go again?



kellen finally is tall enough and the weather nice enough for him to ride his skuut balance bike. we've gone out a handful of times in the last few weeks and each time he gains a little confidence and gets a little better at it. no balancing yet, but he gets faster! can't wait to see him gliding along on it. and maya is loving taking over his froggie trike (sadly i guess i don't have a picture of her riding the beloved trike.)!



one of the nice things about being at home is we can also spend with the kids' cousins! we don't do it all that often (let's get real...having a 3, 2, and 1 year old is a little crazy!), but when we do it's tons of fun! in the last month we had bennett and maisy over for a day (one at a time!). it's fun to see the three cousins together - and near impossible to snap a good picture of three kids at one time!







oh, btw...did i mention that i started a little side gig?! more on that later, but yes...i am doing a little work and so far so good.

love.this.girl.

love my boy something crazy too, but his response to me taking his picture these days is "NEVER!" (his new response to many things!). and yes, that is dried egg yolk on her mouth...probably her favorite breakfast right now...fried egg with a runny yolk!

for uncle bry

lazy, i know...but here are a couple of very recent videos of my babes! the dancing one is long...so sorry!!!

siblings

she has beautiful, dark brown eyes and has had them from day 1.
he has beautiful blue-y grey eyes and has had them from day 1.

we both have brown eyes (aa's lighter brown, mine darker brown).

his first word was "dada".
her first word was "mama".

he is cautious and concerned by things that could cause him harm (the oven door...don't even think of leaving it open a crack - it scares him!)
she is fearless and oblivious to danger (the oven door...just a handle for me to help myself climb up on the stove!)



she took her first steps at 15 months and never looked back.
he took his first steps at 13.5 months, but didn't walk until around 16 months, unless you count walking on his knees!

he often asks her for sloppy kisses, cause that's how she gives them. he never did that!
she loves to "pat, pat, pat" his back.



she loves veggies, especially broccoli.
he hates them - won't touch em, except spinach blended up in a smoothie or french fries (do they count?!).

he is more of a carb guy - bread, pasta, rice.
she is more of a meat girl - chicken especially.

they both love chocolate chip cookies and ice cream.



she is a terrible sleeper...has NEVER napped 4 hours (we're lucky to get an hour!) and can't sleep without touching me.
he is a good sleeper...used to often take up to 4 hour+naps and would go right to sleep in his crib (with teddy and his blanket of course!)

he loved his ba (pacifier).
she hated them all...and we tried many different kinds!

they were and are both snugglers (lucky us!).



she looked like her daddy when she was born.
he looked like his mama when he was born.

they now both look more like ME! (i write the blog, so i get to say ;-p !)

food thoughts

i've always been a fairly healthy eater (with a weakness for a sweet or salty treat here and there!), but in the last few years i've become more and more concerned with the food that goes in our mouths...especially my two little ones! it can become increasingly overwhelming to make the right choices...not to mention expensive. farmed vs. wild, organic vs. local, fresh vs. frozen, bulk vs. packaged, vegetarian vs. vegan vs. locavore, glass vs. plastic (bpa-free, of course!) . my head is spinning!


is there anything better than local, oregon strawberries?!

here are a few things that we do to feel good about the food that nourishes us:

• i try to follow this list of the top offenders in regards to pesiticides when making my organic purchasing decisions (and this list to feel ok about not buying organic!).
• loved making baby food for my babies...providing them with much more healthly and fresh purees, not to mention saving us money made it a joy and not a task - and really it was SO easy.
• we've been csa members for the last four years. the first three we were members at Sungold Farms and last year we checked out Dinihanian's Farm. both of these farms delivered right nike every week - it was so great! i'm now researching other csa's and feeling a bit frustrated because the pick up locations are so far from me! i'm actually leaning towards going back to Sungold Farms and picking up at Nike (shh...don't tell!) or they also have a Lake Oswego drop off. if you are interested in joining a csa (and we highly recommend it!), check out local harvest - it's a great resource. yes, you will get fruit and veggies that you have no idea what to do with and you will have to cook a lot of veggies, but it's so fun, healthy and worth it.

a couple of pictures from the June 2009 Sungold Farm day for CSA members - hayrides and exploring the farm + lots of strawberries!

• csa's are typically around 18 weeks, so this year we decided to receive a weekly delivery from organics to you. every thursday we get a box full of fruit and veggies delivered to our doorstep. when they can, they try to stock their boxes from local farms...but right now there isn't a lot growing in our area, so there is a lot from california. it's a bit spendy ($33/wk for a small box), but if you have a chinook book there is a coupon for 1 free box after you buy 4 boxes and you can also use it twice. we've enjoyed it so far and will continue until our csa starts up again.

the contents of our delivery from today (look at the size of that beet!)

• we rarely eat fast food and when/if we do...i can almost guarantee it'll be burgerville! not sure if it's much better, but at least i feel good that their food is fresh, local and sustainable. (and their current special of portabello mushroom wedges, yum!).
• we eat very little packaged foods...although trader joes sure does have some winners that we do enjoy! (organic trader joes o's...basically spaghettios!, tempura battered halibut for easy fish tacos, mandarin orange chicken, snap pea crisps)
• we've tried to eliminate or greatly reduce our "white" food intake. we cook with mostly whole wheat flour (or brown rice gluten free flour for maya!), brown rice, quinoa (costco sells a big bag of organic quinoa for a steal!), dave's killer bread (another awesome costco item...although winco now sells it for just as cheap!).
• and just so you don't think we are totally health nuts - you can almost guarantee to find anywhere from 1-3 cartons of ice cream in our fridge at any given time and we have at least a couple of pounds of m&m's in our snack drawer. but...we used to buy dreyers slow churned, until we decided it didn't quite taste like ice cream (a little chemicall-y) and now we typically buy tillamook or umpqua, which tastes delicious! should it be organic though? ah. it's dessert, so it doesn't count...right!? ;)

some things we are thinking about - going vegan for a week (thank you oprah, for the idea) and/or eating vegan/veggies at least 1x week. kind of opposite, but also thinking about buying a quarter/half of a locally raised, humanely slaughtered beef - anyone else interested? i would love to have a garden, but i know myself too well and know it would just be a chore for me and not enjoyable!

here is a delicious and healthy recipe a friend recently shared with me: Quinoa Red Lentil Stew. it's super easy - the recipe is a crock pot recipe, but i didn't have time and cooked it on the stove in just over an hour. it's also very adaptable...you could really use any combo of veggies. i had rutabaga (from our weekly delivery) and added it. didn't have cinnamon stick or ginger, so left it out. don't love rosemary, so left it out! wanted the kids to enjoy it so left out the jalapeno. maya ate it up...although by the third night of eating it was done! kellen was a little hesitant but with a little enouragment ate the whole bowl. i actually added organic chicken thighs (more fat and iron for my kiddos!) to it and it was delish.

what food choices do you make and what do you use to base your decisions on? anyone else csa members and recommend your farm? do you struggle with these things like i do? please share!

three

is a tough age so far. forget the terrible two's, it's the terrible three's in our house! my guess is it's probably not that bad, but we've had such an easygoing little guy that these temper tantrums and fits of anger that he expresses are a bit of a surprise. he's not afraid to tell us no if he doesn't want to do something. i must ask the question, "who makes the rules?" a couple of times a day...to which he answers, "mommy and daddy", but apparently he just doesn't follow them! while three has been a little tough...it's also filled with so much goodness. he's such a little man now - sometimes i can barely remember when he was a baby (cue the tears!).

a few things about my boy:


*one of his favorite things to say these days is "when i'm big like daddy i can..." as in, "when i'm big like daddy i can watch scary shows" or "when i'm big like daddy i can use sharp knives". it's super cute.


*he also will often ask me if i want to see how big he is and when i say yes, he stands up very tall, with a big, proud smile on his face.


*thomas the train is the lastest obsession. pretty much started when he turned three and is showing no sign of slowing down. one of his favorite activities is to read the catalog of thomas trains, sets, accessories that comes with the trains. he has many of them memorized...mostly thanks to grandma reading it with him over and over!

*every train/lightrail we see is a thomas and he has to know which one it is. the max is named...max and the wes is wes...other times we have to get a little more creative. we've had porty, keizer and a few others that aren't coming to me right now.

*i think he might be close to dropping his nap. he only naps about 65% of the time right now and on those days nightime is such a struggle...sometimes he isn't out until 9 or 10. days that he doesn't nap he, drifts right off to sleep. i don't know which is worse.

*he loves to help me cook. oatmeal, pancakes, banana bread and cookies are some of his favorites!

*his imagination has come alive and it's creating monsters in his head. he's been waking up at night quite a bit and we think he's having nightmares. he talks about a monster who bites his hair and lives in the forest a lot. his pillow actually has a hole in it and when i asked him how it happened he claimed the monster did it.


*potty training is not going so well. he can totally do it, but just isn't always super interested...even when m&m's, junior mints, stickers and handy manny tools are involved. most of the 2/3 crowd we run with are potty trained, so it's making me feel like a bad mama! (yes, he did pick out the pink potty...insisted and after i suggested different colors a couple of times i stopped...nothing wrong with a pink potty! someday he will probably not be too happy about this pic being posted...he clearly wasn't happy with it being taken!)

*he often calls me "mama gassner". not sure where he came up with it, but it is quite funny...he usually uses it when he really needs me or when he is just waking up.

*he can be so sweet and so menacing with his sister in the span of 15 seconds. he often asks her for sloppy kisses...nothing cuter than your baby girl giving your baby boy sloppy kisses and both of them laughing with delight. 15 seconds later he will be body slamming her and there will be lots of tears. ugh.

despite the challenges that the threes are bringing, i couldn't be happier to be home with him and to be able to soak up all the goodness...and the not so good (makes the good so much better!).

fiesty

as in maya is one fiesty girl! she has for sure crossed over into that "no longer a baby" stage and is one fiesty toddler. cute, but fiesty! one of her favorite words, "NO!", with a little snarkiness is heard out of her mouth throughout the day. she's a girl who knows what she wants and don't even think about changing her mind! seriously, where did my baby go? oh and did i mention that she is finally walking? yep...right on her 15 month birthday. she took off and hasn't looked back.

a few other random things about my girl:

*she loves chicken...it's about the only thing that i can almost guarantee that she'll eat every time.
*words she says: mama, dada, papa, duck, mil (milk), mo (more), change, no, wawa (water), book, dog, baby, bye-bye, night-night, ouch, cat, shoe, all done, brrrr (as in it's cold outside!), nana (banana), poo-poo, yuck, lion...there may be a few more, but we're still trying to figure out what she's saying! she definitely has a sound for kellen/brother...but i can't quite decipher it yet.
*signs she uses: milk, more, all done, change (when she poops and needs her diaper changed, she comes over and signs it!), eat, water, wash, book, thank you
*she loves music and dancing...even when she's not feeling well or just about asleep, if she hears music her body just can't help but move to the beat!
*she loves the water...bath or shower, either one she's a happy girl.

*she has a bit of a sweet tooth; well actually she's a junk food junkie - chocolate chip cookie (gluten-free, of course!) or pirate booty, she's good with either!

*she's not afraid to get into a little roughhousing with daddy and kellen

*her hair is long enough for a little pony in the back now...so cute, but of course i have to distract or trick her, cause if she knows anything is in her hair she promptly takes it out!

*she likes to brush her teeth, but only lets me brush her teeth if she's laying down on my lap with all three of us (kellen, aa and me) saying "AHHHHH" the whole time.
*she's an itty bitty and just moved up to a size 3 diaper at 15 months...by comparison, kellen wore a size 3 diaper at about 7 months (but didn't move up to a size 4 until just recently...now we are working on just switching to undies, but that is another post!).

*when she was born, most people said she looked like aaron, now we are getting more comments that she looks like me. what do you think???
*she may be fiesty, but we sure love her!