Posting again!

I'm going to pretend I didn't just take about a year off from posting.  I just added a post from our beautiful hike on Crystal Mountain last weekend.  I wrote it as if I had no need to apologize for not updating this blog on the past year of our lives.  I might excuse myself by saying something about my computer not working right, or my life being busy with little kids, or not really having time to do it, but there is always time to do the things you want to do and blogging just wasn't top on my list of priorities.  But I know there are a few readers, mainly family, that don't live near us, that do want to keep updated on our lives.  Especially with little kids that keep changing.

Micah will be starting kindergarten in the fall and he's ready and excited for the new adventure.  He's reading chapter books and doing math already, but he has lots to learn.  He likes to be in charge and really likes to have his way but he needs to learn not to be so bossy and that he can't always win.  He needs to learn that not everything is a competition and that it is okay when someone else wins.

Frankie has been learning lots of words and has a super cute personality.  She likes to be silly and make us laugh.  She is going to bring lots of laughter to our family.  Words that she says lately that make us laugh are:  Water and Beep (Ice); lallelujah = lightening (whenever she sees a picture of lightening in one of her word books she calls it Hallelujah.  The only thing I can think of is maybe there is a picture of lightening on one of the slides at church when we sing a song with the word Hallelujah in it!).  She calls Snow nose because she mixes the letters up.  She loves to help me at the kitchen sink or mixing ingredients for making jam, cookies or our most recent craze, energy balls.

Crystal Mountain - July 21st, 2012

Last weekend we went up to Crystal Mountain.  It was a perfect day, lovely for taking a little hike.  We rode the gondola to the top of the mountain, ate some lunch, and then hiked around.  Micah was loving it for the first half, but when it was time to turn around and head back up to the top so that we could ride the gondola back down, he suddenly started feeling sick.  He had to take little breaks to lie down on the oh-so-comfortable rocks and tree stumps until we made him get up and keep moving.  When we finally got back to the top with the restaurant and restrooms, he threw up.  Poor guy.  We rode back down to bottom and drove home, and I think he was feeling a little better after he emptied his stomach.  

At the top, Mount Rainier behind us.  

It's hard to believe Mount Rainier is two times higher than we are!

Riding the gondola

Ready to go up!

Are you sure about this, Frankie?

Breathtaking views!

Beautiful

Poor Micah

Micah not feeling well.  Strong daddy!

August 23 - Frankie turns 1!

Frankie had two birthday parties. My parents (Grandma and Grandpa) came to visit in August and had to leave a few days before her actual birthday, so we had a party while they were here. Then we had a birthday party on her day with Nana and Papa (Dave's parents).

Pretty girl!

Birthday cupcakes!

Thanks for the presents Mama!

Such love!

Micah gets a birthday crown when they celebrate his birthday at school, so he made a birthday crown for Frankie. It said "Francess is 1" and also "Happy Birthday"

Grandpa was hoping to have Frankie walk while they were here. He claimed she took a few steps between the chair and ottoman, but she wasn't very stable. She started walking between Dave and I at the doctor's office 2 days after her birthday.

Frankie is 11 Months

11 Months - where has the time gone? In just four short weeks we will be celebrating this little one's birthday!

Frankie has been eating everything and she really wants to feed herself with her spoon or hands, no matter what she is being served, whether it's jarred baby food, yogurt, or cut up fruits, veggies and meat. She loves to eat like her brother did (and still does) and she is most content when she's got her snack trap or a graham cracker or some kind of food in her hand. She has even snuck a few sips of her big brother's chocolate milk or raspberry lemonade. The second child always gets away with more than the first ever did, right?

Funny that I cleaned the tray before I thought to get a picture.

The tray and the floor got it even worse than her face!

I can't resist sleeping shots, but I hate waking a sleeping baby.

I just love the butt-up sleeping position!

Francess loves to walk using her little pusher. She is very proud of herself when she walks along. She loves holding our hands to walk also. I've noticed a bit of a blister on her big toes from crawling, so that's probably why she likes to walk with help. She also gets up onto all fours to move forward instead of her hands and knees, which is usually when she is outside because the ground hurts her knees or when she has a dress on that gets caught under her. Just in the last couple of days she has been standing for a few seconds without holding on to anything, so I'm sure very soon we'll be chasing her around the house. Actually, she already loves to be chased, she just crawls as fast as she can away from us!

She is really trying to talk. Her voice is super cute right now. She's using her high pitched scream less and less (which is FABULOUS) and stringing together cute babbling sounds that sometimes makes her sound underwater. She still gets very excited to see the cat and always very happy to see Micah. She loves looking at books, especially the ones with texture for her to feel. She likes to put things in places. She is pretty good at putting the toy coins into the piggy bank and she loves "working" in the kitchen with me, moving the lids from the container into the bowls.

Chelan 2011

Dave's family has a few condo units on Wapato Point for use four times a year. Sometimes the whole family is able to go but other times no one but our family can make it. This was one of those times. We made it for a long weekend. We left Thursday afternoon after Micah was done with preschool. He had to miss the last day and the class pizza party, but the final day he did have at preschool was at a jump house with large blowup slides, an obstacle course, and a boxing ring, so he had a blast there and he was super excited about going to Chelan. Also, the day we left for Chelan was David's birthday so Micah was especially excited about everything happening that day. We had a few friends come and enjoy the weekend with us.

Micah and I playing mini golf

Brooke and I with Cece and Frankie, who had similar strawberry suits

The whole gang, Wolfroms, Pearsons and Smees

Micah loves swimming!

Emma, Heidi, and Braden

Micah and Braden reading from Micah's toddler Bible

Cheering on the dad's shuffleboard game

Preschool Program

Early in June Micah had a preschool performance at the end of the school year. He was the star of the show! His teachers were hoping that he didn't have T-ball or some other sport that would take him away that evening. They wanted to make sure that he was going to be there because he knew all the songs and sang loudly and did all the hand motions. His teacher told me she knew if he were watching she could count on him to start the group singing. He took it very seriously and loved every minute of it! We got a video of each song but for some reason I can't upload the videos onto this blog. I'll work on that when I have time, but for now, here are some pictures.

He walked the June sign across the front.

How better to end the performance than to get the kids hyped up on ice cream sundaes right before they go home to bed!

10 Months

Frankie is crawling all over, pulling herself up to cruise a little bit along furniture, playing peekaboo, waving bye-bye and trying to do signs ("more" is done like clapping right now). She gets very proud of herself with a sheepish grin when we cheer her on with her signs. She takes a big delighted intake of breath when she sees our cat. And she tries to call out for Micah in her own way ("MA DA" or some variation) whenever he's not around. She's climbing the stairs, which we only let her if we're right behind her because she has no sense of falling if she wants to take a break and plop her bottom down! She gets up to crawl on her hands and feet (instead of her knees) if something doesn't feel good on her knees or if she has a dress on that gets caught under her.

Easter

I know this is a late post, but we had a lovely Easter with Dave's family at his parents house.

On the Saturday of Easter weekend we went to Micah's preschool for an egg hunt. They had eggs to gather, but they didn't stuff them so that it could be fair for all the kids. The kids collected all their eggs and then traded them in for a goody bag. They were also entered into a raffle for a number of different baskets. Last year Micah wasn't really sure what to do, so he didn't hustle out to collect a lot of eggs but this year he knew what he was doing and was determined to get as many as he could. Unfortunately he and another kid were going for a bunch of eggs on the ground at the same time and he got knocked over, which made his basket of eggs spill out on the ground and then a bunch of other kids came and picked up his eggs. He handled it really well, but when it was over he was sad because he only collected about 5 eggs. We assured him it didn't matter and had him pick up a goody bag and we also reminded him he'd have an egg hunt with his cousins the next day.

At preschool, ready to start!

Right before he got knocked over

Nana and Papa have the perfect yard for egg hunting!

The cousins

Frankie found the stash (after all the goodies had been taken out)!