Happy New Year

we went to bed at 9:30pm.

Snow babies

It has been a cold and snowy weekend in Kansas City. The weather started to turn while we were at Christmas Eve mass on Thursday. It had rained all day and was generally dreary but when mass let out it had started to sleet and the roads were really starting to get icy. Overnight it snowed and was just cold.

Cabin fever started to set in on Christmas morning so I suited Steven up in his brand new snow pants (I bought them in October - just in case), boots and mittens - of course, he had a jacket on, too. When we got outside all he wanted to do was stomp around on the front porch. I finally convinced him to slide down the front steps and he ended up getting snow under his coat and up his back. Oops.

We ended up recovering from that and just stomped around in the front yard for awhile.

On Saturday, cabin fever continued. This time Tommy took Steven outside as it seemed that it was getting a little warmer and a snowman might be possible. It wasn't quite warm enough for the snow to pack into balls. However, the neighbors shoveled enough to make a fort in the front yard for the grandkids to play in. Steven likes going over there to pet the reindeer decorations they have. You can see them all lit up at the top of the photo.

While Tommy was out with Steven, I suited Lyla up and took her outside for her first romp in the snow. It was slightly reminiscent of Steven's first visit to the ocean. A lot of apprehension and when Mommy put her down a little bit of crying ensued. Unfortunately, the little pockets that go over her hands and feet had worked themselves open and the shock of cold snow on her delicate skin was too much for her to handle. But doesn't she look cute?

Cookies for Santa

It might appear that our photos are out of order but this year's cookie factory took a little longer in production than originally predicted so we had to use the plate of cookies from our neighbor as a snack for Santa!

Thanks to Tommy's current carrot kick we did have a snack for Santa's reindeer, too. But you can't see the teeth marks that Steven put in them when we were talking to him about how the reindeer eat carrots! And of course, we had to let Thomas the train take a prominent spot on the plate of cookies to see what we were talking about.

We started on the dough on Christmas Eve. Put it in the fridge to cool and before you know it the kids took an extra long nap and it was time for church and then dinner. Christmas morning we got out the rock hard dough and rolled it only to have Steven eat a ton of raw dough before the cookies were baked. Then on Saturday we finally got to the glazing and decorating admist a little eating, too!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

This year we celebrated Christmas at home in Kansas City, just the four of us and Kira, too. We had such a fun time starting our family traditions and just being together as a family.

On Christmas Eve we played around the house, made cookie dough, went to church, ate dinner and opened presents. For many years, my mom has made cheese stuffed pasta shells and mandarin orange salad for the Leitner family Christmas Eve dinner. This year was my chance to make it. I was really upset when I went to the grocery store the weekend before and didn't find jumbo shells. But my wonderful husband went to the "fancy" grocery store on Tuesday and bought a box. When I saw it, I told him that I regretted not telling him to buy two boxes because I was afraid too many of the shells would tear during production. In the end, I am very glad that he didn't buy two boxes because we had enough shells to feed a small army. We finally finished them today at lunch after eating them for the third lunch in a row!

No fancy table cloth for us this year - too much danger with a two year old running around! Poor Lyla, all she got was some gerber puffs!

We opened all of our family gifts after dinner. The first gift Steven opened was a battery powered Thomas train from Aunt Heather, Uncle Charley, Cousins Ava and Bridget. We immediately had to stop everything and put it together - all other presents for "Santa's Birthday Party" had to be put on hold. What a winner! So we let Lyla open her presents while Steven played with Thomas.

And not surprising, Lyla enjoyed the wrapping paper and boxes more than the actual presents. Why do we spend money?



Christmas morning we woke to more presents from Santa under the tree. What fun to continue the paper ripping and children squealing. Then it was off to playing in the snow, cookie baking and napping. Tommy was in charge of Christmas dinner which ended up really being our late meal as naps and playing forced us in to a stuffed shells leftover lunch (no complaining from me, though)!

Tommy is really coming in to his own in the chef department. He roasted a lamb, made a fancy potato dish with mushrooms and cherry tomatoes, and creamed peas. Cherry tomatoes, you say? - yes, they were from our crazily fruitful plant; we ended up freezing several bags to enjoy over the winter, yummy! Oh, by the way, I did eat the lamb - I am expanding my horizons and it was very delicious.
On Christmas night we settled the kids to bed and Tommy and I laid on the couch and watched a movie. Julie and Julia. It was really good and fed both of our recent fascinations - blogs and food! Over the weekend we even got to watch a few DVR'd episodes of West Wing during naps. What a great show, even 10 years later. We watched an episode where Josh got caught up in a blog about him, the deputy chief of staff. Tommy thought it was hilarious that they were talking about blogs on the West Wing - we probably didn't even understand what blogs were the first time we watched those shows.

What a wonderful Christmas weekend for the Clarks! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Oh, and the title of this entry ... maybe it should be "All Mommy wants for Christmas is Lyla's two front teeth." Poor little girl has spent Christmas cutting one of her top front teeth - nights have been long but she is going to make it through. Me on the other hand...

First presents of Christmas

The first presents of Christmas were opened early on Christmas Eve ... not because Steven and Lyla were anxious but Daddy had little bit of Santa fever! I do have to admit that I was pretty anxious to get the festivities started, too. Steven picked the gift bags from Tia Maija and Uncle Phil and proceeded to pull the tissue paper as fast a child on Christmas - oh, wait, that is what he was!

The kids got animal backpacks. Steven got a frog with a brown backpack and Lyla got a monkey with a green backpack. Maija told us later on the phone that the animals and backpacks were mix and match; so it was okay that Steven told Lyla that he wanted the green backpack because it matched his frog better. Steven liked it so much he insisted on sleeping with the frog that night!

Thank you Tia Maija and Uncle Phil!

Tommy on Children's Vitamins

"I like them. They're yummy!"

Merry Christmas to All!

They did it! Lyla and Steven happily sat on Santa's lap this year! What a fun time for all of us!

Look at my Knitted Pants!

Tracy sent knitted pants for Lyla when she was born back in April. They were too big back then but now that it has gotten chilly they fit perfect!

Decorating the tree

Since our house now must be babyproof for a crawling little girl we got creative and decided to put the tree on the window seat. It is up high enough that Lyla can't reach it and it is out of the way when Steven runs the bases.

I got all the ornaments out from the basement while Steven was napping and we put most of the non-breakable ones up before he woke up. Our strategy was "Prevention." We wanted everything done before he learned what it was like to touch the tree and put things on it - if he didn't see it happen, he wouldn't be interested. So far we've been pretty lucky!

The one oops moment was that I didn't realize the tree skirt was packed away in the window seat until we were done putting the tree up!

Our Family Tree

Today we picked out our Christmas tree from the Boy Scout lot at the kids daycare. It was very urban - not the nostalgic, trod through the forest, use the saw kind of experience but we had a good time. And it even made the journey back home tied to the roof of the subaru (forgot to take a photo).

Cousins

Thanksgiving weekend was full of cousins. We had first cousins, first cousins once removed, and second cousins all in attendance. Papa Steve had to explain the genealogy of it all and then I had to look it up on the Internet to refresh my memory. Anyway, it was fun being with our cousins for the weekend no matter what their designation!

Thanksgiving 2009

We are thankful for so many things this year. First, the birth of our daughter and all the joy she brings to our family. The minute she was born it was as if she had always been a part of our lives. It is hard to remember what it was like when it was just the three of us, harder to imagine just the two of us and single life?!?!

We are also thankful for our wonderful family, a roof over our head and chocolate.

This year we spent Thanksgiving on Sugarloaf mountain with the Clarks. Grandma came up to Kansas City on Monday to spend the day and take Steven down to their house a couple of days earlier. This was Steven's first trip away from both of his parents for an overnight stay. I think the trip was harder on me than Steven but I guess that is how mommies are supposed to feel.

To Grandma's House I GO!

Tommy, Lyla and I headed down on Wednesday evening. Lyla did a great job - she slept most of the way down except for the few minutes when she decided to take the wheel...

It was a full house this year - 8 adults, 7 kids, 4 inside dogs, 3 outside dogs - we were definitely thankful for good weather and the wilderness to escape the crowd! Steven had a great time riding on Papa's tractor. It is an old Massey-Ferguson. If you come across a grill in good condition be sure to give Papa Steve a call because he's looking.

Pretend Play

Steven is becoming more fun each and every day! Even though I want him to stay little and not grow up it is so exciting to see him grow and change. He has really started to embrace "pretend" play. We set up his chairs the other night so that we could build a tent with a blanket thrown over the top. It then became a tunnel to crawl through. And finally it turned into a choo choo train that everyone had to ride, even Lyla. Steven was a great engineer!

Go Diego!

Tonight Steven and I watched the "green iguana saves abuelito's (grandpa's) strawberry farm" episode of Go Diego Go! Wow.

A Windy Wind blew all of grandpa's strawberry plants away so Diego had to bring him new seeds to plant. Diego asked the green iguana to eat the strawberries in the green house and they proceeded to take an adventure to get to the farm. Along the way they had to hurry because the green iguana had to "go" (potty, that is). When they got to the farm the green iguana proceeded to poop along the strawberry rows to plant the seeds.

I am all for the truth but this was a little too much for me. I am glad Steven is still too little to ask questions about this show.

Pumpkin Smash

Today was sooooo beautiful that we decided to take the kids to the zoo. However, our plans were nearly destroyed when Lyla decided to take a 1.5 hour nap starting at 8:30 this morning. We were almost ready to just take Steven on a walk around the neighborhood when she started stirring so we quickly changed plans back to the zoo.

We hopped in the car and headed out. When we got there we saw a sign that said the close in parking was full so we went to the back lot. We got the kids loaded into the double stroller and headed to the entrance. The line was really long - at least 15 people deep for all of the ticket windows. We are so happy to be Friends of the Zoo because we sailed past the line and went right on in. I am happy that there was such a good turn out at the zoo. In the two years we've been Friends of the Zoo we've never seen a line like that. It was great to see that the zoo is becoming more popular.

Since we are Friends of the Zoo we never feel like we are on a forced march to see every exhibit so each time we pick a few select exhibits and visit them for a little longer. Today we went to the tropics to see the baby Blue Monkey. She was born on November 4. We barely got to see the baby because she was hanging on to her mommy's belly but we got a few glimpses of her - so tiny! We also got to see the Capybarra moving around right by the glass. Steven had a stare down with him!

I have never been to the Gorilla exhibit in the 10+ times I've been to the zoo so we headed straight out to see them rather than circle through all of Africa. If you've ever been to the Kansas City Zoo you'll know why we headed straight there - Africa is huge and can take hours to traverse.

Today was the pumpkin smash at the zoo. The keepers put pumpkins in the animal enclosures and you can watch them eat/play/smash them. This is probably one of the reasons that so many people came to the zoo or perhaps, the great weather.

We got to the gorilla exhibit about 20 minutes before they put the pumpkins out. The Gorilla was on the other side and so we got out Steven's lunch and just hung out. A few minutes later the Gorilla meandered right up to the window of the viewing shelter. Wow! It was really neat to see him up so close. They are so human-like. After awhile the keepers must have called him because he wander back to his house and the keepers came out with the pumpkins and apples and carrots. After they put everything out and were safely out of the enclosure they let two gorillas back out. It was so amazing watching them "run" out of their house. I say "run" because they use their feet and knuckles to move. They started to eat the apples and carrots as Steven was getting antsy. We decided to go and just as we left the viewing area the crowd cheered. I guess we missed the pumpkin smash!

Steven's stats

We did a double appointment on Friday for the well child exams. Steven, at 2 years 2 months, weighs 27lbs 6oz and is 36 inches tall. We made it to three feet! He is hovering at the 25%ile for weight. I wonder who makes these charts (ok its the CDC) because he is pretty close in size to the other two year old boys at school.

He recently has taken to eating a lot of sandwiches. He loves peanut butter (just like his mommy) and will eat grilled cheese, too. Vegetables are still a foreign object. Any tips on getting him to eat his greens?

Totally 80s

We're going back in time! Lyla is wearing Leg Warmers! Thanks to Lori and Eleanor, Lyla's little legs stayed warm today in her pink polka dot leg warmers. Who would have ever thought those would be back in style. But I guess everything looks cute on a baby!

You can also see her two little teeth in this picture. I think she is working on her uppers but they haven't poked through quite yet.

On Friday we took her in for her six month appointment. A few weeks late but with all the sickness we postponed it for awhile. She now weighs 17 lbs 2.5 oz and she is 28 inches long. She is in the 65%ile for weight and 95%ile for height. She has dropped percentiles in weight - she started around 90%ile - but Steven did the same thing about this time. Doc doesn't seem to think there is anything to worry about because she is hitting all her milestones and generally a super happy girl.

Indian Summer

We are loving the weather! Last Sunday it was in the 60s and this Saturday it is going to be 70.


It was so nice last Sunday that we had to take the opportunity to go the park with the kids. We thought it might be our last chance to do so without winter coats...but we're probably going to be able to go again this weekend.


While we were at the park, Lyla got to swing for the first time. She really liked it! We've been reusing some of Steven's clothes for Lyla because she goes through 2-3 outfits a day. She is quite the spitter. We had her in a navy blue jumper and some little girls at the park kept calling her a boy. I felt kind of bad. I think I'll be more selective of the reused clothes we put on her when we go out in public!

Remember this one of Steven's first swing?

Time Change

I think that changing our clocks is our government's way of punishing parents of small children. We ate dinner at 4:30 tonight, naps were too early in the day and it is only 6:20 and Lyla is down for the night. I am just exhausted!

That exhaustion has nothing to do with the fact that Lyla isn't sleeping through the night anymore... it is all the time changes fault, even though it just happened today!

Boo at the Zoo

Last weekend we took Steven and Lyla to Boo at the Zoo. We did some trick or treating at the stations the zoo sets up and avoided as much candy as possible! We did visit the photo booth again this year and got a great photo of the kids in their costumes. Well, Steven was in costume and Lyla was wearing her super cute pumpkin outfit!

And, yes, Steven's costume looks familiar. We love that astronaut suit so much we pulled it out again this year. It still fits, so why not!

Diagnosis...

Ecoli or is it a virus?

So, we've been blog-less for two weeks now because the madness has not ended! After Steven's stomach mess, I got strep/double ear infection/ conjunctivitis and was just miserable for days. Then last Monday Tom and I got a stomach bug that caused some of the worst illness for both of us that we've ever had. Tuesday and Wednesday we could barely move. Finally, Thursday I went to the doc and based on all I told him he thinks it was a major case of food poisoning and gave me antibiotics. Tom went to his doc on Friday and got a different diagnosis - virus. I am feeling better than Tom is at this point so I vote that my doctor wins this time!

Check out the posts below to see the fun things that we've tried to fit in between the illnesses!

Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

Lyla hates being put in her high chair but once we get out the spoon she smiles and grabs for it like she can do it herself. We've tried sweet potatoes and carrots so far and she loves them!

We are finding it very hard to coordinate mealtime, though. The kids come home from daycare with Tommy around 4:30-45. He tries to get dinner started but they just want his attention. Then I get home and the circus continues because Lyla wants to eat and Stevens wants uppy and the screaming begins! Tom is now done with student teaching and the kids are going to part-time at daycare so maybe we will get back to a little bit more normal schedule. We hope.

Not real smart

When Steven and Tom were in Arkansas I had planned to take Lyla shopping because the cold weather had creeped upon us more quickly than we anticipated. The kids were really lacking in long sleeves and warm coats. Even though it probably wasn't too smart for me to be out shopping on Saturday (considering the next day I would be diagnosed with strep) I was determined.

Went to Burlington for Steven's coat and snow pants. We just want to be prepared, not that we have a lot of snow but any time we can get him outside our situation is much more pleasant! I also picked up a few outfits for Lyla. She is really growing! Some of the 6 month clothes don't fit her and her little belly sticks out of most of her t-shirts!

Our little Marshmallow Man!

Visit to Arkansas

Tommy took Steven to Arkansas with him for the Clark Boy Work Weekend on October 10. The boys were helping their dad reshingle the house after hail damage. Grandma and Heather stayed inside with Steven, Ava and Bridget. I was at home with Lyla; trying to stay healthy (ha ha).

The kids had a lot of fun and Steven told me "I love you" over the phone for the first time. He is so sweet! He has also taken to calling Grandpa Steve "papa". He can say Grandma just fine but has changed Grandpa for some reason! It is pretty cute.

Madness

Will the madness ever end?!?!

I got a call at 12:15 from daycare that Steven vomitted. So I pack everything up and head over there to bring him home for another 24-hour detox session with Mommy and Daddy! When I got there he had fallen asleep so I had to wake him up and just after I carried him out of his room - it all came up again. In my hair, on my jacket, all over Steven..poor babay!

Two teeth!

Lyla's two bottom teeth broke through yesterday! Thank goodness because she finally slept through the night last night...we've been waiting for that through our sick week. Teething just compounds everything!

Steven got his first teeth a little earlier than this and he was trouble the whole time. Hopefully Lyla won't be as hard to soothe and hers won't come in over such a long time frame as her brother.

No pictures yet, she won't keep her tongue out of the way long enough!

By the way, we've started rice cereal - her face is priceless when we put the spoon in her mouth. Mommy, what the heck is this?!?!

Germs, Germs and MORE Germs

Let me start by saying I love my kids! But I really hate their germs.

Last week I think a truck ran us over three or four times and we are still recovering! You can read about the start of it in my last post. It continues with Tommy staying home with Steven on Tuesday as he was getting over being contagious. We thought we were in the clear until Wednesday afternoon when I picked up the kids at school and Lyla had weepy eyes. Off to urgent care. She had conjunctivitis and they gave us eye cream to help her. Who thought that eye cream for a baby was a good idea? Trying to pry her little eyelids open while pinning her flapping arms down is not an easy task.

So I kept her home on Thursday because she was contagious and by the end of the day I was feeling down. Tommy came home and I told him to be prepared to stay home with me and Lyla on Friday and he did.

Friday Tommy helped me with Lyla and packed for the Clark Boys Work Weekend in Arkansas. Tommy and Steven had planned to go down there to help replace the roof on the house since August. They left around 3pm while Lyla and I hunkered down for the weekend.

Saturday I was feeling a little better and a little stir crazy so I showered and decided to venture out to get the kids some winter clothes. It has suddenly turned very cold and we really weren't prepared. So I went to Baby Depot and a consignment shop to get some things. By the time I got home I was wiped out. My throat hurt, my ears were stinging and I kept sweating then getting the chills then sweating then chill.....

By the morning I was miserable and decided to go to the Doc in the Box at Walgreens. The nurse there was really good and since I got there immediately at 10am when they opened I was first in line. She did a rapid strep, ear check, etc and it turns out I have a double outer ear infection, pharyngitis (not definitively strep but she thinks if we did a culture there would be no question) and conjuctivitis. The pharmacy wasn't as good as the nurse and I had to wait about an hour for them to get three prescriptions - I did get to roll my eyes at an irate woman who didn't get her flu shot but an hour sitting in the pharmacy with a fussy baby and spinning head was miserable.

So I am now home for the day by myself and will hopefully have 6-7 hours of rest and recovery! I love my kids but those darn germs are on my list!

Daycare strikes again!

I spent the day at home with the kids as they have fallen victim to the day care virus of the day. Our family is a walking viral infection right now. Tommy had a cold sore, I have a canker sore (is that a virus?), Steven has gunky eye and an ear infection, and Lyla has a cough and is teething.

Life was such bliss when we didn't expose our kids to the germ factory. Today at the doctor we saw the same physician assistant that we saw four weeks ago. She just smiled and said "the next year is going to be like this but just know that their immune systems will be better for it". That is comforting.

Today was fun though. It is nice having time with the kids to play all day and just be a family. Lyla is sitting up on her own. We still have to be right there because she topples over pretty frequently but she is really learning a lot of new things. Steven is also growing so much. He knows so many words and is a total mimic. He hears something once and repeats it all day long. Unfortunately, he seems to know the things that he shouldn't repeat and does repeat them over and over again. One of us made the mistake of say Oh, my God and now that is his favorite phrase. It is kind of ironic that he goes to a Catholic day care. We'll have to warn them on Wednesday when he goes back!

Borts Family comes to town

I think we are starting a new family tradition ... every other year the Borts family comes to town for Jack's birthday! Well, it isn't just for Jack's birthday but that seems to be the timing. We expect to see them in early October 2011! Of course, sooner but definitely then! Check out the quilt in the background of the picture - thanks Grandma Pam for Steven's space-themed birthday quilt!

Steven and Lyla had a great time visiting with their cousins. Steven was particularly taken with his big cousin Jack. And I think Jack was taken with Steven's riding toys. More than once Jack's parents told him he was too big to ride on Steven's Mickey Mouse ride-on airplane and Caterpillar dump truck! That was okay with us, though, because they were all having such a good time.

Emily is great at holding babies but she did get to experience the not so fun parts, too. Lyla is prone to big spit ups and Emily fell victim to a pretty good spit! Lyla also tooted pretty good and I suggested that Emily put her down and thank goodness because shortly thereafter we experienced a blow out!

And with all the time we spent together I didn't get one picture of my sister with the kids! Oh, well we'll just have to wait until 2011.

My first school picture

Doesn't she look so cute! Our daycare is attached to a Catholic elementary school so the infant/toddler and preschool rooms get to have picture day with the K-8th graders. They have the infants sit in Bumbo chairs draped with backdrop cloth! Lyla did so good but her brother was a different story. As you can see, his first school picture is not posted. That is because he doesn't have a first school picture yet. He flipped. The teachers brought him into the school cafeteria and he started crying and clinging so they just brought him back to his room. We'll try again on picture make-up day in October but I am not holding my breath!

She's a Bow Bandit

You can almost see her grinning under her mask! She did this herself, this picture was not staged!

Run for the Chimps

Steven and Lyla participated in their first charity run today at the Kansas City Zoo. Daddy (long sleeve blue shirt on far right) ran in the 5k with mommy's co-worker Eric (fluorescent green shirt) and as a family we did the one-mile fun run/stroller walk. It was a good time had by all.

She IS Advanced!

Tonight we confirmed that Lyla really is advanced because she is trying to crawl already! She has been rolling across the room for about a week and half. She'll get started in the middle of the rug in the living room and roll across to the other side without any effort. At school today, they told me that she is a rolling fool!

When we started playing tonight I had some toys a little in front of her and she started scooting forward to reach them. By the time I got the camera she was probably getting a little tired so she is crying in the video. Earlier in the night she was really enjoying scooting to get her toys; we just waited too long to capture the good mood moment! Tommy and I were both really amazed that she was moving forward so young. She only turned five months old on Monday!

Sitting?

Our little girl is so advanced! She is sitting at five months. Well, she is sitting when propped up by her arms and belly rolls!

Daddy's Ball Game

Tommy had a game Sunday morning and I took the kids to watch. They did surprisingly well! I thought I would have to chase Steven all over the ballpark but he stayed close and actually watched through the fence for awhile. He even got to retrieve a foul ball!

Future Groundskeeper?

And the best part about it was that both kids zonked out in the car on the ride home and Steven took another long nap once we got back home. Lyla, of course, woke up when the car stopped in the driveway but she is such a good baby I didn't mind playing with her when her brother napped. Why do babies like motion so much? I was almost tempted to keep driving for awhile to keep her asleep but that wouldn't be very green!

Two Two!

Steven's birthday party at Loose Park was so much fun! Thank you to everyone who came and for all of the wonderful gifts.

Not surprising but the party theme was Thomas the Tank Engine. When we got to the park Grandpa Steve took Steven to the playground and he had a good time playing. As all of his friends started to arrive he started to get a little attached to the table. I think he thought that if he left to go play that the party might go away. I finally convinced him to go play in the sand but that didn't last long and he was back at the table!

Once again, he loved his cake and once we got home he took about a 3 hour nap. We even had to wake him up to say goodbye to his grandparents. I know, we broke a cardinal sin of parenting, but he loves his grandparents and would have been sad to miss saying goodbye.

Happy Birthday to Steven!

Today is Steven's 2nd Birthday! We brought cupcakes in to school and the kids and teachers all sang Happy Birthday to Steven. I think we might have raised our kid wrong because he had his cupcake eaten in about 2 minutes...all the other kids hadn't even made it through the frosting!

Ball Game

Tonight we had tickets to the Royals! Steven talks about "ball game" a lot right now. I think it is because Tommy is playing adult league ball and every weekend when he puts his uniform on we talk about Daddy going to the ball game.

We made it to about the fifth inning which is pretty good for a family outing to the Royals.

Steven enjoying the ball game at the Little K - he loves watching the big kids!