A Smooshfoot History: Infant Car Seats

After hearing SO many crazy stories (some of them bordering on HORROR stories) about car seats or lack thereof from our parents and grandparents this video strikes me as downright hillarious. :P Hopefully you'll find it funny too. Feel free to share about the crazy stories your parents have told you regarding car seats "back in the day".

Check out this video: A Smooshfoot History: Infant Car Seats

Long Time, No Blog!

Well, now that I'm actually at a computer that doesn't shut down every 10 minutes, I thought I'd update the ol' blog! Yup, my computer is on the fritz. It's SO frustrating!!! But now after several attempts to fix it DJ has finally given up. So we're planning to order a new one for me, and in the meantime I'm using his old laptop.

My eye surgery went really well. The first 5 days were really hard, but I was prepared for the worst so the reality wasn't as bad as I expected it would be. I still have to put drops in my eyes several times a day for the next 2 months, and my vision isn't 100% yet, but I was told that it wouldn't be until 3 or so months after surgery. It's good enough that I can drive and get back to normal activities, but bad enough that I've had quite a few headaches and I'm sure it's because of eye strain. Overall I'm happy with the results, and very hopeful about the healing process.

The girls are doing great! My mom thinks that they've said some words, but I'm not so sure. I'm probably being too strict on what I would consider an actual word. They both babble "bababa" whenever I get their bottles out. And at the beach this weekend Ziva said what sounded like "Hi" when we put a phone up to her ear. But I'm skeptical. Until it happens more than 50% of the time I don't think I'll be able to count it. :P Ziva is really into playing silly little games lately. She has figured out that she can feed other people besides herself, and feeding mommy is particularly fun. Anya has really gravitated towards DJ lately. She LOVES to be tickled and tossed in the air, and Daddy is always good for that. They both really love to play peek-a-boo, and often try to put things over their own heads. They're at such a fun stage right now and our house is full of giggles and silliness.

I went to the beach this weekend with the girls, my parents and my grandma. It was a great time watching all 3 grandparents bond with the girls. We don't get to spend much time with my grandma so she got the chance to really get to know them which was awesome! The girls had a grand ol' time. They had a lot more freedom to explore and get into things than what they do at home. So there were a lot of "no no, don't do that" moments but overall they were very good. Sometimes I felt like I was herding cats, but sometimes I feel like that at home too. lol My mom brought the stash of toys that she keeps at her house, so that kept them entertained. We also took them down to the beach and let them walk around barefoot. They LOVED that! And it was beautiful weather! Sunny and warm but breezy. We couldn't have ordered better weather for October! Overall we had a fabulous time.

Our Adventure: Library Story Time

Last week I decided to be brave and go to library story hour. I got there right when it was supposed to start, but there were so many kids there already that they asked me (and a few other moms) to come back for the second session. That should have been my first clue! Apparently there were 35 kids plus parents at that first session (all under the age of 2)! Holy smokes!!! So anyway, I walked around town a bit with the girls in their stroller biding our time before the main event.

I get back to the library and there were 1/2 as many people, thank goodness! The storytime was 20 minutes long, and they gave each child a little boardbook of their own and when it came time all the parents read the story aloud together. Afterwords there were songs and rhymes and counting and alphabet, it was actually pretty neat! But of course the whole time Ziva's traveling around the room as fast as her feet will carry her, pulling stuff out of other mom's purses, taking other kid's binkies away... it was crazy! Anya wandered around too, but she's more reserved and just likes to look at things and maybe poke with her index finger to test stuff out. I ended up trying to keep Ziva on my lap for songs and things because I figured Anya was less likely to get into trouble. At the end the story lady brought out a bubble machine, which totally freaked out Anya and made her cry. :( Ziva on the other hand LOVED it and chased the story lady around trying to pop all the bubbles. I swear these two are as different as night and day!

The lady that sat next to me at story time kept telling me how great of a job I was doing, but I felt like my head was going to spin off from looking at one baby and then the other baby the whole time. I really questioned my sanity afterwords, and I think we'll stick to less structured activities for a while. Next I'm planning to try the local indoor play park. Wish me luck!

We Remember

DJ (my husband) and I had been dating for about 3 months when the attack happened. I had just graduated from college and moved back to the Northwest and I was working/living at an apartment complex in Salmon Creek. I went to a Christian liberal arts college just outside of Boston, and had just taken that cross country flight a few months back out of Logan airport. I was so happy then, seemed like everything was going my way. We were getting up early that day so that DJ could sign loan papers for the house he just bought. We didn't listen to the radio on the way to the mortgage office.

So we get there, and everyone seems so somber, lots of people shaking their heads, some crying. I thought maybe someone in the office had died. Our mortgage broker is the one who told us what was happening. He pulled up CNN on his laptop to show us pictures. I just about threw up. Talk about emotional whip lash. We went from being so happy, on cloud 9, to mourning, in just a few seconds.

After signing the paperwork we went back to DJ's apartment and turned on the TV. And then I started making phone calls. First I called my mom, and just sobbed, so upset I ended up laying on the kitchen floor, I couldn't even stand up I was so shaken. Then I called my college roomate Karin, she was a special ed. teacher for a high school in the suburbs outside of Boston. We both cried, I was so relieved she was ok. And over the next few days I was able to get a hold of all my college buddies and every time I'd talk to one it would be more crying, and many prayers said over the phone... it was horrible.

Finally the following day DJ thought he needed to get me away from all the media and such, I was really a total wreck. So we drove to the beach, but it really didn't matter where we went the sorrow from everyone that we came in contact with was so evident that there were constant reminders everywhere. We came back to Portland, realizing that we couldn't escape it.

Throughout this I don't think DJ really 'got' it. I don't think he really realized the magnitude of what was happening, maybe it was shock, or distance from NY, I don't know. But a day or two afterwords it hit him like a ton of bricks. One day he came to me and literally tackled me to the ground and just sobbed. And he kept saying, "You could have been on one of those jets." over and over again. And yeah, I could have. All those planes were cross country flights, and that's exactly the 'commute' I took every time I came home from school to visit family. I know I wasn't nearly as close to what was happening as some people, but that's the thought that kept playing through my head for a long time after the fact, it could have been me. I'm sure there are thousands who kept thinking the same thing.

Busy Summer Update

Well today is my laze around the house day so thought I’d update my good ol’ blog!

This past week has been very busy! But also very fun. Last weekend we went to the Clackamas County Fair with the girls and my parents and my Aunt Darlene. The girls got to have some close encounters with animals which they really enjoyed. And silly me only took 4 pictures of the whole event! I swear, I suck at taking pictures! For whatever reason most days that camera never makes it out of it’s case, and when it does I only remember to use it a few times. More on that later!

Then this week I really got down to business with finishing the girl’s clothes shopping. I went out practically every day this week! Some days with the girls, and some days by myself after DJ woke up for the day. The girls really enjoy going out now so most of the time I took them along. It seems like mid-morning is crack up time, but if I take them out somewhere they are perfectly happy. Otherwise they spend time in the living room fighting over who gets to play with which toy. I checked out the local consignment shop for the first time. I wasn’t super impressed with their prices, but I’m pretty sure it would be a good deal if I brought in clothes to sell. So I bought most of their clothes at Kohl’s and Walmart. I made quite a few bargain ‘scores’!

Then I went out to my mom’s on Thursday to visit with one of our dear family friends and her 5 year old granddaughter who had been asking to see the girls. We had a nice lunch together, and the girls had a lot of fun exploring Grandma & Grandpa’s house. Ziva really liked the freedom of no gates there! We also went down to the outlet mall and I found some shoes on sale for the girls. Their first pair of shoes!

Then Saturday DJ & I took the girls to the zoo with my parents along for the ride! We had a blast! And the girls did too! Anya really had a good time watching Packy the elephant and Ziva squealed with delight at the giraffe. Afterwards we went out to dinner, and the girls ate one full restaurant size serving of mac & cheese, a serving of chicken strips and 2 packages of orange segments that I brought along! Holy moley those girls can put it away! And of course, we didn’t take ANY pictures at the zoo! My dad took some, so at least there’s evidence that we were at the zoo! I swear, we need to hire a camera crew to follow us around! Our hands are just too full most of the time to take pictures. There are soooo many times that I think to myself, “That would make a good picture!” But I’m always holding a baby at the time so it just doesn’t happen.

Then Sunday was my grandma’s 92^nd birthday party! It was at my Aunt Charlotte’s house in Gervais, OR. Again, the girls loved the fact that they didn’t have gates! Ziva was walking all over the place finding things that were breakable. My mom and I spent the entire time following each of them around making sure they didn’t get into too much trouble. It was fun though! And we got to introduce a lot of people to the girls who hadn’t met them before.

To top off our Sunday evening Anya decided to take her first few steps! She walked back and forth between me and DJ several times. But then she started to get so excited that she started jumping and couldn’t even stand up because she was so thrilled with herself! It was so precious!

In the process of all this fun over the last 2 weeks I’ve only lost 5 lbs. Which I guess is ok, but I only lost 1 lbs. over the last week because every time I went out I was cheating on my diet! That’s the trouble with leaving the house, there’s always naughty things to eat! So I’m going to try and do better this week, we’ll see if I stick to my guns.

14 Months Old!

The girls are 14 months old today, time flies when your having fun! They’re at such a fun age right now and I’m really enjoying them a lot. They’re very smiley and fun. Most of the day is spent playing and laughing.

Ziva is now walking! She’s been walking pretty well for the past week and at this point walks more than she crawls. She’s also learned how to clap her hands which is very cute! Anya is still watching Ziva walk around and hasn’t decided to give it a try yet. She’s also working on clapping, whenever people clap she waves her arms in the air!

They’re both doing great with eating table foods. They’ll clear their trays in 15 minutes and Ziva will start taking her bib off when she’s done.

We hosted a really fun BBQ with some old friends from Portland Christian HS. We had a great time eating junk food and shootin’ the breeze. If you’re interested in coming to our next shindig you are more than welcome!

We had a garage sale and sold a lot of the girl’s old baby things. Most of the big ticket items sold, but we still have a LOT of baby clothes left. So if you know anyone in the area who needs some pink clothes have them contact me!

DJ and I are still pushing ahead with our weight loss! DJ’s about 4 lbs. from his goal weight, and I’m officially back to my pre-pregnancy weight! I’ve lost a grand total of 25 lbs! I’m still pushing on though, I’d like to lose another 20 and get back to when I felt the healthiest. But it’s been really nice to be thinner. I went shopping the other day and I was able to fit into some pants that I realized were the same size I used to wear. Such a good feeling! So now my next task is to go through my old clothes and find out what fits now and what doesn’t… and what is so out of date that I need to get rid of!

I just finished cleaning out our pantry and making a huge food donation to our church’s food cupboard. So our kitchen is all cleaned out and somewhat organized now. Then I’ll move on to my closet, and then the den… The den is horrible and DJ keeps harping on me to clean it out. Collecting papers is my weakness… I swear they follow me wherever I go. Right now I’m surrounded by piles of mail that I haven’t gone through and stacks of bills that I’ve already paid… I desperately need a system. I may resort to hiring someone to help me because my ADD riddled brain just can’t handle it. I hate doing that because I feel like I SHOULD be able to do it myself, but years pass and nothing changes so maybe it’s time to call for backup.

I Have A Climber!

Oh CRAP I have a climber! Today I was in the other room checking my email while the girls were watching Sesame Street and I heard this unusual noise. It was a strange enough noise that the dogs napping at my feet jumped. So I went in to check on the kiddos. Ziva was ON the couch reaching for things on the end table and getting ready to climb over onto the end table! Apparently she's decided to skip walking and go straight to climbing. She was being very careful and deliberate about what she was doing though and only managed to knock over a picture frame (that was the strange noise).

So I decided to call my mom and share with her this exciting story, and as I was talking to her on the phone I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see Ziva STANDING on top of one of our little storage cubes on the other side of the couch! This was maybe less than 5 minutes after I caught her on the couch. Dang it! Now that she's figured out how to do it she's going to be trying it ALL the time! I'm seriously in some deep doo doo! I'm sure it'll only be a matter of time before Anya sees Ziva climbing and decides it looks like fun.

I hope I start growing some eyes on the back of my head.