Tales from the Tumbleweeds

Snow bunnies

2012-02-05T22:13:00.001-07:00

Winter-long snow a half-hour’s drive away tops the list of Albuquerque’s unexpected amenities. I love being able to access deep drifts and dreamily dusted forests without the everyday hassle of shoveling and slush. So this weekend we bundled up our snow bunnies and drove them up the mountain for some winter adventure.

Luke took to sledding immediately.

Erik didn’t mind it either.

Eleanor seemed entertained for her first few runs.

But then Bumble invaded her sledding space.

And on her next run, Daddy may have been less than respectful when the princess took a spill.

Thankfully, she pardoned Bumble for his misdemeanor and Erik’s mockery was nothing that stroller time with a bottle couldn’t fix. We just might have a little sledding team in the making!

{More pics here.}

Birthday blast-off

2012-02-03T09:45:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Luke was thrilled to attend a birthday party for his sweet friend, M. Luke’s been to a couple other birthday parties, but this was the first time he really understood the concept of a party and couldn’t wait to participate in the festivities. The party was Toy Story themed, so that morning we watched some clips on YouTube with our movie-deprived child. Honestly, he’s so easily spooked by evil characters that I think it will be a long time until I want him to watch it for fear of never getting to sleep in my own bed again! But anyway, back to the party… look at these cutie-pie hats and favors!

Here’s M chasing Luke. Our boy LOVES a good game of chase!

Then there was pin the badge on Buzz,

a little piñata candy chaos {video here},

and lunch from “Pizza Planet” plus adorable Martian cupcakes! The fabulous time has me inspired to throw a party for Luke’s third bday, which is coming up fast. Regretfully, I have yet to host a single birthday bash for Luke or Eleanor. We’ve always been busy on their birthdays and I’ve never quite gotten my party act together in time. We have plans for Luke’s actual birthday this year too, but I’m thinking we’ll just have his party a few weeks later. I love the idea of a book theme and quickly gravitated to Luke’s long-standing favorite, Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things that Go. It’s sweet that this book was a childhood favorite of Erik’s too. A quick web search yielded a wealth of party inspiration. Like this pic from here:

We’ll see what Lukebug and I manage to put together!

East Coast road trip, Part 2

2012-02-02T13:19:00.001-07:00

I’m finally finishing our Christmas travel recap! I wrote here about Christmas in NC, here about Eleanor’s bday in NC, and here about our first road trip stop in NJ. On New Year’s Eve, after a fond farewell to my NJ relatives, we headed south for an afternoon at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden with Andrea and Erik and their precious little boys.

In this pic, Luke and I are silhouetted against a big tank. Faintly, you can make out the hulking mass of….

A hippo!! They were so agile and huge, just exhilarating to watch.

But most amazing were the numerous touch tanks. So exciting! (Especially when I had to moderate Luke’s not-always-gentle-enough touching) When we visited our aquarium last week, I enjoyed reminding Luke that we’d touched many of the animals before.

Below, Luke and C happily munch apples with an obliging turtle statue. What a great time we all had. If only we could join them for aquarium trips more often!

Then we drove up to Princeton, headed to a lovely New Year’s party. We usually spend New Year’s with family, and so I don’t think I’ve gone out to a New Year’s party since college! I’m not sure this officially counts, since we did leave with our sleepy pair before 10 pm, but seeing old friends, meeting little Miss Eliana, and Aime and Greg’s warm hospitality made it a perfect evening even with our early departure.

We were blessed to be back at Westerly Road Church the next morning. How things have changed since the Sunday mornings when I would run out of my dorm to catch the vans from the U-Store! Now there are baby bags to carry and two little people to drop off! It was wonderful to worship there once again and hear a terrific message from Pastor John about God’s calling for parents to raise children for the Lord, not just for ourselves (Luke 2:41-52).

Then we spent a relaxing afternoon with John, Lucy, and little Miss Anna. It was so much fun to catch up with them, see all the work they’ve done on their lovely home, and have other dear friends stop by!

We finished Sunday with a fabulous dinner with Hilary and Steven and little Mr. Philip. The spread easily topped every other breakfast-dinner I have ever been served, and the conversation was wonderful as always. Plus (when Luke finally fell asleep) we played a few rounds of Dominion, a board game we’ve all come to enjoy recently. Luke appreciated his and Phil’s shared toy preferences – anything with wheels! (:

We were so warmly welcomed – despite our last-minute plans and over-tired, vacation-worn children! What a blessing to get to catch up with so many wonderful friends in one place.

You might think that we’d be wise enough to stop there and fly home after so much schedule-disruption for Luke and Ellabelle. We considered it, but we couldn’t miss out on another visit with Auntie C! So Monday morning we drove down for a little more Auntie bonding, this time at the Air and Space Museum. Colleen surprised us by bringing her nice friend Ryan along, who was a hit with Luke and Eleanor. Luke also loved being surrounded by air and space craft

and was especially thrilled by the ones you can walk onto.

But the even bigger thrill was the vehicle you can walk onto that also moves fast – the metro of course! Luke was awestruck by the gust of wind as it zoomed by, the automatic doors, and the jolting ride. Here’s our crew, waiting on the platform (minus Erik, the cameraman).

After dinner and a sad farewell (“Luke want stay at Auntie C’s place!” was the refrain for our car ride’s first hour) we drove back down to my parents’ house. What a wonderful whirlwind of visits to start off 2012!

One-year wonder!

2012-02-01T11:11:00.001-07:00

There’s so much to report on our thriving Ellacub! She started walking a few weeks before she turned one, following a couple cautious months of standing from a sitting position and just looking around. Luke took his first steps at nine months, but they were from a standing position after pulling up on a piece of furniture. When Eleanor was ready to walk at almost twelve months, she just stood up in the middle of the floor and did it! For a few weeks she transitioned from crawling to walking and now she rarely crawls. I love the way she swings her legs out to the side as she steps and firmly plants them down.

Recent Milestones

Talking! In the right mood, she’ll repeat any simple word for you but she also has a whole list that she uses spontaneously. These include the typical mommy, daddy, hi, and uh-oh. Other common words include, yes, no, this, dog, up, out, and everybody’s favorite: please! ‘Please’ is actually her most used word! When she wants some of what I’m eating or a refill, she looks at me and sweetly says ‘pease?’ with a smile. Sometimes it’s ‘pease, dis?’ with her finger pointing. She also uses this phrase when she wants an out-of-reach item. I think our please and thank you prompts to the Luke-boy may have had better results on her than on their intended audience! (:

Ever the girly-girl, she quite favors accessories. She delights in finding hats and putting them on herself, trying to put on shoes, and donning rings and bracelets. I hope this bodes well for all the darling hair clips I’ve accumulated! Her hair is just long enough to start using the tiniest clips. She also has four teeth and four more poking through her gums.

Likes/Dislikes

She is so proud to be able to travel forward and backward on ride-on toys by pushing with her feet. She’s watched Luke race around this way for so long, she delights to be able to do it too. Thankfully, the new ride-on car from Nika and Papi has made this new skill much less contentious in our house!

She’s losing interest in having food fed to her, much preferring to finger-feed herself. Her current favorites include cheese, blueberries, carrots from beef stew, and pasta. Pasta happens to be at the tip-top of Luke and Erik’s food lists too, so it’s a frequent meal plan.

The play kitchen that she and Luke received from us for Christmas has been a big hit. How cute she is stirring food in pots and pretending to eat it. She also loves any toy she can push or pull around the house, pushing cars back and forth with darling ‘vroom’ noises. In the past month she’s become a zealous book reader, toddling up to me with a book several times a day and beaming with delight when I sit her on my lap to read.

Sibling Report

With all these delightful new stages has come a little more competition on the sibling front. Luke and Ella both struggle with grabbing each other’s toys and then throwing angry fits over having their toys taken. Of course Luke bears the bulk of the blame since he’s older, but there are times when Eleanor merits a reprimand and instruction too. I’m sad to say that they do their share of pushing and grabbing, but thankfully there’s never any real injuries from their squabbles. It mostly just produces the type of whining and wailing that stops immediately once a child gets his or her way. Teaching them to share and care for each other is ever a challenge and prayer request here!

Of course there are also times when they share and play together marvelously. It thrills my heart when Luke excitedly exclaims, “Eleanor ‘wake!!” as he hears Eleanor waking and joyfully rushes in to see her after her nap. He also negotiates for her when we announce her bedtime: “Eleanor go to bed in two more minutes.” They both love playing in boxes, baskets and tubs – climbing in together and giggling contagiously.

Routine

Eleanor’s single-nap routine doesn’t always thrill me. Some days I feel like she could really use another nap but she just can’t seem to nap a second time. And typically her nap is just barely an hour long! But I’ve recently decided to stop fighting it and just accommodate her with an earlier bedtime. Now we try to put her sleepy self to bed by 7 pm and then she sleeps (with 1-2 night feedings…) until ~7 am. Luke has dropped his nap altogether, so he’s been going to bed earlier too (by 8 pm) and sleeping until ~8 am. I love that this schedule puts them in range of their age-based sleep quotas, and sometimes they supplement with little snoozes in the car.

It’s too bad that these earlier bedtimes don’t allow for a lot of evening activities, but I’m excited to be closing a chapter on our naptime battles. For now, Ella’s happy to take just one and Luke has been going down at night so much better without an afternoon nap. Hurray! But I realize that I’m now a person who can talk about child sleep habits FOREVER so just in case you don’t share my fixation on them, let’s get back to the topic at hand…. the Ella-Wonder!

Looking back

Want to look back on old Eleanor milestone posts like I do? Here are more notes on our Bella-babe.

Nine months – crawling & cruising, first words, kissing & 9 states
Seven months – sitting herself up & solid food
Five months – self-swinging, bumbo-punting, & rolling both ways
Three months – rolling over & scooching
One month – heart-stealing smiles

We love you Ella-belle and it’s such a joy to watch you grow and flourish!

East Coast road trip

2012-01-18T15:47:00.001-07:00

After celebrating Christmas and Eleanor’s birthday in North Carolina, we loaded into my parents’ car and drove up to New Jersey. On the way we got a little reminder of how light the traffic is in New Mexico. And Uncle Jack got a little window into the complications of kiddos (he drove up with us). But all things considered, the drive went very smoothly. Our first stop was Millburn, NJ for a Christmas gathering with my extended family.

Luke and Eleanor adored playing with their cool older cousins! How sweet H, G, and J were to them. They had so much fun playing with toys and at the park.

Later that day, the whole clan arrived for a lovely get-together.

Complete with games,

music,

presents,

and guns?

What a wonderful visit, especially having everyone meet Eleanor for the first time and catching up with relatives that we haven’t seen for a while. The previous photo displays Grandma’s fun side but this is a better one, showing how caring and thoughtful she is!

First birthday

2012-01-17T22:14:00.001-07:00

It’s hard to believe that Ellabelle is one already! Where did our tiny swaddled bundle go? And who’s this big girl?!

The birthday princess decided that she did NOT wish to wear a party hat. We granted her a birthday veto, but they were non-negotiable for everyone else.

Her obliging big brother blew out her candle,

Eleanor reached for her cake,

Ate, mashed,

And gave it a cheer!

Luke couldn’t wait to taste his piece.

Yum!

We all delighted to celebrate our sweet Eleanor, the shining light girl! Even after a year I still can hardly believe that I’ve been given the incomparable joy and privilege of being her mother. What a treasure!

~ More bday pics here, and a one-year milestones post coming soon!

Sharing air space with Santa

2012-01-13T21:19:00.001-07:00

Christmas Eve we awoke in a flurry of departing, having missed our alarm. Thanks to a ride from a friend, we made it to the airport just in time to check our mountain of baggage and board our flight. Our layover in Baltimore was much more leisurely, allowing for a reindeer PJs photo shoot and lunch.

Finally we reached our destination, delighted to see Nika, Papi, Auntie C, Uncle Jack and Uncle Sam. Nika’s Christmas decorations are always lovely, and this year was no exception. Christmas morning we opened stockings.

And the munchkins reprised their holiday formalwear for church.

The never-sick Nika was under the weather, so the B-team collaborated on eggs benedict for brunch.

Then we opened gifts. Here Luke takes a break to show off his belly button at Uncle Jack and Auntie C’s request.

I’m hoping this sandwich set teaches Luke to make us dinner.

We were all delighted when this little princess awoke from her nap and joined us. Here she meets Frosty, the singing snowman.

It was so much fun to celebrate the Ella-belle’s first Christmas, to have Luke understand that we were celebrating Jesus’ birth, and to be with our Ferry family.

But we missed our Nielsen family, and were glad to have been able to celebrate an early Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa a few weeks earlier. I love Eleanor’s expression in this photo. This was one of the first presents opened – it didn’t take her long to gain an interest in them!

Here she opens one herself.

And this may be Luke’s most-cherished Christmas gift. Luke named him James, and Eleanor’s matching reindeer pillow was dubbed Coach J. While we were out of town, Luke reminded me daily that James was crying because he missed Luke. Next time James is coming with us!

What loved and blessed grandchildren Luke and Eleanor are. But even the lavish showers of love that they enjoy can’t compare to the lengths that our heavenly Father went to for us to be welcomed into His family. We begin the new year filled with wonder and thankfulness for His perfect gift.

------

Ferry Christmas pics here, Nielsen Christmas pics here.

Christmas, lite

2011-12-22T10:26:00.001-07:00

Last Christmas, end-of-pregnancy nesting instincts compounded my excitement to have Christmas in our own home for the first time and I decorated our house like I was born in the North Pole. Here are some photos from my first phase of decorating, then I continued adding green garland and other embellishments even after December 25th had passed.

This year, without any nesting hormones or holiday hosting, my Christmas decorating drive has ebbed to an all-time low. As I’ve dreaded the packing that an early 2012 move might bring, we didn’t even take our Christmas boxes down from the attic, much less put up a tree. I tell myself that it will make seeing Nika and Papi’s grand tree all the more magical for Luke and Eleanor on Christmas Eve. And that less packing and disorganization in January would be better for everyone. Plus it’s nice not supervising two curious kiddos amidst the perils of a cord and ornament-laden tree!

Lest you think I’m a complete Scrooge-mom, we did add a few seasonal touches to our home. First we made a darling Christmas canvas and hung it over the fireplace.

Luke layered green handprints in a tree shape, and then I painted a trunk at the bottom. I tried to let him put the potato star stamp on top, but that resulted in the smudge on the left. So after wiping that off as best I could, Mommy got to stamp the star on top of the tree.

Luke has also been busy crafting ornaments this month. I searched for a giftable craft that he could accomplish “by Luke self” as he says sometimes. These wreath ornaments made by stringing buttons on a wire seemed like just the ticket. I ordered some button lots on ebay, and Luke did a marvelous job carefully stringing each button in the order he wished on the wire. Then we bent the wire into a circle, twisted it off, and tied a bow on top. Here he is (still looking sickly from the eye/sinus infection that he has shared with our entire family) showing off some of his masterpieces. They look so happy hanging above our table!

Of course, I couldn’t pass up Christmas cards as an easy, personal source of Christmas décor. So I strung ours up above the windows, along with some green crepe paper that Luke found in a craft box.

Finally, I couldn’t resist one new Christmas purchase. I loved these glitzy trees in Target, and popped them up on our cabinet along with some candles and a plant.

Here’s a zoomed-out view that also shows a green Christmas canvas I printed and a clearance reindeer that Erik soldered back together for me.

Other Christmas staples that I don’t have pictured include our Christmas pillow covers (seen here), Erik working from home in his Santa hat, and our ‘Little People’ nativity playset. Well, it’s off to elf-duty for me! Merry Christmas!!

Cultivating an Artiste

2011-12-20T11:57:00.001-07:00

I’d like to pass on an enthusiasm for childhood crafts to Luke and Eleanor so we can enjoy hours of magic-making together. Art has long been a staple in our activity rotation, but usually I just let Luke color an abstract masterpiece. Recently I realized that Eleanor’s ready for the coloring and it’s time for art projects to begin with Luke! So we’ve been working on adding toddler-friendly crafts to our days.

Of course, we started strong , since it’s always easiest at the outset of a resolution! We did an art/science project, outlined by my friend here. A toothpick becomes a magic swirler when pre-dipped in dish soap and stuck into food coloring drops floating on milk. I found that a shallow layer of milk in a big bowl or pan is the best way to maximize the playtime and minimize your need to run out and buy more milk.

Another lesson I’ve learned is that taking in-progress photos poses a serious risk to the cleanliness of everything in your child’s vicinity. So we’ll have to settle for after shots for the rest of these. You might notice that I’m partial to toddler stamping projects with parent embellishments. Here are a few from a few months back. We just did a Christmas variant on this theme which I’ll post soon, but I had to put up the autumn pics first!

Fingerprint pumpkins – just have your child make orange fingerprints (side-by-side for a big pumpkin, or separate for small ones). Then the parent or child can add smaller green prints on top for the stem.

Fingerprint spiders – purple prints plus marker-drawn legs and faces.

Potato-stamped autumn leaves – it was fun to use a potato from our big Costco sack of them to make leaf-shaped stamps. I drew the trunk with a marker and then Luke printed leaves on top.

I hope we can branch out into other art concepts soon. Luke likes scissors, but he has proven that even pairs which are too kid-safe to cut paper can still be used to clip hair. Maybe gluing will be our next phase?

Christmas card outtakes

2011-12-13T17:21:00.001-07:00

Weeks ago we did a Christmas photo shoot but the actual card has yet to be made. And the 25th and our holiday travel is fast approaching! I may just have to make it a New Year’s card (as is becoming my custom), so I’ll share a few of the blooper and runner-up pics while they’re still in season.

It was harder than you’d think to get a shot of them both sitting up.

Christmas miracles… sibling sharing:

Something about the expressions in this one makes me think that Luke’s taking Ella out on a date. “Of course I’ll have her home by 8, sir!”

And finally, a sweet one of my two huggable Christmas elves!

For more L & E Christmas magic, visit our gallery here.

Bye bye Luna, hello Hacienda?

2011-11-28T23:29:00.001-07:00

After falling in love with Luna and dreaming up all sorts of terrific renovations for her, we’ve come to the point of walking away. Our short-sale offer never made it to the bank, instead the seller rejected it saying he would only consider list price or above, even though the house is now a short sale.

The list price was too high for us given Luna’s state of disrepair. In fact, we doubt that anyone would pay list price, particularly as the house continues to deteriorate due to its failing roof. So there’s a small chance that we’ll see Luna on the other side of foreclosure. If we’re still looking and the water damage doesn’t escalate too much we might still be a perfect match for that dreamy dilapidation.

While we’re sad to walk away from “Noona, giant house" as Luke calls her, and all the hospitality and family fun that she would amply accommodate, I must confess to feeling a twinge of relief. Erik and I so enjoy home projects – the design collaborations, the planning and executing, and the feeling that our home is really ours because we’ve made a creative imprint on it. But of course, Luke and Eleanor are our most important home endeavor, and I was a little worried about Luna taking too much time away from them.

Back at the drawing board, we browsed real estate listings some more. We’re still open to fixer-uppers, but we’d prefer they be a little less extensive than Luna. We’ve looked all over Albuquerque, but no yard enchanted us quite so much as this one.

We call her the barn house, the homestead, the hacienda. Today we put in an offer and are waiting to hear back from the bank once again. Maybe it’s the country life for us after all!

Pilgrims ahoy!

2011-11-24T22:47:00.001-07:00

Two wee pilgrims came ashore for our Thanksgiving celebration this year. How prim and proper they look!

Until they heard that food supplies are dwindling aboard the Mayflower... don't worry though, we have plenty of leftovers here!

The littlest one is getting awfully close to walking. She constantly stands up from the floor and sits herself down with great control. Much more than Luke had when he started walking just younger than her age. But Ellabelle still prefers the security of crawling, especially with a wild pilgrim boy child on the loose!

We photographed Luke the pilgrim just after his nap. Pre-nap, his hat had starred in skype conversations with both sets of grandparents. But the costume may have caused a little holiday confusion since he wished them "Happy Halloween" just as often as "Happy Thanksgiving"!

Here are a few links if you’re wanting a quaint bonnet or hat yourself. They're so easy that I made a bunch to bring to a lovely Thanksgiving dinner we shared with new and old friends here in Albuquerque. What a blessing of hospitality to be warmly welcomed by the family of friends. And they had two 20-lb. turkeys and a kid-friendly home too! You could tell that they had some background in campus ministry. (:

Can you believe how adorable these little pilgrims were after the dinner? What angel faces!

There's just a three-month age span between the three of them. They love to watch each other and interact a little now. I'm hoping they grow to be sweet friends!

We are so thankful for our little pilgrim pair and for the Lord’s amazing grace in our lives. I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

{More photos here.}

Touring Tahoe

2011-11-16T22:40:00.001-07:00

Our first day in Tahoe, we drove the 72-mile loop around the lake, stopping at scenic pull-offs and encouraging nap time in the car. Here’s Luke sighting the magnificent lake for the first time.

Further south, we admired the view across Emerald Bay and out to the main Tahoe waters. I was surprised to learn that if Tahoe were emptied, it would submerge the entire state of California in 15” of water! Another plaque said that that’s enough water to supply everyone in the US with more than 75 gallons per day for 5 years. And it’s so deep that it never freezes!

That afternoon, we were dazzled by the appropriately-named “Hidden Beach” on Tahoe’s Nevada shore. It felt like a combination of the crystal clear turquoise Caribbean and Maine’s rugged rocky coast.

For our second day, we got out early. We’d scouted out a lakeside playground where Erik could take some early morning pics of the lake while Luke got his climbing fix. But the temperature had dropped – 30 degrees plus wind meant we didn’t play long!

Fortunately it warmed up by the time we reached the Taylor Creek Visitor Center. We enjoyed a little nature walk through the park’s various habitats.

In a happy coincidence, we found that our visit was perfectly timed to catch the Kokanee salmon spawning in the Taylor Creek bed. We were told that bears are often spotted feeding on the fish during the spawning season, but no bear sightings for us. Just lots of vibrantly colored fish!

Luke loved climbing on a gigantic fallen tree by the shore, and I loved snapping pics of our kiddos in their darling matching sweaters.

The third day we’d planned to drive back to Sacramento in the morning so we’d have time to catch some city sights. But we woke up to snow, and news that the one interstate back to the city had been closed due to treacherous conditions!

A few hours later it reopened, and we were treated to a parade of snow removing vehicles as we carefully made our way over the mountains.

Back in Sacramento, the skies were rainy so we headed to the Railroad Museum for the afternoon. We found the history fascinating, the rows of engines imposing, the mail sorting car impressive, and the glitzy coach cars alluring. Luke often reminds us though that he did not enjoy the train that simulated forward motion with sounds, lights, and rocking. “Luke like train no moving!” But the toy train exhibit enthralled both him and Eleanor. How precious to see them thoroughly enjoy a common activity.

We enjoyed cooking for ourselves in our well-equipped Tahoe condo, but in Sacramento we tried a fancy meal out as a foursome. Luke had his squirmy moments but we think that Ellabelle appreciates fine dining already.

Amidst a whirlwind ten-day trip that included six different lodging locations and eight plane flight legs, our three nights in Tahoe were a tranquil intermission. What a gorgeous, peaceful lake in the off-season. We’d love to return and tackle some hikes there when our kids are older!

Tahoe interlude

2011-11-15T21:54:00.001-07:00

In between our bi-coastal wedding weekends in early October, we spent a few days at Lake Tahoe. It was less expensive to stay in CA and then fly out to NY directly, so we used the funds to cover a couple days at an off-season ski lodge. So much more relaxing than flying back to ABQ for a few crazed days of laundry, repacking and catching another flight to NY!

While we were too early for the ski runs near our condo in Olympic Valley,

We were perfectly-timed for something just as exciting… repair season! Luke was enamored with the slew of construction vehicles that dotted the town so we made exploring the equipment an evening tradition.

We also came across this super-jump trampoline ride on its last night of operation for the warm weather season. Luke was a bit uncertain at first.

But quickly warmed up and soon was leaping into the air.

Olympic Valley boasted a playground fit for future Olympians. Perfect for the mountain climbing wolf boy!

And Ellabelle, super-swinger. Check out the whole playground photo-shoot here.

Back at the lodge, we sprinted through the chilly courtyard to take a few dips in the outdoor hot tub. Here are the kiddos suited up for a swim!

We loved the sleepy village of Olympic Valley and its off-season toddler fun and scenic vistas.

But of course we did manage to check out the main attraction, Lake Tahoe. I’ll try to write in again soon with a report on our lake time!

Wedding week Part 2

2011-11-14T23:01:00.001-07:00

Luke had warmed up his dance moves a little bit in the first half of our wedding double header, but he really let loose at Uncle Bryan and Aunt Chelsie’s reception. His giddy audience-activated hyper-drive was on full power, and he loved showing off his moves while everyone else ate dinner. Erik and I were celebrating too because our little boy had done an impeccable job delivering the rings during the wedding ceremony. And how cute he was in his ring-bearer suit! Unbelievably though, we took NO photos of him all suited up. So I’m borrowing these next two from Heather Nielsen, the only shots we have of Luke the irresistible ring bearer.

And we were so honored to have Erik serve as a groomsman for his brother. But since he’d been a groomsman for 3 out of the 5 weddings we’ve attended since having kids, it got me thinking… the next wedding we attend I need to work my way into the bridal party! That way Erik can try his hand at being solo kid-corraller at a wedding service. Here Heather and I try to get a photo with all three of the Nielsen great-grandchildren together.

Thankfully we were able to stay with Erik’s parents and grandparents in a cabin on the grounds of the retreat center where the wedding was held. They were all-star child entertainers!

And our trusty orange-mobile was all the transportation we needed for the weekend. Here’s Miss Elzabel in her typical feet-propped-up position.

Bryan and Chelsie tied the knot on the shores of Lake George, NY. Not only is that a meaningful area for them, but it also happens to be significant in Erik’s and my relationship. I grew up in NC and Erik in NY, but we share a childhood tradition of camping each summer at the very same itty-bitty campground on Lake George. When I learned that about Erik, it set off my “he’s the one” radar for the second time. Now Bryan and Chelsie’s beautiful ceremony adds another layer to this lake’s romance for us!

The rustic stone chapel where they said their vows was the epitome of storybook charm.

The leaves were just starting to turn and the entire weekend was gorgeously mild and sunny. The weather and every detail joined us in celebrating the beautiful love that this couple has for one another. We are so thrilled that the Lord has brought them together – for the gift they are to each other and to everyone they know. I’m especially delighted to now have such a wonderful fellow sister/daughter in-law among the Petersburgh Nielsens, and look forward to spending time with Chelsie at family get-togethers to come! Many many blessings Bryan and Chelsie!

(A few more pics here.)

Wedding doubleheader

2011-11-13T14:18:00.001-07:00

When it rains it pours! It had been over a year since we’d been able to attend a wedding, but earlier this month we enjoyed back-to-back wedding weekends. Both couples chose lovely locations, but they tested our travel mettle by marrying on opposite sides of the country!

First up was an elegant northern Californian affair for a dear college friend of ours and former roommate to Erik. Erik was honored to be part of the wedding party, and we both enjoyed catching up with lots of old friends. Here we are hanging out at the Sacramento Zoo with Andrew and John. Luke loved the attention from our kind toddler-savvy friends!

Then we drove up to Chico where the wedding was held at a beautiful old church downtown. Here’s the Ella-belle at her very first wedding.

And Luke looking dapper in his suit and tie.

The reception was held at a country club and Luke, Eleanor and I went outside for a few minutes to release some wiggles. I thought Luke was a very lucky boy because I let him pretend to drive a parked golf cart. But then the manager directed a teenage employee to take us for a spin! The thoughtful teen let Luke drive the cart completely on his own over the grass. Later that week we saw another golf cart and Luke insisted on driving it. But alas, his driving permit was a one-time-only deal.

DJ and his bride Ashley make a beautiful couple, radiant with love for one another and eager to build a God-honoring life together. We wish them all the best and hope it isn’t so long until we see everyone again!

Waiting on the moon

2011-11-10T20:43:00.001-07:00

Last week we mentioned the Luna house that captivated us. Well, it wasn’t quite love at first sight. When we first walked in we decided she looked like an Italian restaurant with 6 laundry rooms. Erik thought the former owner-husband must have surprised his wife every few weeks by building another laundry room before she came home from work. We wondered if she appreciated his efforts.

But after further reflection and a second visit, we saw beneath her disguises. She has lots of space, some lovely brick floors, beamed ceilings, gorgeous fireplaces, and best of all, the most perfect layout. She also has countless roof leaks, mostly bare concrete floors, a man-eating jungle of an overgrown yard, and is pining for updates galore. But we love the license that leaves for us to restore her with our own creative vision and functional preferences. Erik, ever the wonderful husband, would love to fix her up himself to build a ‘dream house’ for me. And we think she’d be an ideal place to host friends and family as well as church and community gatherings.

So about a month ago, we were thrilled to sign a contract with the seller! I started trolling Craig’s List for rugs, windows, and appliances in earnest. Erik zeroed in on the best roof replacement options. Luke became excited about moving to the ‘giant house’ where there’d even be room for a train table! Yesterday, however, the contract derailed. We had to terminate because it couldn’t close due to a lien on the property. So now we’re submitting a short sale offer to the bank and settling in to wait. We’ve heard that at times the bank replies in two weeks and in other cases two years go by without a response.

We have prayed, hand-wringed, and discussed this house through and through. We are thankful that the process is in God’s hands now and that He can have our low offer treated as He wishes by the bank. And we’re so grateful for the cozy and memory-filled home we have here right now. We’ll keep you in the Luna loop!

Sweet, sour & silly talk

2011-11-09T22:26:00.001-07:00

SWEET

Luke waltzed off to play as I tearfully bid him goodbye when we tried out ‘Mother’s Morning Out’ back in September. All morning I missed his vibrant activity. When I came to pick him up, eager to see how he fared, he was contentedly eating a snack and talking to a teacher. So independent! Not missing his mother at all!

So I squatted down to say hi to my big boy. His face brightened as he looked up at me and in his most earnest voice he told me, “Thank you coming back Mommy.”

In the car he shared a few more poignant thoughts. “Luke worried Mommy no pick up.” Of course I told him that he didn’t need to worry because I’ll always come to get him. So he said, “Sorry Mommy Luke worried.”

With sweetness like that, I am constantly reminding him that he’s adored by his parents. And he likes to remind me back: “Mommy loves Luke SOOOO much!”

He also has the sweetest way of delivering thank you and please requests (unless he’s in a grouchy mood!) and in the morning he walks out and sweetly says, “Good morning Daddy!”

And sometimes that sweetness is shared with his sister. A few weeks ago, he asked me to read him a truck book but I wasn’t able to read it right then. So Luke happily moved on to Plan B: “Luke read truck book to Eleanor!” That melted my heart too!

SOUR

Just a couple weeks ago he started the ‘why phase.’ And now he constantly asks us why about everything. I try to preempt the question by giving a reason initially but it has absolutely no effect. There are things that I love to explain and discuss with our boy, but I realize now that there are also many things that I don’t want questioned! How can I teach him the difference?

Sometimes when I tell Luke to do something, he looks at me very seriously and says: “one more minute” with his pointer finger held up. The audacity! He wants to be a little negotiator already.

Well, there are certainly many more sour sayings to report, but we don’t want to dwell on them. So we’ll move on…

SILLY

Luke has been taking excessive precautions in his backseat driving these days. “Daddy no hit lions. No hit purple lions.” We’re also instructed not to hit green horses, blue fire trucks, and airplanes. If you’re inclined to orange dragon road rage, Luke’s the road trip partner for you.

He makes other requests in the car too. The other day he announced: “Mommy, Luke want to jump on monkeys’ bed!!” After a pause, he added another request. “Mommy! Luke want monkeys jump on Luke’s bed!”

He tells me the funniest things when I lie down with him at bedtime. Like this sequence:

“Luke like dinosaurs, Mommy.” Long pause.

“Luke like dinosaurs no moving.” Shorter pause.

“Luke scared dinosaurs!”

You keep us laughing Luke!

Disney magic

2011-11-08T09:46:00.001-07:00

Of course we didn’t leave Luke out of the extended costume fun. Especially when we had this hanging in our closet. Make way for Mouse Ears!

I don’t think Luke is actually familiar with the iconic Disney mouse. But he still had fun gallivanting around our backyard dressed as a cheerful meadow-dweller. Here he is hiding in a grassy habitat.

Befriending flora and fauna.

Embracing modern transportation technologies.

And planning meadow improvement projects.

This last one reminds me of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Be careful what you do with that stick, Luke Mouse!

More mouse photos here.

Blooms & Bugs

2011-11-07T11:57:00.001-07:00

Our costume fun didn’t stop with the Fire Brigade. Little Miss Ella is too full of personality to be limited to just one costume in this super-cute stage. So when I saw a flower costume at a resale shop and a friend gave me her girls’ ladybug costume, I couldn’t wait to dress our princess up all over again. Here she is, the Ella-Bloom!

Air kisses for her adoring public.

And winter-blooming on a cold morning in the stroller.

Then our garden fun continued, with Ella-BUG!!!

On a hunt around the yard

To find flower petals and other baby bug toys.

We love you Ellie-bug and Ella-bloom! You’re welcome in our yard anytime.

(So many more cute pics here and here.)

Luke the school boy

2011-11-03T15:01:00.001-06:00

I had my reservations about signing Luke up for preschool. I like knowing his entire world and being part of all his learning experiences. I stay at home, and so extra childcare isn’t necessary. There are still several years for him to acclimate to a school setting before kindergarten – why rush the growing up when this stage is so sweet?

But after looking into it further, we grew more and more excited about the benefits of preschool for our precious little boy. Luke loves his friends but we rarely see them more than once a week. Getting to see friends twice a week and having teachers guide them as they play together is such a fun way for him to learn and grow. It gives Luke a new environment to explore which can be hard for me to achieve each day with Eleanor’s morning and afternoon naps. It reinforces lessons we’ve been working on at home: Bible stories, sharing, potty-training, etc. I was craving more one-on-one time with the sweet Ella-princess for playing baby-geared games and relishing the baby stage. Plus it would be nice to get a few chores done during her morning nap. I’ve also appreciated having a dependable time slot to schedule appointments or activities that are best done with only one child.

So I visited five different schools and we zeroed in on an aptly named institution – St. Luke Preschool and Kindergarten! Perhaps our goal for preschool is summarized in the school’s name? :) We signed Luke up for two mornings a week and after nearly two months of school, we’ve experienced many preschool rites of passage…

1. A school-wide field trip to McCall’s pumpkin patch. A parent chaperone was mandatory and Erik was able to take the morning off so we could all go together. I was glad he could come since this turned out to be our only chance for pumpkin harvest fun this year!

The corn pit was a favorite with both our kiddos:

Here Luke is scouting out the prime pumpkin to take home. He seems to still prefer the green pumpkins, which I quite like as well. (Check out last year’s visits here and here, more of this year’s pumpkin pics here.)

2. A pertussis outbreak. (Whoop!) We didn’t catch it thankfully. We did receive a very serious notification call from the NM board of health though. I listened to the phone message while I was making dinner and thought the caller was announcing an Ebola outbreak in Luke’s class at first!

3. Halloween costume parade (fire fighter reprise, photos here)

4. Class photos, which I loved but Erik didn’t think we needed to order. We do have plenty of wonderful Luke faces, but I adored the series caught by the photographer. In the first one Luke wrinkles his nose and looks at the camera suspiciously. In the second he’s sitting very awkwardly as if trying to follow some sort of direction. And in the third his eyes are bugging out and he’s sticking his tongue up over his top lip like a crazy person! I wonder what the photographer said to elicit expression #3?? I love it though!

5. The problem child? Back in September a birthday boy brought cupcakes in for Luke’s class. At the end of the day, I passed a number of normal-looking children and then found my blue-stained boy. It was clear that he’d been cleaned well but a bright aqua stain remained on his face, shirt, and hands from the blue icing. The next school day there was a notice announcing that birthdays would be celebrated differently from now on. Instead of cupcakes, there would be a song, a crown, and birthday children could bring their favorite book to be read during circle time. I wonder if Luke’s blue face was a reason for the policy reversal. I don’t serve him cupcakes at home either – too messy!

6. Next week we have another school staple – parent/teacher conferences! I can’t wait to ask lots of questions about what Luke is like during the school day. His accounts to me in the car just aren’t detailed enough!

I had a hard time dropping off our big boy at first, but from the beginning he’s jumped into playing with the other kids and listening to his teachers. He was a little reluctant and nervous about going the first few weeks but now he often asks hopefully: “Luke go school today?” Followed by the query: “people coming over?” He’s dismayed if the answers are a double negative!

Mommy the Patient

2011-11-02T12:40:00.001-06:00

Train rides, dinosaur museums, and aquariums are frequented during Luke’s imaginative games with me. But his current favorite is a clear front-runner. It’s an amalgamation of Luke’s experience being scratched by a cat that he was overly eager to greet and a Caillou episode (‘Caillou the Patient’). Luke’s game goes like this:

- First Luke is a nice cat who comes and gives his Mommy cat a kiss.

- Then he comes back announcing that he’s a bad cat! I scream and run but Luke catches me and scratches me (very gently in a pretend way of course).

- Luke rushes to get the ambulance (his ride-on fire truck) which he drives to the hospital (bathroom) with the wounded patient holding onto the back (and pushing the truck preferably).

- I sit on the stool in the hospital while Doctor Luke gets ready to help me. Without fail, the only wounded area is my knees. Doctor Luke starts the treatment by washing my knees carefully.

- Then he applies various medicines which are stored in the soap, shampoo and bubble bath bottles found around our bathtub. Most medicines are “not ouchy” but every once in a while I’m administered an “ouchy” one. And it stings!

- Finally, my treatment is completed with two band-aids. The doctor pronounces me “all better!” at last!

Usually the bad cat reappears and the cycle continues. But sometimes Luke gets scratched by the cat. He pages me and also calls “nurse!” (Eleanor). After treatment he tells me in the sweetest voice, “Thank you Mommy Doctor!”

Well, I better run… the bad cat is coming!!

World’s cutest Fire Brigade

2011-11-01T16:33:00.000-06:00

Both Luke and Eleanor adore their ride-on pickup truck. Oh, the miles we’ve put on it racing back and forth in the backyard! The trusty pickup got a new identity this Halloween. Ready for action, it held the Fire Brigade!

Luke was the fearless chief.

With a heart-melting Dalmatian puppy as his sidekick!

Her ears proved a bit of a visibility challenge.

But they couldn’t conceal her cuteness!

Off they zoomed to save the day

And collect yummy treats!

Hope you had a happy Halloween! More pics of the chief and his pup here.

Nine months of Ella love

2011-10-24T23:26:00.001-06:00

Our little Ellabelle’s zeal for life is contagious. She bounces herself up and down with delight throughout the day, overjoyed to see one of her parents smile at her, watch her brother run by, or spy an interesting toy. She and Luke play more and more, though her limitless delight in him has become a little more conditional. There are times now when she seems to have had enough of his wildness and prefers to look on at his antics from our arms.

Recent Milestones

So many milestones to report since I wrote in with our girlie’s seven month stats. Just after that post she started to crawl and has since picked up speed. She’s also a fairly confident ‘cruiser’ – moving around on two legs between furniture hand-holds. If we worked with her on it, I imagine we could coax her to take a step or two, as she often stands unsupported for a few seconds. But we’re in no hurry for the hazards of walking to begin!

We have worked with Ella on waving, clapping and (air) kissing, all of which she’ll do on request if you catch her in the right mood. Her first word was ‘mommy’ and now she also says ‘daddy’. Luke taught her to raise up her arms in response to the classic question: “How big is Eleanor? So big!”

Her two front bottom teeth are fully in place and for the past two nights it’s seemed that the top two are moving in to join them. We’re starting to give her a few table foods in addition to our pureed specialties. This morning she enjoyed bits of french toast and last night we let her chew on pizza crust!

Likes/Dislikes

It’s sad to report her first big fall! Luke managed to escape any really bad tumbles until just a few months ago. But Eleanor fell out of Luke’s ride-on truck onto the concrete when we left her with a babysitter, resulting in a purple bump on her forehead, a badly scraped nose, and a Mama with separation issues!

Sibling Report

She keeps constant tabs on what Luke is up to. More and more they enjoy their own form of gentle wrestling together on the floor. Lately though its escalation to injury-levels is just as often due to Eleanor’s aggression as it is to Luke’s! She commonly grabs his hair or ear and pulls, reveling in the reaction it evokes, and the hubbub as a parent jumps in to remove Luke before he’s tempted to push her in return.

The other day another child pointed to Eleanor and declared, “baby”. Luke was quick to correct, saying, “No, that’s Eleanor!” Luke seems to enjoy his sister more and more, but he has also grown more concerned about her duplo-destuction capacity. When she starts crawling toward his creations, he tells me, “Mommy, pick Eleanor UP!”

Routine

Now that Luke’s in preschool two mornings a week, I get to savor these fleeting baby days and focus on Eleanor in his absence. Instead of tagging along on Luke’s mixer truck rides, longing to tear apart the train track he’s making, and chasing him around the house, Eleanor gets to be the center of my attention for a little bit of baby-stage geared play.

At nine months, our little girl has now visited nine states (not counting airport layover stops). They are, in order of visit: NM, NC, VA, MD, CO, NH, CA, NV, NY. If we could keep this up she will have seen them all before she reaches Kindergarten! Everywhere she goes she spreads delight with her smiles and coos. She also has her serious moments when she sticks out her bottom lip in a little bit of a pout as she studies the world around her. You are irresistible in every way, our little Ella-light!

Like-a-Luna

2011-10-17T15:38:00.001-06:00

We call her Luna for short. At times we sing the praises of Bella Luna, our dream home that we would so enjoy restoring to loveliness. In other moments we sigh about Luna-cy as we consider all the repair work that accompany this property. It brims with potential both good and bad. We’re trying to think realistically and pray humbly about whether or not this house would be a good match for our family. We’ll let you know what we decide!

We’ve also been traveling. I’m hoping to write in soon with a recap of our coast-to-coast adventures and updates on our two little lake-lovers. They’ve been growing fast!

Where the wild things are

2011-09-10T21:40:00.001-06:00

I couldn’t indulge in an entire room of pink for our baby girl since she shares a space with her big brother. But injecting a little girlyness into the boy’s room turned kids’ room was only fair. I also rearranged the furnishings to fit each of their essentials in its modest 10x10 dimensions. How sweet it is when they fall asleep in their room together. Usually though, their time together is a little more wild.

I’d hoped to find time to snap a few more kid room pics, but as you can imagine, the room is usually in use during my spare moments! So rather than wait for all the stars to align and more photos to be taken, I thought I’d go ahead and post what I have from a few months back. These pics show the mostly-completed space only Luke managed to rumple a few things in between my final straightening and Erik’s photo-taking! (:

This is the view from one corner, with Ella-belle’s crib and a peek of Luke’s bed. I love the denim-like curtains that my mom found for me.

Here’s the Ella-girl’s bed in full view. I think the simple white crib skirt and bumpers were just the ticket here. They aren’t too busy for a little room and are easy to liven up with a printed sheet.

My favorite thing though is the gorgeous quilt at the foot of her crib. What a treasure!

The picture above her bed was an easy little project. I just punched heart-shaped holes in white paper, taped colored paper behind the hearts, and popped it in a frame.

You may remember Ellie’s dresser from way back here. For $15, it came to us like this (with the other drawers).

After a coat or two of white paint and new hardware it was Ella-ready!

And here’s a zoomed-out shot of the room’s feminine side. Beside the dresser is a clip like the ones in our hallway for Luke’s artwork. In here it holds a ribbon of girly-girl hair bows.

Now let’s check out Luke’s side of the room. I chose this Craig’s List toddler bed because it’s a similar wood tone to the crib, which traveled to Albuquerque tied on top of our station wagon. Can you believe that giant Uncle Jack and Uncle Sam slept in that crib at one time?

The bookcase, also from Craig’s List, mirrors the tall narrow shape of Eleanor’s dresser. The two boxes on top are to archive Luke and Eleanor’s artwork after it comes down from display in the hall. No, Eleanor hasn’t made any wall-worthy art yet, I’m just thinking ahead. (:

And finally, between the closet door and the entry door, we have another dresser and another Babar print. The print’s hot air balloons tie into Albuquerque’s renowned fiesta. The other Babar print’s airplane is appropriate too, since many planes pass overhead coming and going from the ABQ Sunport. The dresser came from JCPenney clearance online since I wanted to find one with deep drawers that matched the wall width well.

There you have it, our compact little nursery for two. I’ll leave you with the sleepiest picture I could find of the two of them. A flashback to January!

Backtrack to Denver

2011-09-09T20:55:00.001-06:00

Only in dire circumstances do I drive on steep, windy, narrow mountian roads. So of course I saved a trip up the Mount Evans Scenic Byway for Erik’s day off from his Denver conference. He grew up in the mountains and is unfazed by a dizzying drop inches from our vehicle’s wheels. Unfortunately, Luke is neither a sure-steerer or a seat-gripper. He throws up on windy roads. But the DVD player seems to help.

After just one emergency stop, we made it to Summit Lake and piled out. This cascade of turquoise lakes was just a short walk from the parking lot. We tried to catch up to a mountain goat that we’d spied ahead but missed him. Those mountain goats know how to pick their real estate don’t they?

Then we walked back to Summit Lake and peered in its clear snowmelt waters.

Don’t fall in Luke! (of course he did)

We didn’t make it to the tip-top of the Byway. But Summit Lake, at nearly 13,000 feet high, is a destination in its own right. It was hard to believe that the pristine wilderness and chilly temps here were just an hour and a half drive from Denver!

We enjoyed a nice dinner in quaint Idaho Springs, at the base of the road up to Mount Evans. Luke admired their antique mining cars.

And he was smitten by their old steam locomotive.

He would have worked on revving it back up all night if the bedtime enforcers hadn’t torn him away.

Of course Ella-belle wanted to get out and show him how to drive it. But I kept her warm instead.

What a happy train-lover boy!

Ups and downs in the mile-high city

2011-08-28T22:11:00.001-06:00

Our trip to Denver was a reminder to me that no matter how much I plan, there will be moments when things fall apart. Luke throwing a tantrum on a filthy museum floor, Eleanor teething late at night in a hotel room, Luke throwing up in the backseat without an extra pair of pants. Do each of these episodes represent personal failures as a parent? As a trip-planner? As a sleep-habit former? As a disciplinarian? I have so much to learn in all of these areas, but enjoying a trip with our terrific twosome, especially one when Erik is occupied with work, requires embracing an imperfect experience. Moving on from each spectacular disaster with optimism, while remaining watchful for the critical evacuation moment. Leaving before our team status goes to red.

The trip also reinforced what I already knew to be true. My Luke is a home-body, at least for now. Each morning when I was ready to go, Luke and I would both be at our wit’s end after a string of reprimands because the only ‘toys’ that he found interesting in our hotel room were off-limits (the phone, hairdryer, and his sister). So I would think, finally, we can go somewhere fun and Luke and I can have some positive interaction, and Ellie can take her morning nap in the car. But each time I told Luke about the fun place we were going (dinosaur skeletons, a stream to splash in, trains, etc.) he would reply in a panic, “No Mommy! Luke stay Luke’s room! Stay Luke’s room!” No matter the enticement, he always preferred to stay in the hotel room.

So once I made peace with Luke’s lack of enthusiasm and the likelihood of a few disaster moments, we enjoyed a number of fun Denver outings. Our home-away-from-home was the Denver Botanic Gardens. We visited several times, making a habit of al fresco lunches overlooking the lily pond.

No high chairs there, so Ellie’s strap-on baby seat was just the ticket.

These lunches may have been the highlight of my time in Denver sans Erik. The food was well-priced and tasty, the ambiance very relaxed, and the garden views were lovely! My one cell phone pic doesn’t do it justice.

Their kids’ garden was so much fun. Both kids loved splashing around in the man-made wading stream. Luke enjoyed watching their little wooden boats bump over rocks, disappear under the footbridge, and pop out on the other side. It was a nice family destination after Erik’s conference since it stays open until 9 pm. Plus on hot August afternoons, their garage parking kept our car delightfully cool. I bought an individual membership for myself on our first visit, and got my money’s worth over the course of the trip. Now I’m wondering if we could make it back for their Corn Maze, Blossoms of Light, or summer concerts before it expires!

The Denver Children’s Museum was probably Luke’s trip highlight. He was awed by the genuine fire truck that they had inside for kids to climb on, and enjoyed their train room and toddler zone. They even had an area called ‘the pond’ geared toward babies Eleanor’s age! A guaranteed hit with the preschool set.

We had to stop in at the Museum of Nature and Science since our Explora membership got us in for free. Once inside, I wished we could have stayed for longer since they had much more to see than I’d imagined for Luke’s age. But it was quite crowded with adults which made it a little difficult for him to experience. Better to plan this one for a weekday?

On our way up to Denver we stopped at the Pueblo Zoo to break up the drive. It wasn’t a particularly impressive zoo, but it was a pleasant stop and our ABQ Zoo membership got us in at half-price. They had some darling gibbon monkeys swinging around and a fantastic lion exhibit. Watch out Luke, don’t pet him!

Ella-belle was less impressed by the lions, but she did love getting out of the car seat and being held.

We saved the Mount Evans Scenic Byway for Erik’s day off. What a spectacular treasure it was! But I’m running out of kiddo nap time so I’ll save that day for its own post.

There were many enticing Denver destinations we didn’t visit, but as a solo parent with a home-body Luke-boy, choosing a few winners and repeating the Gardens several times seemed to maximize our fun and minimize the chaos. I wonder when Erik’s next business trip to Denver is?

Daring for Denver

2011-08-14T18:00:00.000-06:00

The prospect was equal parts dreamy and diabolical. I couldn’t ignore the appeal of a four-star hotel, scores of child-friendly attractions, a little more time with Erik, and no extra costs. But the challenge was sobering: six consecutive nights in a standard hotel room with our children. If you ever saw an episode of the daily Nap Wars in our home, your palms would be sweaty at the prospect of no keep to fall back to and much-reduced sound insulation from neighbors.

For years, Luke has reigned as my arch-enemy in these battles, but just lately he’s become a tiny bit more cooperative. Just in time for Eleanor’s emergence as a menacing foe on the napping battlefield.

Eventually, the Hyatt, hubby, and mile-high city won out and we’re all planning to join Erik on his upcoming Denver business trip. I’m hoping for the best on the sleeping front, while plotting defensive strategies. Does ‘toddler in the closet, baby in the bathtub’ sound promising?

I’ve also given thought to our tactical equipment. Luke’s outgrown the pack ‘n play and I wasn’t sure we’d be able to fit it in the car for Eleanor, so I started researching other sleeping options. We have a few upcoming trips to hotels and campgrounds, so I was willing to make a little investment for child sleeping equipment that packs up small and will last for a while. For those of you who may face similar objectives, I report my new sleeping arsenal at the end of this post.

Here’s hoping that our two new child travel beds spend many hours holding sweetly sleeping children. After all, our last trip to Denver was decidedly dreamy. Erik and I were on our honeymoon!

Our new zzzzz-makers:

Phil & Ted’s Traveller Cot for Eleanor
Aerobed Sleep Tight Inflatable Bed for Luke

I considered the Graco Travel Lite crib, but decided that Eleanor would outgrow it too quickly. I also thought about the PeaPod Travel Bed, which is a less expensive option and well-reviewed. But some reviews mention that you have to zip up the side after putting a baby down to prevent her from rolling out, and the zipper is a little noisy. So the PeaPod was a no-go for our light-sleeping, quick-rolling princess. The Baby Bjorn travel crib looked great but was too pricey and a little bulky.

So that left the P&T Traveller. Reviewers noted that it’s hard to set up and take down, but I’m counting on Erik’s tent skills to take care of that. I’m also hoping that his expert setup skills can protect us from the durability issues that a few reviewers experienced. I love the way it folds up to the size of a large purse and only weighs 7 pounds (less than my purse). And it’s longer and narrower than a pack ‘n play, so it can fit a child up to age 3. The size plus the sturdy construction would allow us to use it for Luke on nights that we can get a hotel crib for Eleanor. When I was able to find it for $100 on an ebay auction, the deal was sealed!

For Luke I wanted a toddler air mattress. These are smaller and tougher than a regular twin air mattress, and they have bumpers on the sides to prevent a child from rolling out. I might have preferred this one but it was on the more expensive side. So, for $59, I ordered the Aerobed version and think it should work for Luke through most of elementary school. The reviews for it were so glowing that I might want to swap Luke for it if our queen-size camping air mattress keeps on leaking air. I’m sure Erik would love to have Luke’s feet massage his back overnight!

7 months with the Ellacub

2011-08-09T17:46:00.001-06:00

More and more our little girl fills our home with babbling jabber. At first her coos were hardly conscious, then they were experiments with sound, and now it seems like they are expressions in a peculiar language all her own. At the dining table, bath time, bedtime and playtime, more and more she seems like another shining kiddo adding to the activity!

Recent Milestones

She’s become a very stable sitter. She can even go from lying on her stomach to sitting up with ease. She also pulls herself up in the crib or on a toy until she’s upright on her knees, surveying the scene. On the floor she constantly pushes up to her hands and knees. She can crawl backward from this position, but she is considerably frustrated by the fact that she can only crawl forward the tiniest bit. This girl longs for mobility!

Recently she’s begun making little popping sounds by opening and closing her mouth. We make a game out of it by doing it back and forth to each other. She also enjoys peek-a-boo games and riding beside Luke in the Costco shopping cart double child seat!

Likes/Dislikes

Her favorite toys are Luke’s favorite toys! In particular, she likes his black Duplo fire hose. If Erik’s watching them and Luke takes that away from Eleanor, I always rush in thinking she was hurt because she cries with such anguish.

She loves solid food. Three times a day, during each of our meals, she clamors for it and then relishes a little bowlful, or often two. She’s so enthusiastic that it can be hard to tell which items are her favorites, but perhaps sweet potatoes and avocadoes rank near the top?

Sibling Report

You may think that we already have a ridiculous number of variants on Eleanor’s name. But we have to report Luke’s very own version. According to Luke, her name is ‘Eldor’. Erik thinks it may be elvish.

Luke is such an affectionate brother. It’s precious to see him give her spontaneous hugs throughout the day. And she laughs and gurgles with glee each time. But what starts as tender can veer toward traumatic quickly. So vigilance is crucial to prevent the klunk of a seated Ella being pushed over onto the floor!

Now that Eleanor responds to Luke more, he is much more frequently drawn to play with her. I love to see that, but their play hasn’t yet decreased the effort that either child requires. It only adds. At this point, Luke and Eleanor can both safely play by themselves separately while I keep tabs nearby. But Ella whines unless she’s playing near her big brother, and Luke likes to get reactions from Eleanor (especially when I’m not giving him attention). And so they inevitably end up playing side-by-side – thus requiring constant active supervision. Even to leave them for a moment would risk Ella getting hurt. When is it that two children bring economies of scale?

Routine

Eleanor usually takes two naps a day, and I’ve been doing better at getting both kids to nap at the same time in the afternoon. I cherish the little dose of afternoon peace and productivity this gives me!

We also finally are consistent at getting them both to go down for the night in the same room. We put Ella down first and then do Luke’s bedtime routine out in the living room. Very conscientiously, he tells us ‘shhh!’ as we approach the bedroom door. But that doesn’t mean he’s quiet once he lies down. Still, he’s become more mindful of his noise levels and only occasionally do we need to rush in with consequences because he’s climbed into his was-sleeping now-screaming sister’s crib.

For all her tough I-can-take-on-a-toddler spirit, Eleanor is still a sweet cuddlebug. When Erik comes home or I pick her up from the church nursery, she lays her head down on our shoulders to say she missed us. What could be sweeter than this little girl?

Dashing off to Maine

2011-08-01T10:09:00.001-06:00

It was hard to improve upon our lovely week at Erik’s parents’ lake cottage. But wait, there’s more! The grandparents watched our kiddos for a night while Erik and I zipped over to the southern Maine coast for a romantic retreat.

It only took an hour and a half to drive to the shore, so we had plenty of time for a little sightseeing. Our first stop was Perkins Cove in Ogunquit. We enjoyed lunch with views out over the water. Perkins Cove was once a small fishing community but during our visit it was rather crowded with souvenir shops and tourists looking for parking spots. But don’t be deterred by the parking sharks! Marginal Way, a gorgeous ocean walk, departs from the Cove and it’s not to be missed.

We took so many photos of the craggy rocks, jutting bluffs, and deep blue vistas that we had to hurry back to our car when the parking time ran out and didn’t get to finish the 1.5 mile-long path. We’ll have to go back for that, and also to check out the hiking trails at nearby Mount Agamenticus and the acclaimed collections at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art.

Next, we drove down to ‘The Yorks’. Reading about the three little seaside towns grouped there, I decided that ‘York Harbor’ would be our best bet, and we loved it! We parked on the street right in front of a lush, well-kept beachside park, the Hartley Mason Reserve. We followed its verdant path down to a small uncrowded beach nestled between two rocky stretches of coastline. After wading a little, we took the slightly overgrown Cliff Path that looked over water, taking in more dramatic views of huge spray-splashed rocks on one side and incredible mansions on the other. We walked back to our car on the road, and after wading in the water one last time, we regretfully left this well-kept secret of a town.

By then dusk was approaching and we wanted to make it to the Nubble Lighthouse for the most photogenic lighting. Nubble is touted as being one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world, and of course Erik wanted to snap some pics of his own.

We have dozens of lighthouse landscapes now, but here it is in the background of the only photo-op of the two of us from the trip.

Then we enjoyed some tasty fish and chips from a food stand on the point, taking in the picture-perfect views. After drinking in one last look, we drove up to our hotel in Kennebunkport. We checked in and took an evening stroll through the quaint little town, getting ice cream and peeking in a few interesting shops.

The next day, we headed to nearby Cape Porpoise for another offshore lighthouse, Breakwater Light I think it was. The damp, foggy air added to the lighthouse’s mystique, but it also made for fuzzy pictures.

It felt as if we’d slipped back in time as we watched a fleet of small fishing boats bringing in their catch with simple equipment. We took a walk through the tidal pools toward Goose Rocks Beach, passing a family who had found all sorts of little crabs and creatures. I’d love to go back and explore that area further with better footwear for the sticky soils!

After Cape Porpoise’s rugged, rustic beauty, we stopped at St. Ann’s for a much more refined vantage on the sea. The church was not only beautiful but also reverent with Scripture inscribed on wooden plaques and recorded in stained glass windows. What a peaceful spot to pray and reflect!

After lingering at the church, it was getting to be time to relieve the stalwart grandparents. But there was still one critical ingredient missing from our trip. Lobster of course! We weren’t brave enough to order one whole, so instead we savored bowls of scrumptious lobster chowder in Kennebunkport before our drive back. Yum!

We love the easy access to so many beautiful destinations from Erik’s parents’ new house. And even better is the first-rate babysitting available there! I’ve never been to Acadia NP on the northern Maine coast, and Portland looks fun too. Over the years ahead, we’re hoping to make good use of the Maine travel guide that now sits on our bookshelf. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for allowing us to take such a perfect little getaway!

(Click here for more photos.)

Lake living

2011-07-30T12:34:00.001-06:00

A few months ago Erik’s parents realized their dream of buying a lovely lake cottage for sailing, swimming, and family gatherings. We flew out to visit last week, eager to see the new place and spend time on its pretty beach with them. Even more idyllic than we’d imagined, isn’t it?

Erik’s mom went to great lengths to make the house immaculate for her floor-fancying grandchildren. Also, in less than two months of ownership, they had completely furnished and equipped the place, from dishes to seating to child gear! Erik’s handyman genes are definitely thanks to his father, who was nearing the end of a tricky roofing job there. Can you see him ably perched on the peak?

Luke and Ellie spent many happy hours in the ‘toy room’ with Grandma and Grandpa. In fact, despite the two hour earlier time change, our typically late-rising toddler was up by 6:30 each day, tiptoeing past his sleeping parents to go find Grandma!

Here they are doing puzzles in the toy room,

listening to the ocean (in seashells) on the back porch,

reading books in the living room,

and going gourmet in the kitchen! (Luke’s wearing a shirt that cycled through Erik and his brothers in this picture, and a little robe made by Erik’s grandmother in the next one.)

You don’t think that these kids could have been spoiled, do you?

Of course the beach was a hit, from filling buckets and dumping trucks

to getting buried by Uncle Travis and Uncle Bryan.

The clear lake water was perfect for splashing,

wading with Grandpa,

and playing ring-around-the-rosie with Grandma.

Both kids also tried out new floats. Ella was delighted by her watercraft.

She astonished us by almost falling asleep in it a few times. What a little water baby!

Swimmies and a ring float came out to assuage Luke’s injured ego. A few weeks back, Erik and Luke filled our kitchen sink and performed float/sink tests on various household items. Luke extrapolated from the exercise that “Luke float.” After all, his “paddle, paddle, kick, kick” seemed effective during parent/tot swimming lessons in June. But at the lake he tripped and came up choking on water. Once his crying subsided he turned to Erik, wide-eyed, saying “Luke sink! Luke no float! Luke sink!” It was hard to tell which was more offensive to the little guy, the water in his chest or the falsification of his hypothesis. But after a few days of closer supervision and swimmies, faith in his initial conclusion was restored-- “Luke float!”

While we were there, Erik’s dad’s anchored his big sailboat to its new mooring. Luke was a little intimidated so no sails for the little guy this time. But I’m sure he’ll love it when he’s a little older. She looks at home on the lake too, doesn’t she?

You can find a boatload of lakeside pics from the week here. Luke’s already packing his bag for next year and we’re all looking forward to many more lake memories in summers to come!

Summery stripes

2011-07-20T19:03:00.001-06:00

Summer has slowly established itself in our living space. Most dramatic is the canvas I painted to inject some sunshine over our fireplace.

I modeled it after a similar project I found here. Except I did mine in warm colors and added a few contrasting grey stripes to tie it into our walls and fireplace.

The blue striped covers (first pic, right side) add an ocean vibe underneath the sunshine-y art, and the embroidered coral pillow (first pic, left side) adds some delicate seaside interest. Are you thinking that coral seems out of place in the high desert? Albuquerque lies in an ancient seabed you know!

Behind our kitchen table, I love the beachy texture of these frames that announce the real theme to our home: The Luke and Eleanor Museum of Activity. The photos (12x18’s) print for only $2.99 at Costco, so I have plans to change out the Ellie print again soon. I’m thinking a shot of Ella in our desert willow tree like this one would go better with Luke’s rocky backdrop. But anyway, here’s the bookcase as it stands now, tray of toddler art supplies and all.

Unlike most museums, the LEMA’s exhibits are always on the move. Curator Luke particularly enjoys relocating trucks, trains, and sisters.

Happy summer!

Playground firsts

2011-07-19T08:38:00.001-06:00

Poor little Ellacub missed the entire sprayground outing last weekend sleeping off some vaccines. But then that evening, she took her first seat on a swing! Yay, Elza!

And to our surprise, Luke adeptly climbed to the very top of a tricky playground ladder and then stepped over onto the play structure. We have two little monkeys on our hands!

Water bombers

2011-07-09T12:41:00.001-06:00

Yesterday at the Sprayground, the rainbow sprinklers weren’t the only thing we saw that sprays water. A few of these C-130s passed by overhead, painted with Forest Service colors.

Well, my knowledgeable neighbor said they are painted with Forest Service colors, but I couldn’t find anything online to confirm or deny that statement. Why is the paint the most interesting part to me? Do they repaint planes back and forth between regular and forest service markings all summer long? Why do they need to be painted with Forest Service colors in order to fight fires? Wouldn’t the painting time be better spent dropping water on fires?

But I’ll let you ponder those mysteries yourself and return to the story. With all the fires that have been raging in New Mexico, these aircraft have been dropping water and fire retardent non-stop during daylight hours for weeks. Despite their clunky size, they are said to be quite maneuverable and able to pinpoint hard-to-reach fire sections. Two planes were sent from North Carolina and two from California. The California contingent was then replaced by Colorado planes, but the NC craft seem to have stayed on. (North Carolinians are helpful people!) The planes operate out of Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, which is just a few miles from our house. We hope their hard work can end soon, but what a magnificent parade of aircraft it’s been for a little boy!

An Air Force press release states that the C-130s ‘can discharge 3,000 gallons of water or fire retardant in less than five seconds, drawing lines of containment that can cover an area one-quarter of a mile long by 60 feet wide. Once the load is discharged, the MAFFS system can be refilled in less than 12 minutes.’ How is it that I read firefighter books day in and day out with Luke and I’d never heard of these? I’ll have to write my own fire fighting book for preschoolers! Now what to name the air tanker? Artie?

For those of you more interested in the foreground of our air tanker scene, I’ll wrap up with a few Sprayground snapshots. There were puddles for stomping,

fountains for tasting,

and tunnels to run through.

Luke had a terrific time exploring the various water dispensing structures. I think his favorite part was holding his fingers over the little holes that spray water. Get it all out of your system there, Luke, so you can stop spraying Mommy with that trick when I wash your hands!

Ellie’s first Fourth

2011-07-05T22:22:00.001-06:00

Yesterday morning, Luke and I took a special trip to the store to look for sprinkles and sparklers. Sadly they weren’t selling sparklers, but we did find sprinkles! Here Luke pours them into bowls for a patriotic treat to share at the cookout we’d soon be hosting.

His naptime came before we got too much farther in the preparation, so Mommy finished them herself. A simple dip into white chocolate and then one in blue sprinkles.

Later this week we’ll have to try this with pretzel sticks when Luke is awake since he loves helping in the kitchen these days. No-stove, no-knife ‘recipes’ like these are perfect for the Lukish chef!

With all the hubbub, I never dressed Ella in her holiday outfit. Alas! She was a show-stopper anyway though.

Meanwhile Luke and his buddy Marco sported red, white & blue a-plenty.

After dinner, the boys cooled off in the kiddie pool, rode bikes, and cruised in the cozy coupe.

While Eleanor was more interested in girl talk with her bestie, Eliana.

On our previous two Independence days here, it seemed as if almost every backyard hosted a little TNT fest of its own. This year, the extreme drought (just 0.14 inches have fallen at the ABQ airport in 2011) prompted warnings against fireworks. The city must have heeded the appeals, as the night passed much more quietly.

At times Luke thought the few faint booms were made by fire trucks, since any mention of fire conjures up red trucks in our little boy’s mind. At other points he thought that crickets must be the cause, since they are what we usually go out in the yard to listen for at dusk. He’s always been a little mystified by those loud, invisible insects that neither of his parents can imitate, so it was easy to ascribe booms and pops to them as well. We’ll have to take him to the fantastic Princeton fireworks some year soon to clear up his confusion. In New Jersey, it’s thunderstorms, not drought conditions, that threaten the show!

Honoring Grandma

2011-07-05T13:40:00.001-06:00

Eleanor and I took a very quick trip out to Maryland this weekend to visit with family and honor my Grandma on my dad’s side. She has been declining after a long and full life of farming, raising children, hosting grandchildren on her farm, and she was a pretty sharp pinochle player too! My sister and I will never forget our small claim to farming know-how -- we once showed cows at a county fair when we visited Grandma for a week as kids. This weekend’s gathering was a bittersweet time, set at the lovely National Colonial Farm in Accokeek, MD where my cousin Polly works. Here’s Polly with her sister Jessie.

And here’s the National Farm. What a peaceful spot!

It’s just across the Potomac from Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate.

In the dozens of flights I’ve now taken with kiddos, this was the very first one on a carrier other than Southwest Air. It reminded me that Southwest’s open seating policy delivers the benefit of seatmates who have self-selected to fly next to a small child. What an advantage! But nonetheless, Ellie and I made it there and back just fine, and she charmed several kind passengers along the way.

Of course we saw Uncle Jack and Uncle Sam. Those two are always up to trouble.

And Ellie’s beloved Aunt, posing for a Diet Coke commercial?

And there was another baby celebrity, my cousin Brenna’s adorable 11-month-old, Emerson.

My Aunt Mary Lynn did a wonderful job organizing the gathering. She also has made gorgeous quilts for Luke & Eleanor. Here is the talented lady herself!

My dad is one of six, and all of his siblings were there. Here’s my Uncle Flip.

My Aunt Barbie, ever technology-savvy

And I missed getting a photo of my Uncle Johnny because we didn’t overlap for very long. But he is my dad’s identical twin, so this photo with my dad will have to count for both of them. Here is my dad (far left), his sister my Aunt Betty (middle) with my grandmother.

It was wonderful to visit with so many aunts, uncles, and cousins who I haven’t caught up with in so long! I also treasured seeing Eleanor meet her great-grandmother. We love you Grandma and are praying for you!

Science museum

2011-06-22T00:30:00.001-06:00

After visiting the amazing Durham science museum last month, we decided it was high time that we check out the one right here in Albuquerque. We’ve been three times now and seen most of the exhibits, so here’s a little tour of Luke’s highlights.

1. The trains. The way Luke plays with these makes me search Craig’s List for more train equipment. But then I remember that our house lacks a good spot for a permanent train installation and I close that browser window. I think Explora is the perfect place for you to play with these, Luke!

2. The outdoor playground. The first time I went down a roller slide, Luke was on my lap. I had one hand holding him and the other gracefully gripped my lukewarm coffee. I quickly learned that roller slides can pack some speed, but without a free hand I was powerless to slow our descent. We flew off the bottom, landing with an embarrassing thud on my then very sore behind. Now I’ve adopted a ground-based assistance strategy.

3. This air chute in the toddler room is genius. Kids place the scarves in the bottom and the air flow shoots them upwards. Big wow factor while being completely safe, sturdy, and non-messy!

4. This one is Mommy’s favorite. In a long table filled with water, a current flows from one end and there are all sorts of pieces you can insert to stop, mitigate, or redirect the water’s flow. When Luke is ready to move on to the next exhibit, I’m only halfway through my masterplan to maximize the flow’s force and direct it along an interesting path. But in this pic I’m trying to roll up Luke’s sleeves. First things first!

And of course we brought our Ella-bug who who had a grand time watching all the activity.

Now that the temps have creeped near 100 and our swamp cooler has been giving us trouble, the fact that most of Explora is inside a deliciously cooled building is a pretty major perk too. Need a little more deterrence from outdoor activity? Check out the icons chosen by the National Weather Service for the next three days. I’ve shown you this one before, Wednesday’s tagline is “areas of smoke” but it looks more like a volcano alert.

And this is Thursday and Friday’s icon, with the tagline “hot”. We think this picture is from the Mars Rover; Albuquerque may be semi-desert but it never looks this desolate.

Fortunately, Saturday’s icon is much prettier and even looks like an Earth shot. Erik and I will have to put it to good use!

Five amazing months!

2011-06-10T14:15:00.001-06:00

It’s hard to believe that Eleanor is five months old already. Somehow five months sounds so much older than four. To me five is practically six, which is half a year old and the time for all sorts of leaps and bounds of development out of the itty-bitty stage. Sigh!

But five months old she is, and she’s been learning a number of new skills leaving no confusion with a newborn here. However, she has held onto her pretty blue eyes with a touch of green. Luke’s turned brown like Erik’s after only a couple months, so we’re hopeful that her color sticks so the girls and guys each have their own eye color in our little family!

Recent Milestones

Engaging with the world has kicked into gear and this time there’s a whole list of milestones to report! Elzabel has adopted a variety of non-traditional means of locomotion. First there’s pushing herself in her swing, which I’ll soon post in video. By swaying back and forth she revvs that swing up to a pretty fast clip!

There’s also bumbo punting. She leans over to one side of the bumbo, sticks the opposite leg out to the other side and then uses it to push herself across a surface. What a trickster!

Since around three months she could roll over both ways and around four months she mastered rolling at will either way. She seems to prefer to be on her stomach, turning over immediately if set down on her back. Then she pushes up to survey the action.

She recently became much more interested in playing with toys. She’ll hold onto toys of choice for quite a while, banging them on a tray and examining them.

Her exersaucer is clearly a hub for fun toys and a favorite hang-out spot. Eleanor makes it look so exciting that Luke has been known to climb in to play for a while too. The bumbo is also a favorite because it allows her to be on Luke’s level when he plays on the floor, or on our level when we sit at the dinner table and install her as its centerpiece. Erik and I have become much more comfortable with the bumbo since we bought the accessory tray to help contain her squirmy self within it. Here she is bumbo-bound with a poolside view of the Luke show.

Even more than her seats, she likes to sit up on her own on the carpet. Of course this requires parental assistance as she is still very prone to toppling, but we all enjoy seeing her learning to master self-sitting. Here she is smiling big because Luke is coming in to say hi.

Likes/Dislikes

At her four-month check-up at her pediatrician’s office, she made it clear that she remembered her two-month visit. And her recollections were not favorable! In the waiting room she was her usual charming self, but as soon as she was brought into the examining room she began to scream hysterically and would not calm down until we left. The doctor and nurse agreed that there was no mistaking that she remembered the shots that were administered last time she went to that room, and they thought it was quite precocious for her to recall the experience at such a young age.

Sibling Report

Now that she’s more engaged with her surroundings, Ella is absolutely enamored with the Luke-channel. She lights up when she spots her big brother and she and Mommy both miss Luke when he’s down for his nap and Ellie is much fussier!

Luke sweetly requests that Ellie sleep in the crib in his, wait I mean their room. He also is always willing to share toys with his little sis and enjoys having her smile and laugh at him. Unfortunately he seems to also enjoy testing how far he can go in throwing items near her or waving them near her head. The fact that we established those boundaries several times already that day doesn’t seem to be sufficient for the Luke-boy. So we have regular discipline over that issue in our house. But we also have more and more times when both kiddos are happily engaged in the same activity. Bedtime stories are especially precious!

Our Routine

She’s settled into taking a morning and an afternoon nap each day, plus an occasional early evening catnap. My goal is to get both children’s afternoon naps to line up, but for the moment they seem to be tag-teaming nappers. The lack of nap overlap plus an escalation of two-year-old power struggles can make getting out the door each day a herculean task, but we try. Lately the lunch hour has been the easiest time, so we’ve been enjoying picnics in parks.

We still haven’t made any progress in Ellie’s number of night wakings. Feeding at 12p, 3:30a and 6:30a seemed pretty good for a newborn, but it’s not so impressive when you’re five months old. Maybe this next milestone will soon help to change that…

She recently started solid food! I hope to write another post on this soon, but here’s a little teaser pic until then. Ellie, you’re so cute you could make facial food a new trend. We love you precious girlie!

Another Luke list

2011-06-08T16:10:00.001-06:00

I’ve been cherishing his still-a-little-boy self, knowing that it won’t be so long until peers become more important and his ardent preference for Mommy recedes. So here are some things I love about Luke right now.

1. The way he tilts his head to the side and says ‘hmm?’ to express that he doesn’t quite understand something. You can see it at 0:44 in this video. I could watch those two seconds on repeat for a long time!

2. The awestruck way he says ‘waw-ooow’ [wow] when he finds something particularly impressive. In a single word, it’s a powerful pep talk for planning special activities and new experiences for our days.

3. Last week I asked him who his friends are, thinking he’d say one of the kids we’d just seen at a playground or had over to our house. Instead, he said ‘Jack and Sam’! Mommy liked hearing that the other babies she helped raise a tiny bit (my younger brothers) were so esteemed. I even caught the question on video and will post it soon.

4. I’m sure this Luke-ism will get cuter in hindsight, but right now it drives me crazy! Whenever Luke is in our garage or a parking lot, he makes a beeline for car wheels, sticking his hand into them and then smearing the brake dust on his clothes, face, and of course it ends up on Mommy too. I hate to think of all the toxic chemicals that brake dust holds, and also all the times that big black smudges have been our most prominent fashion accessory!

5. He can reliably count up to six items, so we count all sorts of things throughout the day. When counting to two, he pushes one hand up into the air and then pulls it down as he pushes up the other. I find it so difficult to resist giving him a second treat when he uses his adorable hand motions and says, “one, two please!”

6. His favorite videos feature ‘ook’ [Luke]. He comes up to me urgently saying ‘watch ook pease’ when I use the computer. Movies that feature Eleanor are not so well appreciated. But as long as he’s the star, he watches raptly and answers any questions asked in the video, such as: ‘Is that cake yummy?’ or ‘Would you like to go to the playground?’ The frustrating part is when he dissolves into hysterics after the movie because I tell him we’re not really going to eat cake or go to the playground right now…

7. When he hurts himself, he first wants me to pick him up and then he says ‘boo bake-it’ [blue blanket]. Most of the time it’s forgotten on his bed, but his blanket has become an important security object for tough situations like a skinned knee or a traumatic hair wash in the bath tub (still a contested activity).

8. Sometimes he tells me ‘ommy rock’. This game hails from my older sister era, and is a particular favorite early in the morning. One person lies under a blanket on the ground and the other comes and lays his/her head on the rock, marveling at what a nice soft rock it is to sleep on. Then the ‘rock’ starts to squirm and talk and the sleeper becomes more and more agitated about this strange rock until the rock person pops out, revealing the source of the problem. But it didn’t take too long for Luke to add his own twist to the game – he hisses like a snake and I run in fear from him, hiding under blankets/rocks. The part that makes it really ridiculous is that my fear of snakes is so great that even hearing a two-year-old’s funny ‘sssss’ strikes a twinge of genuine anxiety in my heart!

9. We’ve also been having lots of fun painting lately. I made a little display area for my budding artiste in our hallway with these cool clips that my sister gave me a while back.

Hanging the clips afforded an opportunity for Luke to hone his home repair skills. He took a water toy and used it to help Daddy hammer on the wall.

10. I think he does a great job sharing his toys when we have friends over, and I love how he seems to truly enjoy the excitement of playing with others. He especially loves a friendly game of chase. We think these two introverted parents might be raising an extrovert!

Alongside the joys, there are of course times when our boy’s boundary-testing leaves me frazzled. In fact I just ordered Setting Limits with your Strong-Willed Child and can’t wait for it to arrive. Right now he’s using the timer to give Snuffles and Doggie time-outs. Does that mean my methods are making an impression or that they’re just another game? Hmmm….

Mostly though I find our little boy to be sweet company and love that I get to play with and talk to him throughout the day. You are becoming a good friend, Mr. Luke!

Fair winds and sweet teens

2011-06-04T23:15:00.001-06:00

I’m so thankful to report that the weather smiled on our dinner last night. The wind cooperated by coming from the south (so our house shielded the backyard from most of it) and it blew away the smoke. We were able to all eat outside where there was plenty of room.

The other heroes of the evening were our friends’ teenaged children. If only they were at all our get-togethers! Observe the toddler violence that usually erupts once the adults are having a good conversation.

Yes, those are remnants of plants, found strewn across our yard. I think Luke started off trying to replant them for me and then his crazy streak took hold.

But last night, instead of looking up and seeing pulled up plants and other forms of toddler self-entertainment, I saw a well-organized, inclusive game of duck-duck-goose. And a sweet teen trying to find Luke’s misplaced shoe. And another responsible teen carrying him around pointing to crickets.

We even received helpful status reports, like the following:

Girl: Excuse me.

Erik: Yes?

Girl: Luke is drinking all our soda.

(other girl confirms)

Luke (with soda in hand): Eeeeeee!

Of course Luke is not yet allowed to have soda and I may have assured him at various points that it doesn’t taste very good for little boys and little girls. But last night seems to have reshaped his opinion on the matter.

We were too busy to take any photos of the event, but I can show you two of my recent Target purchases that made an appearance. First there are two strings of solar-powered globe lights that we hung in our desert willow.

They don’t show up so well in this daytime pic, but I love how we don’t have to turn them on or run wires to have lovely mood lighting in our side yard.

I also picked up these cute melamine plates for this and other outdoor dining occasions.

I love how bright and festive they are and hope they hold food for many a happy meal. Well, that’s it for my dinner detour. I’ll do my best to be back with at least a few of those promised May updates soon!

Areas of smoke

2011-06-03T00:48:00.001-06:00

Who knew that this symbol along with the tagline ‘areas smoke’ qualified as a weather forecast? Erik suggested that a man smoking a pipe might be a clearer symbol, but this is the picture and tagline that hang over Friday in the current NWS forecast for Albuquerque. Once I saw that the fires were in Arizona, the forecast struck me as mildly entertaining, a bored weatherman’s excuse for variety amidst our usual rotation of sunny, mostly sunny, and windy. But I just saw that the National Weather Service issued an air quality alert for Albuquerque, alongside a forecast for 46 mph wind gusts. I’m left uncertain of which to hope for. High winds to chase away the smoke that has settled over our fair city? Or would minor lung irritation be preferable to the risk of blowing debris from gale force winds?

Either way, it seems that the lovely outdoor party I’d envisioned for tomorrow may need to move indoors. We will be cozy with ~30 dinner guests in our little home!

MIA in May

2011-06-02T14:34:00.001-06:00

June already! What was it about May that left me with one measly post? Surely it wasn’t a lack of cute kiddo moments and new experiences. Maybe it was the yard work we’ve been doing, the long hours Erik has spent using my computer for work, or Ella’s fewer naps and Luke’s unreliable ones. Check out the anti-nappers in action.

There’s also been our typical lineup of entertaining to keep us busy, like this dinner with our small group last week.

Tomorrow night we’re having a dinner for our Sunday School class and expect a record-setting number (for our ABQ home) of guests to join us. We’ll see how our little 1400-square-foot ranch handles the crowd. I’m counting on nice weather, which in ABQ hinges on a lack of gusting wind since rain is a sort of fairy tale here. So the forecast that didn’t mention 30mph winds for tomorrow must be the accurate one, right?

May also held a house project that I’ll post on soon -- the kids’ room redo! Here’s a preview, the ‘before’ of the dresser I repainted.

Now Luke’s room is set up for both kids to sleep and store clothes with a fitting fusion of girl and boy décor. I still need to get the dresser handles right, but once I do I’ll write in with pics of the updated space. Now if getting them both to sleep in there was only so easy…

All these little excuses are to say that nothing too dramatic has pushed us out of blog-land. I hope to be back soon with lots of updates on this adorable pair!

Two in the tub

2011-05-06T16:53:00.001-06:00

Erik’s perspective: Finally, economies of scale are achieved -- two baths for the water usage of one! No matter that it’s more than double the disaster potential.

Luke’s perspective: Finally, someone for me to pour water on! Now to work out all my pent-up resentment over having my hair washed these past two years by pouring water on the baby.

Eleanor’s perspective: Finally, that water torture in the bathroom sink is over! Plus the Luke-channel is always on to entertain me in here.

Erik’s perspective: It adds a whole new dimension to bath time photo sessions too!

Luke’s perspective: Wait! You mean I can’t pour it on her head? How about this high? This high? This high?! Oh, Mom! Don’t take the cup away!

Eleanor’s perspective: Oh, I’m so sleepy after all that lounging in the suds. Definitely too sleepy to take my nighttime feeding. That’s okay, I’ll just wake up an extra time tonight to make sure I get it in.

My perspective? I get a little nervous about water getting in Eleanor’s ears (neither she nor Luke have had an ear infection and I want to keep it that way!), so I play umpire with Luke’s pouring vessels most of the time. Still, I just love to see our two munchkins ‘play’ together in the bath. The limited space and toys help Luke stay interested in his sister, so they have much of their best interaction in the tub. It thrills me to see them get tastes of the fun that comes from having a sibling to play with!

Babies on a plane

2011-04-30T10:51:00.001-06:00

First things first. Every Mommy needs a mothership. Well, every Mommy of two closely-spaced young children navigating an airport by herself does. Here is mine, reenacted. It ably carries two car seats, two children, three bags, and a cup of coffee. All it needs is a battering ram and it’s military-grade!

Erik’s last minute carabineer additions to the stroller handle make for easy access to bags and quick unloading when gate checking. Now, what do I put in those bags, you ask?

Plentiful toddler entertainment

1. Coloring and sticker books. I bought a couple small ones that tucked easily into my bag. Flat crayons that can’t roll off the tray make this activity much less frustrating. A friend of mine made super cute flat crayons that worked great, or you can bring a couple triangular ones like these great ones.

2. A few new storybooks and a couple old favorites. This time our new book was ‘A Day at the Airport’ by Richard Scarry. Luke loves studying all the little scenes on each page and saying ‘uh oh’ at the trucks losing their contents.

3. One or two small new toys plus several other plane-friendly favorites. This time we played with a new magnetic construction vehicles book and a new toy truck. We also brought play-dough, a mini slinky, and a little baggy of finger puppets. Have the toys handy, because its always better to hand one to your child before a meltdown, rather than after the irrationality hits.

4. The big gun and last resort: video playing capability. We use an old Sony PSP (around $60 on ebay), which is perfect because it has a ‘hold’ button that deactivates all of the controls, and it holds hours of video without any discs to change. We even have child-sized headphones, but Luke doesn’t do so well with those so I usually just turn the volume down low and let him listen through the speakers. I load some tried and true videos that he loves and try to get a new one too. This time I chose ‘Elmo Visits the Firehouse’ as his new flick but unfortunately it didn’t arrive from Netflix in time. Oh well, maybe a family movie night is in our future!

Drinks & snacks

I save these for take-off and landing to prevent sore ears. And I count the first and last 25 minutes or so as the pressure-change period and try to get my children to drink, eat, or suck for its entirety. This may not be pediatrician-approved, but I dilute milk or formula on plane trips. This way Eleanor can eat for longer without getting too full, and she’s hungry again sooner. All that extra swallowing and sucking seems to work at preventing crying!

Luke doesn’t like fluids too much these days unless they’re super-sweet (which is inadvisable, especially on airplanes), so I push snacks plus drinks for him during takeoffs and landings. I try to find a variety of not-too-messy, bite-size, low-sugar foods to bring. Serving them in a snack-trap (with a storage lid) is a must.

Oh, and here’s a tip for all you toddlers out there. When your Mom tells you that drinking from your cup is good for your ears, that does NOT mean you should pour your drink into your ear. Luke was deluded by this urban legend, and I was thankful for the spill-proof feature on his sippie cup when he tested it himself.

Other strategic take-alongs

Diaper covers, like these or these. Even if you don’t cloth-diaper, a cover or two might be a worthwhile investment for frequent plane travelers. Something about air travel’s pressure changes seems to have pressurizing effects on other parts of a baby’s system as well. We find that a diaper cover over a disposable contains blow-outs remarkably well.

Other recommended items include: Ziplock bags, pacifier wipes (to clean bottles, pacifiers, toys and any other baby item that may fall on the floor), infant tylenol (in case of sudden illness, teething, or really sore ears), a bib, changes of clothes, sanitizing wipes, and a few small blankets. Other things to consider: a fun, sanitary, disposable topper for the plane tray table and food court table, like this or this. And a pacifier clip, which makes finding your paci so much easier and doubles as a toy. I love this beautiful one by Haba.

We also try our best to dress to impress! It has to be harder for neighboring passengers to be annoyed by irresistibly adorable children, right? But keep in mind that any item may get poop-soiled, so I try to avoid anything that would have to be pulled over a baby’s head. Been there done that!

What else not to do: keep open cups or cans on your tray table. I like to ask for a can of water (no cup) and then pour it directly into my water bottle and Luke’s sippie cup.

With a little luck and a well-packed bag, our flights this past week were fairly pleasant. Not once did either child cry for more than a few seconds, and it was a fascinating experience for Luke, the vehicle-lover. We sat behind the wing, where he could better identify that we were in an airplane and watch the flaps move and the lights flash. I think the engine droning is louder toward the back of the plane too which was great for putting Eleanor to sleep. And if all else fails, Erik says you can always bring a parachute and sit in an emergency exit row!

Here are most of my tricks unpacked. Soon I’ll put many of them away so they’re still new for our next trip!

pacifier wipes
headphones
bib
books
pacifier clip & pacifier
little Dover coloring books
little Dover sticker activity books
fire truck keychain
more books
finger puppets
slinky junior
car transporter truck toy
homemade crayons shaped like people
table topper placemat
sani-hands hand wipes
play dough
PSP video player
mini little golden books

East Coast Easter

2011-04-29T15:42:00.001-06:00

As acceleration pins us to our seats and the cabin tilts upward, Luke’s eyes widen and turn plaintive. “No up, no up, no up” he says in a panicked voice. I explain that this is just like the birds we watch and point out some pretty clouds, but he isn’t reassured. Then we hit a patch of turbulence, a common encounter as you head east over the Sandia Mountains. I cringe, expecting it to push Luke’s tone from quiet and concerned to loud and hysterical. Instead the little boys says, “Bumpy!” and turns to me with a smile. “Up down, up down, up down!” It turns out that a little turbulence was the perfect take-off distraction!

On our next three take-offs, Luke was more interested than intimidated. And last night we touched down smoothly in the ABQ Sunport, thrilled to reunite with Erik. This trip to NC marked three firsts: Eleanor’s first flight, my first with two children, and my first big trip with a child and without help from Erik! It almost didn’t happen though. On the morning of our scheduled departure, we got a call from the airline saying our flight was cancelled because of tornado damage at the St. Louis airport, our scheduled connection. It first crossed my mind that this news might be the perfect excuse to postpone our trip to a time when Erik can come and/or Ellie is a bit older. But my parents’ eagerness to see their grandchildren spurred me on, and I rescheduled for a slightly later flight through Orlando. The palm tree and water-feature studded views during our four-hour layover in that airport turned out to be a mini-getaway in and of itself. And the happy families toting Disney pirate hats and sporting princess hairstyles left me dreaming of a family trip to D-world when our kiddos are a bit older!

This time our final destination was another magical place: Papi and Nika’s house in North Carolina! Especially when Auntie C, Uncle Jack, and Uncle Sam are all there too for a special Easter celebration. Luke and Elzabel loved all the attention, and Luke also bonded with Papi and Nika’s puppy dogs. We all enjoyed going to church together and then there was Easter egg hunting, science museum visiting, playground romping, and new outlet mall shopping.

Unfortunately I didn’t manage to take any photos, but here are a few from Auntie C. My dad took some too, so I’ll add those to this trip gallery if he puts them online.

Nika & Luke on a bench in the yard:

Papi & Eleanor:

Luke & Easter, the dog:

Male bonding with Uncle Jack & Uncle Sam:

Luke & Auntie C, see how green it was!

Luke on a train at the science museum. This one went fast!

Three generations of lovely ladies:

Luke & Ellie still have NC on their minds, as their east-coast time zone wake-up times this morning evidenced. But it was wonderful to reconnect with my family and take the kiddos to a few places that hold special memories from when my siblings and I were young. We’re already looking forward to going back for Christmas! I should go now and think about unpacking, but hopefully I’ll write again soon with my thoughts on plane travel with kiddos. It can be fun!

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T15:48:00.001-06:00

Pajamas Monday

2011-04-18T16:33:00.001-06:00

This weekend we enjoyed two dinners with friends, hosted a game night, hiked to Travertine Falls, attended Luke’s first soccer class, enjoyed an egg hunt + lunch held by Luke’s playgroup, did an Easter photo shoot at the botanic gardens, and of course went to church and Sunday School! Whew! So many fun family memories, and today’s lazy Monday schedule is the perfect way to finish it off. Erik is even taking a few hours of personal time that he still has available from Eleanor’s birth. Now that the kiddos are napping, here’s a little photo round-up.

Friday morning there was Luke’s first ‘Lil Kickers’ soccer class. Eleanor and I cheered from the sidelines. The universal toddler challenge faced by the instructor is to hold a child’s attention when there are so many interesting kiddos to watch!

Then Pre-Easter began with an afternoon photo shoot at the botanic gardens. Do you notice a trend in our sibling photos? Luke isn’t the most willing when it comes to baby holding. Eleanor already has him a little intimidated, I think!

Most Fridays, we call our neighbors once our kids are in bed. Then they grab their Dominion game and walk over to play it with us. What an ideal arrangement for housebound parents! This week they brought another couple as well.

Saturday morning, Luke hunted for Easter eggs for the first time with other kiddos. In typical first hunt fashion, he was frightened by the costumed bunny and wanted to open each egg (and eat its contents) as he found it. I realize that my egg hunt coaching may be in conflict with other instruction he receives from me. Compare: “just put it in your basket, Luke, and keep looking for more eggs!” and “you need to finish what’s on your plate before you get any more!” I can see why he was a little confused. I’m having another egg hunt here when our playgroup comes over on Thursday, so we’ll see if he seems to have caught on by then.

Luke playing with his friend M before Saturday dinner at our house. M’s parents brought a delicious Korean meal, amazingly homemade!

Sunday, we took an afternoon hike with friends to Travertine Falls (info here). We were quite the convoy, with four adults, five children, and only one of those children walked! Once all the pack mules had made it to the destination, the kiddos had a fabulous time playing in the mud, splashing in trickling water, and even swinging on a rope. Then we had dinner at a tasty pizza place. Of course we came home with plenty of photos, because no matter how many children there are to tote, Erik never leaves the camera behind! Here are L & E in their matching Street wear.

Oh, and a couple different landscaping guys came out to assess our grass. Our homeowners’ association has already sent us our first violation letter of the season, so we’re trying to revive the very sparse lawn in our front yard. Who knew growing grass could be so difficult?? Even our new ‘sugar tyme’ crabapple tree can’t counteract the stragglyness it seems.

The kiddos are awaking and I think we’re headed out for a relaxing walk to the playground. I hope you all had a lovely weekend too!

Sounds, seats & skills

2011-04-09T13:03:00.001-06:00

All over our house there is evidence of little ones growing up. First we have new sounds… Eleanor has started to laugh! Like Luke as a baby, it sounds something like a cross between a cough, a growl, and a drawn-out baby coo, but this time, as experienced parents, we’re able to identify it as a laugh much sooner. We love to coax it out of her with our most entertaining faces and tickles!

You can also hear the new sound of Luke identifying letters. My Mom says that I learned to read from my speak ‘n spell toy and Luke seems to be following the same path. His Fisher Price laptop teaches him letters much more effectively than I do, and it’s so cute to hear him mimic it. When he sees the letter ‘L’ for example, he says: “L, lion, laaaa!”

We also have new ‘furniture’. There’s Ellabella’s bumbo! (click here for video)

She loves the new upright vantage point and seems fairly stable and relaxed inside. Don’t you want to kiss those little toes!?!

And we also have this:

A big boy bed for Luke! He loves it, well playing in it that is. The big boy bed thrill seems to supercharge his already impressive bedtime resistance. Despite our best attempts, he usually can’t fall asleep in it until around 10 o’clock! We’re hoping the novelty wears off soon.

We deferred a lot of transitions for Luke over the past six months, not wanting to do them right before/after the new baby adjustment or while we had guests, and as a result a lot of those changes are feeling urgent right now. A few weeks ago we finally got him to completely give up bottles and we just transitioned to having him sit in a chair for time-out (since his time-out pen no longer fits in his room). But the challenge of getting Luke and Eleanor ready to sleep together in the same room can feel a little overwhelming. They each have their own sleep issues and sometimes I wonder if it’s possible to mellow those enough so that they can sleep in the same room. Then I start to think, maybe it would just be easier to buy a bigger house instead!?! Erik doesn’t like to hear that and I don’t really want to move either, and so slowly progress is being made on their sleeping skills.

When I step back from our sleeping conundrum, it’s clear that the euphoric milestones far outweigh the embattled ones. Right now Luke and Erik are at an open house for Lil’ Kickers (a toddler soccer class) and Erik just called to say that Luke is having a terrific time. I can hardly wait to see their excited faces when they come home.

It’s also thrilling (and a little terrifying!) to see Luke’s growing mastery of his balance bike as he cruises down our driveway and over the bump where it meets the road. Here’s a link to a few videos of his early runs. Go Luke, go!!! (but PLEASE don’t fall badly, Mommy gets a little hysterical when she sees precious little people get serious injuries!)

Signs of Spring

2011-04-04T21:52:00.001-06:00

1. Two pots of zinnia seeds sprouting on the window sill. It’s been fun to see how much they’ve leaped up each time I check on them.

2. A camellia bursting into bloom outside our front door. We bought this last year and I’ve loved the glossy evergreen foliage all winter long. Now I’m hoping for some gorgeous blooms!

3. Fun and floral pillows in the living room proclaim spring’s arrival, even when the temps dip back down to chilly outside.

4. And the flowers continue, even into…

our car! Erik won his battle with the giant pampas grass that used to feature in our front yard and so we picked up this tree today to put in its spot. I can’t wait to see it in the ground!

5. Best of all is a little Spring Princess smiling up at me. What a delight to pull out her cute summery outfits!

Three months old!

2011-03-28T22:52:00.001-06:00

On her three month birthday, I thought I would write in with the current stats on our little Ellabella. We love the versatility of the name Eleanor, which lends itself to a number of grown-up nicknames and also affords us a slew of more affectionate terms for our little Elliepie.

Likes/Dislikes

We’ve encouraged her to like a pacifier, and it seems to have mostly worked. She often appreciates the paci when falling asleep or a little upset. We love to put hats on her and she seems to enjoy them too, but if the edge of one slips over her eyes, watch out because she does not like that in the least!

As time goes by, she enjoys watching Luke more and more. We wonder what she must think of his wild antics and sometimes remind her that surely she won’t be so crazy when she turns two. Right, Eleanor?!?

Our favorite Eleanor moments

To our delight she has become more and more of a smiler. Almost every time I come over to her, she beams up at me with the sunniest of smiles.

Sibling report

I still think having two kiddos isn’t double the work of one (because there aren’t enough hours in the day to double the effort you were putting into just one, so with two children both kids just have to wait sometimes). But sometimes it can feel like triple the chaos. Since the beginning Luke has latched onto a somewhat maddening way of letting us know, in case we couldn’t hear it already, that the baby is crying. As if his panicked tone and loud whining isn’t dramatic enough, he can’t say the ‘c’ sound very well. So he tells us “baby die, baby die, baby die” instead, in an ever-escalating tone of hysteria. His concern for his sister is endearing, but I do wish that he would be a little less dramatic about it!

Of course Eleanor doubles her crying when she hears Luke’s tortured cries, which makes Luke cry more, and the cycle continues. My efforts to calm either child are undermined by the other one’s crying!! My least favorite place for this cycle to erupt though, is the car. It makes for a long ride home. Maybe Luke should be concerned about his dear mommy in those moments instead… (:

Our routine

Our routine hasn’t changed so much since my one-month post, but with the warming temps going outside has become a regular part of each day. We usually put her in the shade in her bouncy seat sporting a cute little hat!

Recent milestones

She can roll from her tummy to her back and scooch herself forward a few inches at a time. She has now been delighted to meet all four of her grandparents and her Auntie C. After outgrowing her newborn clothes and most 0-3 months items, she’s moving up to 3-month outfits.

In negative news, it seems she has had not one, not two, but three sicknesses in the past two months! The first was some sort of long-lasting RSV bug. Then came a virus that brought a fever and coughing which also lasted a couple weeks. Currently, she’s recovering from a more mild cold that just seemed to bring nasal congestion. We are very, very sorry that you have been so sick so early little one!!! We’re praying that the string of sickness is over!

Thank you for brightening our lives with your sweet and joyful spirit dear girl! We love you so and pray that God will bless you and shape you to follow Him!

From ‘watch out’ to wonderful

2011-03-28T10:41:00.001-06:00

After 11 tons of gravel delivered and 5 loads of debris removed, it feels our backyard has doubled in size! Since we moved in our sideyard has been something of a wasteland with a crumbling path, overgrown shrubs, and discarded building materials.

I refused to venture much farther in than you see me in the above picture, convinced that there was a distinct possibility that spiders, snakes and maybe even a mountain lion could be making the area their home.

But after much effort these past few weeks, it’s become one of my favorite places to be! Watch it transform in the pics below.

Stage 1: We ordered gravel and cleared the area.

Stage 2: Weed barrier and gravel goes in with help from Nathan and Tucker. Erik and these two supermen got all 11 tons moved in a morning!

Stage 3: Gravel has been raked, leveled, and watered.

Stage 4: Adult and child furnishings have been added.

Stage 5: We laid a flagstone patio for the sitting area and covered the sprinkler pipes. You can tell that a week has passed since the last pic because our pear tree is leafing out.

We’ve all been enjoying the way the wall shelters the sitting area from March’s gusty winds. And the peace of mind that comes from the eliminated wildlife habitat makes outdoor playtime much more carefree. Luke particularly loves the new biking terrain and the designated ‘truck yard’ in the deep gravel behind the shed.

Many more happy family memories will be made here, I think!

(For more photos, click here.)

Luke the “helper”

2011-03-27T22:02:00.001-06:00

Luke’s participation in a project is a bit of a mixed bag.

Daddy works hard on digging out our leaky sprinkler pipes.

Luke backfills. (Yes, that brown blur is dirt descending into the trench.)

When the time comes to fill in the hole, Luke has already practiced and brings out his heavy machinery.

Daddy works hard to dump all the rock in the right places. Luke’s truck got the wrong directive and we found it dumping gravel into the grass.

He got back on track though when Mommy was planting pansies.

And this one could go either way. Luke checking in on Eleanor.

Whether helping or hindering, you make every project more exciting Luke-a-duke!

Counting the hours…

2011-03-24T08:17:00.001-06:00

Erik’s first trip after Eleanor’s birth did not bode well for this week. When 5 o’clock struck with sick children and no hope of a knight on a white horse headed my way, I pressed the escape button. I strapped both kiddos into their car seats, hoping to avert Eleanor’s fussy evening period with a soothing car ride.

Luke of course needed more than engine noises for entertainment, so we drove to the construction site across from our church to look at the vehicles left there, and put his favorite song on repeat. We “wiggled it like Piglet” as the chorus goes, more times than you can imagine.

This week Erik has been gone again for a longer trip, and I’ve successfully made it through without resorting once to aimless car rides. Hurray! Last night was our most positive evening yet, with a smooth bedtime for Ela-belle followed by a nice playtime with Luke. We colored in the book I helped him make (we just stapled paper together and glued in pictures he chose from magazines) and assembled puzzles together. I just love the Melissa & Doug puzzle boxes – they’re a satisfying challenge for him so we’re both excited as he figures out each piece and there are fun ways to make them more challenging over time.

Then came the grand finale – Luke’s second successful potty visit! I don’t know if I’m ready for full-blown potty training quite yet, but it’s exciting to see his interest in it… or is it interest in my M&M reward system and his new potty book (Even Firefighters Go to the Potty)?

I was very proud of my big boy, but I’m even happier that my knight’s white horse is due back later today. Even though last night went well, I don’t think it would take too much longer for me to hit another car ride evening!

Their cuteness (and a little high-test coffee) does cover most of the chaos though, so I’ll sip my cup and leave you with a few recent pics.

Luke the aviator

2011-03-17T15:47:00.001-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen met their first granddaughter a few weeks ago. Do you think she was a heart-stealer?

Luke of course thought that they were just here for nonstop playtime with him!

While they were here, we spent an afternoon visiting the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. We were delighted when it opened near our house soon after we moved to ABQ. What its aircraft collection lacks in explanatory placards, it makes up for in surreal proportions and interesting photo opportunities.

The gargantuan scale and diversity of the museum’s outdoor aircraft collection is astounding. Inside, they had plenty of exhibits that Luke could touch and play with, including an antique pedoscope that used to be commonly used in shoe stores to image people’s feet until it was banned due to its x-ray radiation! They also had several exhibits dealing with the atomic bomb: Erik and I left sobered by the magnitude of nuclear destruction and having learned several interesting historical tidbits.

It’s hard to believe it took us so long to visit the Nuclear Museum, but hopefully we’ll find a time to bring our little aviator back soon. Thank you for taking us Grandma and Grandpa!

Thank you, Osh Kosh!

2011-03-16T15:34:00.001-06:00

Luke: Hey, Eleanor, isn’t it so cool that we have matching outfits?

Eleanor: I can’t believe I’m wearing clothes that match my brother’s! Mom, take these overalls off me right now!

L: Well, I think we look pretty cute.

E: This is so embarrassing!

L: Here comes the hug monster!

E: Back off, big boy!

L & E: Truce??

L & E: I think we’ve lost interest in this photo shoot.

L: Now that we’re outside are you having fun?

E: Where are those explosive bodily fluids when I need them??

A sick buckaroo

2011-03-08T18:08:00.001-07:00

It seems there’s some sort of fever + coughing bug that has taken up residence in our home. This morning, just as I was getting over it, Luke woke up with a fever. Our little boy has had two fevers while we were away, but this was his first real fever at home. And I think it was the first time that he’s done this:

I had just taken his temperature (102.6) but I didn’t really need to. Putting his head down on his high chair must be at least as reliable at revealing fevers as a thermometer.

And please don’t judge me for his lunch. Yes, he is eating a chocolate chocolate chip muffin top, plums, and two types of juice, but at least it was a VITA-muffin, 100% whole grain! And who wants to say no to a whiny, sick two-year-old?

Soon after that pic was snapped, Luke pointed to his head and said ‘hurts’. Then he said ‘little boom’ because we call falls booms in our house. He was likening the pain in his head to a small head injury. A moment later he reconsidered and said ‘big boom’!

And the hat, you ask? He kept telling me ‘brrr! cold!’ so I let him wear his special hat to ward off the fever chills. Even though sickness gives Mommy an excuse to indulge your whims the way she likes to, munchkin, we do hope you feel better soon!

Taking clean a little too far

2011-03-02T23:45:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, Erik walked into the bathroom to find that Luke had taken a bite out of… CLEAN!

His generous bite from the soap bar may signify yet another punishment that is ineffective on our little boy. Thank goodness for his time-out pen!

The incident simultaneously adds to our blog post series on unusual items our boy has eaten and to our series on strange things he’s left for us in the bathroom. This time, Erik interviewed the taste-tester and we just adore his expressions in the video found here.

In other news, we’ve been doing lots of work on our yard and will eventually share a little tour with you. In the meantime, here’s a glimpse of Luke’s favorite part of the project so far.

We’ve been so proud when he’s helped us gather leaves and sticks. And he recently added a kitchen chore to his repertoire. Putting away silverware!

How else can we channel your energy in positive directions and keep you too busy to eat funny things, little boy??

Luke turns two!

2011-03-01T10:56:00.001-07:00

Our sweet boy traded up to two and added a very grown-up ‘s’ to the word ‘year’ in his age. For weeks we had prepped him for the big day so that when asked how old he is, he would reply TWO, at least most of the time. About a third of the time he says three, which seems to be his favorite number because when you ask him the quantity of any item, it’s usually three.

Auntie C came to town to help us celebrate and we all started out the big day with a trip to the zoo. Luke had only been on the zoo train once before so it seemed a fittingly special birthday treat.

Of course, riding anything without sitting in a car seat is novel for Luke, but the train that he had waved to enthusiastically on so many zoo visits was particularly exciting.

He liked the animals too, but just like last time it was hard for them to compete with the thrill of climbing on the rocks with Daddy while I fed Eleanor.

Then we came home to bake a cake while Luke napped, and of course the birthday boy got to have a few samples when he woke up.

I think it passed the taste test, do you?

We decorated a bit

and even the littlest family member put on a party dress. I think she may have thought the hat was a little much though.

Then Luke blew the cake candles – he didn’t quite manage to blow them out but Erik did document the blowing! (Plus we have videos of our whole bday evening here. Watching them, it strikes me that the adults seem to have a lot more fun with the cake routine than either of our children!)

We love you so much sweet one, what a wonderful year we’ve had with you. We’ve seen you develop your first passion (vehicles, especially trucks), begin to play imaginatively (so much more fun for Mommy than just stacking blocks!), show tender compassion (for your little sis when she cries), and pick up countless new skills. You admirably transitioned from our baby to the big brother, and your exuberant personality fills our home with activity, noise, and great joy!

Home is where the HEART is

2011-02-15T17:02:00.001-07:00

With all this cold weather and a new baby, we’ve been spending a lot of time at home. All this houseboundness inspired me to liven up our abode with a little red and pink decorating. Of course Erik, Luke and Eleanor aren’t the most appreciative audience for my efforts, so I capitalized on my decorating impulse by hosting a little Valentine’s brunch for some friends.

I brought out the felt heart garland I made last year and sewed two more to match. I adored hearts as a little girl and haven’t outgrown my partiality to them yet!

Beautiful Valentine’s Day flowers from Erik were the perfect centerpiece. He really spoiled me with blooms this year!

Of course I love an excuse to use pretty glasses and linens too.

I didn’t want the living room to feel left out, so I printed a V-Day poster, popped it in a frame, and hung it over the mantle.

Up next is Luke’s second birthday this Saturday. I still haven’t decided whether I should take the hearts down for his celebration or leave some of them up. Auntie C is coming to visit and we can’t wait to have a little family party with her!

Even cuter in pink!

2011-02-15T14:49:00.001-07:00

We couldn’t let Eleanor’s first V-Day pass without a little photo shoot. In candy hearts speak – U R 2 CUTE!

Your smiles steal our hearts and we’re captivated by all your thoughtful expressions too.

We could eat you with a spoon, little girl!

Her big bro is pretty enamored too.

Don’t they make the cutest little pair?

We had a super-sweet Valentine’s Day with our precious heart-melters and hope you had a special day too!

Neighborhood ‘triathlon’ with Luke

2011-02-14T08:52:00.001-07:00

Come along with us for Luke’s typical three-event adventures in our neighborhood! First up is a walk across the arroyo, enjoying the expansive views of the protected open space south of the city. We keep our eyes peeled for wildlife and once we spotted a tarantula on the sidewalk! Our neighbor tops that tale though. On an evening walk on this stretch, he heard what sounded like a sprinkler starting up. So he leaned down to inspect it and found himself face-to-face with the real source of the sound, a rattlesnake! But much more typical is a tumbleweed sighting, like this pair from our walk last weekend:

Next comes a triathlon mainstay, bike riding. Luke always asks for his dad to ride with him, and I love to watch my two Lances outside together!

Truck-chasing, Luke’s third event, is much less standard for triathlons. But when you’re jogging after the garbage truck as it makes the neighborhood rounds, it almost counts! This week we’ve had easy pickings with front row seats for all sorts of fantastic trucks at a road repair site around the corner.

We’ll be sad to see that job completed, but other friendly trucks come through often so our triathlon training will continue unhindered. And come summer, there’s always the kiddie pool for cross-training!

Playroom reveal!

2011-02-08T19:20:00.001-07:00

When we’re ready to move Eleanor’s bassinet out of our room, we hope that she and Luke will share his room and quiet each other when they wake up in the night. But we’ll be happy as long as they don’t keep each other up! A shared kids’ room leaves our third bedroom free for use as a playroom, with a guest room alter ego. I’ll save the guest room setup of this room for another post, but today I thought I’d share our playroom with you. Here’s a first peek with the playroom princess.

We tried to keep the room gender-neutral and not too juvenile since it hosts adults from time to time. We accented the sunny space with an outdoorsy theme… butterflies! Eleanor loves to watch them flutter from the ceiling:

And I like the modern look of the grid of oversized ones above the bed:

The room’s other art extends the nature theme. Of course we had to feature our little naturalist (plus a few of his friends from our Grand Lake trip) in the frame next to the closet.

And we have a special find from the Grand Lake Art Gallery. It’s too bad for my sailor husband that the boat is motor instead of sail powered, but I just love the joyful, relaxed spirit that this painting exudes!

The window was a challenge. Securing the curtain rod over such a wide window was tough, and sewing the white panel for the top half-circle was a stretch for my novice sewing skills. I still need to try to lengthen the gingham curtains and find better tie-backs. But imperfections and all, here are the window treatments for our home’s one wonderfully sunny window.

My favorite room element is the bedding. It helps that it adorns the trundle bed that my sister and I slept on as kids. Now we turn the tables and make my parents sleep on it when they come to visit! But I hope they’re comfortable and I do love the girly, brass bed and look forward to seeing Eleanor use it one day. I think the white floral matelassé mattress cover and bed skirt accent it perfectly. Both were lucky ebay finds: I love it when a poorly photographed, gently used item auctions off for cheap! The white cover isn’t particularly kid-friendly, but I tell Luke that sitting here is for adults only. Is that unfair?

With all these bright colors plus a frequent rainbow of toys on the floor, we painted the walls a neutral khaki-grey (Behr Baked Biscotti). We had already painted every other room in our home, so this job completed our whole-house repaint. Erik was delighted to reach that point, so I think we might have to move before I get to pick any new paint colors…

I love how this small room accomplishes so many functions without looking too dominated by any of them. Erik’s old clunky TV tucks under the table, creating a kid-level viewing area. Our documents are stored in the brown filing cabinet that functions as an end table. The guest bed doubles as a couch and a safer spot for Eleanor when Luke is playing on the floor. And there’s even a workspace for my sewing machine and storage for Luke’s toys!

But the best multi-tasker is the big sunny window. It injects some much-needed warmth and brightness into our home since we don’t get much direct sun from our other windows. Plus it’s perfect for watching Erik arrive home on his bike, the garbage truck pass by, our neighbor zoom up on his motorcycle, Christmas lights twinkling, or dogs being walked in our cul-de-sac. So that wraps up our playroom tour! You can find me and my two munchkins hanging out there most days of the week!

Swinging temps & toddlers

2011-02-04T22:53:00.001-07:00

What a crazy couple days it’s been here! Yesterday the recorded low in ABQ was –7 and with windchill it was around –30. On the weather they said that NM’s lows for the morning were colder than any other state in the continental US! And that wasn’t the only seemingly impossible news of the morning. Natural gas heat had been shut off for a number of homes and many business in Albuquerque, with the threat of much wider heat losses, due to high demand and rolling blackouts across the Southwest. Erik was sent home early because the gas was unexpectedly cut to the entire Air Force base (where he works) just before 9 am yesterday. Meanwhile we were conserving energy at home hoping to avoid a loss of heat ourselves. Since we don’t have a wood-burning fireplace or space heaters our heat loss plan was to pile into our bed with its electric heating pad on high and lots of covers! Thankfully it never came to that and the outages are lifting now. But who knew that such a thing was even possible after such a brief cold snap?

But now for some heartwarming kiddos and the real stars of this blog. Our housebound status prompted us to finally set up Luke’s baby swing and try it out with Eleanor. Luke practiced pushing it without her inside first, and then he did a pretty good job once she was strapped in. But he found spinning the mobile for her even more intriguing, and she might have liked that better too.

Luke helpfully tried to press the swing’s buttons, but they didn’t work since we’ve decided that it’s most entertaining for everyone if it’s fueled by Luke-power alone.

It was so sweet to see the swing give Luke and Eleanor their first taste of playing together. They were both enjoying and interacting with the same toy, and it was even pretty safe for a little babe!

Plus it was way cozier than riding this around outside, which is what Luke had done with me as his playmate earlier that day. Spring isn’t in next week’s forecast but hopefully it isn’t too far away!

Snow day

2011-02-01T22:45:00.001-07:00

Before I moved to Albuquerque my standards for ‘windy’ were much milder. But even based on my new metric, the wind outside is fierce tonight. We got our share of today’s mega-snowstorm, as my kitchen window verifies:

If you look closely, you can see that even at 1 pm the outdoor temp is reading 14 degrees, and there is a fine layer of SNOW that has blown inside! BRRR, as Luke likes to say these days! You’ll also notice that the indoor temp is 52 degrees. That’s why everyone brings extra layers when they come to visit us! But don’t worry, we turn up the heat for guests (:

The biggest up-side to the snow was that Erik only had to work a partial day. It was wonderful to have him home with us mid-week and perhaps even more wonderful to watch him play with Luke in the snow through the window instead of needing to be out there with the snow-bear myself!

Tomorrow, the high is 14 but Erik has an important meeting at work so no more hooky for him. If only Luke were as deterred by the frigid temps as I am! I’m sure that when he wakes up he’ll immediately find his boots and bring them to me saying ‘outside’ just like he did today. What a crazy guy, he even eats the snow!

One month old!

2011-01-28T23:46:00.001-07:00

Our little Eleanor turns one month old today! Already it’s hard to imagine our family without her sweet, cuddly self. As she grows and changes so quickly in these early months, I thought I’d write a little snapshot of her now.

Her likes/dislikes

Eleanor loves her carseat! We strap her in and cover the seat with its pink cover and it sends her into dreamland for hours on end. She also loves to be held and carried around. She does not enjoy being cold, making baths and diaper/clothing changes low on her list.

She isn’t especially fond of being swaddled either. Swaddling seems to help her sleep by preventing her from inadvertently swatting her face with her hands, but she does her best to wiggle her arms out and then spends several minutes stretching and arching her head back when she is finally freed.

Our favorite Eleanor moments

Smiles! She’s had a number of smiles that seem to be a response to our interaction with her. Of course it’s hard to be certain of their origin, but nonetheless we melt for each precious one. We also love to hold her and the sweet way she seems most content when cuddled close after being fed.

Sibling report

Eleanor remains peaceful amidst Luke’s boisterous play, even when it comes alarmingly close to her head (fortunately no injuries yet). Luke errs in the opposite direction, still a little spooked by her mild squawks and cries. But when she’s content he loves to give her kisses and check up on her. Sometimes his desire to ‘help’ by giving her the pacifier makes my heart race -- I need to find safer ways for him to enjoy helping!

Our routine

Almost immediately we established a great nighttime routine with Eleanor . We wake her up to eat one last time around 11 just before we go to bed. Then I feed her around 3 am (and usually help Luke settle down around then too since Eleanor’s slight sounds seem to rouse him) and Erik kindly gets up for the ~6 am feeding before starting work. This past week though, several times she’s eaten around 4 am and then slept in until 7 or later which has been terrific!

I sometimes feel a little guilty because Luke takes most of my attention when he’s awake, but Eleanor and I enjoy some precious snuggle time during Luke’s nap and Erik and I love to dote on her when Luke goes down for the night.

This month’s milestones

Lots of firsts already! First smiles; first trips to the zoo/aquarium/botanic gardens; and first mini hike at Tent Rocks National Monument. Hopefully we plan a little better for her second hike though… Eleanor stayed warm snuggled in the moby wrap, but the rest of us lacked sufficient layers for the chilly winds. Luke wouldn’t admit he was cold because he was so enthralled by all the big rocks, but his red nose and goosebumps wouldn’t deny it! Eleanor must know that it’s in her interest to toughen up fast and has filled out some these last few weeks. She already feels a little heftier to hold and seems stronger and more coordinated. We’re so thankful for the smooth transition into the world you’ve had, sweet girl!

Holding babies: a cautionary tale by Luke

2011-01-26T15:26:00.001-07:00

Well, it seems that even though I can run at toddler-warp-speed, my baby sister has already beat me on something! How come she got to write her own blog post before me? Shouldn’t she have been excluded by some sort of age restriction?!

So, I’ve decided to level the playing field with a post of my own. I know there are some toddlers out there with baby siblings on the way who must be wondering what it’s like to hold a newborn. Read on for the big bro straight scoop by Luke! Okay, this is the position to shoot for. Don’t be too concerned about the baby, they’re used to being contorted in all sorts of strange positions in the womb so really any position is fine for them. Just be sure that your hands are free – you’ll need those later. And a seat with good lumbar support is nice too.

Then take a moment to appreciate how small and sweet your sibling is. I hear that before you know it they can pursue and chew your toys, so this stage should be savored.

Now you’ve done enough savoring. You want to go play with those toys before your sibling starts crawling toward them! Raise your hands to flag down your closest attendant.

What, no service?! Amp up the waving and add a few whines. That should draw some attention.

Now give that baby a parting smooch. The paparazzi love that shot and it’s been shown to improve your odds of getting dessert.

Whew, this baby-holding can wear a person out! Good thing we toddlers are so low-maintenance. Okay, gotta go – it’s about time Dad gave me another horsie-ride and Mom needs to make more play-dough fire trucks… catch you later!

Bear attack, by Eleanor

2011-01-18T17:48:00.001-07:00

Hello fan club, Eleanor here! I’d like you to meet my Snuffles bear. He came a little bigger than expected, but this gives me the perfect opportunity to teach some of you other babies out there how to survive a bear attack, stuffed or otherwise.

So let’s get right to it. Keep in mind that bears can smell fear… and many other things, like dirty diapers. So it’s very important to keep calm and sweet-smelling. And if that’s not possible I recommend Pampers Pepper-boom^TM diapers for newborns.* While not a favorite among parents, the powerful spray of eye-burning pepper released when these diapers are bitten has saved lives.

When attacked by a bear, the first thing to do is protect your precious baby eyes, particularly in the event of a butt-bite.

At this point, the bear may close in on your head, so I recommend periodically jabbing his nose with your fist to hold him at bay. Another good strategy would be to roll over and protect your soft underbelly. But since we’re such little babies we can’t do that yet.

If he fails to relent after several rounds of nose pounding, this would be a good time to throw up your hands and scream like a girl (don’t worry boys, I won’t tell anyone).

Please keep in mind these are only demonstrations – Snuffles and I are really good friends. And if he does act up, I can always pull out a little baby jujitsu on him – so long as I’m propped up like this.

Well that’s all for now! Stay tuned for more practical defense techniques; I’m thinking we’ll cover rabid raccoons and chipmunks next, or perhaps the fiercest predator of all – the toddler sibling.

* If these diapers are unavailable near you, I’m told that eating lots of peppery foods has similar results.

Lions & duplos & scissors, oh my!

2011-01-16T21:22:00.001-07:00

Eleanor’s first trip to the zoo cemented our reclassification as a family of four. With the double stroller out, two kiddos strapped in, and several bags of gear stashed in the cargo pockets, there was no question that our kid to parent ratio had doubled. Wheeling the stroller’s bulky profile down the zoo paths, it felt as if even the zoo’s fiercer residents (if freed) might pause to let us pass given the width of our berth.

Last summer I did my research on double strollers and settled upon the Baby Jogger City Mini (double) as my wheels of choice. One never showed up on ABQ’s Craig’s List, but during our August trip to NC, serendipity struck and we left with the perfect gently used City Mini double. Erik calls me a Craig’s List fiend since I buy things there even 1700 miles from home. But on its first few uses it’s already proven itself worth the extra baggage hassle, maneuvering dreamily and keeping our kiddos super comfy.

The zoo’s attractions couldn’t compete with the smooth ride for Eleanor and she spent her first zoo trip peacefully asleep. Luke would sweetly peek in at her from time to time to make sure she was still there, and so would we!

Luke was even happier when we took him OUT of the stroller and let him run around. A fallen tree trunk to climb on might have been his favorite zoo ‘exhibit’.

Albuquerque’s Craig’s List may be limited in the stroller category, but not so in the toy department! We used it to buy Luke a Duplo collection last weekend and he has been playing with it nonstop since. All of the sudden he can put the pieces together on his own, a perfect activity when Mom is busy with the baby. He still gets frustrated sometimes and brings them to me for ‘elp’ (help) but he is making major progress! He now has almost as much fun creating structures with them as Daddy does. (:

Our final news item is a little emotional. It involves one of our son’s most charming features. And scissors. On Friday we took him to Jungle Cuts Kids’ Salon and he went from this:

to this:

Dramatic, right? I learned that Disney movies are the secret weapon for children’s haircuts and that while I know how to describe a cut for myself, I don’t yet have the vocabulary or precise enough opinions for boys’ cuts. Thanks to my inability to articulate what I wanted, it didn’t come out exactly as I’d intended. Plus I miss the blond highlights that showed up when it was longer. But I do love the way it is so neatly cut and it is wonderful not to have hair in his eyes anymore. I’m hoping that in a month or so it will grow out to become the perfect cut and in the meantime I’m enjoying the way it eliminates his tangles problem!

Backtrack to Christmas

2011-01-11T21:48:00.001-07:00

This Christmas was a particularly magical one for all of us. Luke, almost two, fell in love for the first time with the excitement of presents and Christmas decorations. For Erik and me, the story of our Savior’s birth held a new poignancy as an expecting parent’s wonder and concern centered in our minds because of Eleanor’s 12/28 due date. For all of us, it was a change from our pattern of traveling to visit family for the winter holidays, giving it an unfamiliar quiet and unstructured feel. Somehow it felt strangely grown-up and parental to be having Christmas on our own!

Christmas morning, Erik and I gave Luke his first holiday hint by taking him out of his crib wearing Santa hats. I don’t think he knew what to make of that, but no explanation was needed when he came out and saw our tree transformed by a bounty of gifts! He gleefully ran to the toddler-sized wheelbarrow that my parents had sent and commenced pushing it in laps around the house, loading it with gifts as he went.

Next we opened stockings, including one for Eleanor, and headed next door for breakfast with our neighbors. At the neighbors’ and during our Christmas skype conversations with our families, Luke showed off his two holiday party tricks:

1) an imitation of a reindeer lawn ornament

2) answering the question ‘what does Santa say?’ with an adorable ‘o, o, o!’

We took our time between presents, helping Luke set up and play with each toy as it was received.

It was especially sweet to include Eleanor in the family festivities by opening a few presents for her. Luke did an admirable job unwrapping her gifts and seemed to at least partly understand that they were for his soon-to-arrive baby sister. Though that didn’t stop him from trying them out himself!

Then we made paninis, an easy family favorite, and watched part of The Muppets Christmas Carol – a tradition from Erik’s childhood. Erik and I finished the evening with Christmas music playing and a fire in our fireplace, counting our many blessings together.

Lessons from Eleanor’s first week

2011-01-09T11:40:00.001-07:00

Well, time is flying by with Eleanor! Before it gets too distant, I wanted to write up a few notes from our first week with our little girl.

Lesson #1: Cloth diapering with a newborn – it can last about 4 hours when you only have 6 extra-small diapers. The continuous soundtrack to our home is the laundry machine. But before I know it I’m sure she’ll fit size small diapers, which we have plenty of.

Lesson #2: Eleanor is a serene child, peacefully accepting the chaos of her big brother’s antics and occasional delays in her food or changing. Luke is more of an intense child, whole-heartedly expressing his emotions, whether they be hunger, frustration, or (thankfully most often) happy excitement! It’s amazing how having a sibling to compare with makes both of their personalities more evident.

Lesson #3: While generally serene, our little girl isn’t fond of clothing changes. She must be thinking – “this would never happen in the womb” – as Erik likes to say.

Lesson #4: We’re second-timers at the newborn drill, but for Luke it’s all brand new. So Erik and I have been much less unnerved by the sound of newborn crying this time, especially since Eleanor is so easy to soothe. But Luke can’t tolerate the crying. One little squawk and he is sprinting away from her as if it were a war cry. And if she lets out a wail he quickly joins in with very distressed crying of his own. I don’t appreciate the added chaos of a second crying baby, but my heart is warmed by the brotherly sympathy it seems to show!

Lesson #5: A crazy day can get crazier! The day after Eleanor was born, we had a somewhat hectic time getting discharged at the hospital, and then rushed home so Erik could head back out to pick up my parents from the airport. Just five minutes into that trip he braked for a car stuck in his lane and he was rear-ended! Thankfully there were no real injuries and our car is still driveable, but trying to straighten that out (we still don’t have insurance info from the other driver) has been a bit of a headache this past week.

Lesson #6: A confession about life with two: it isn’t really double the work. No matter how many kids you have they take up most of your time. With two, you just give your attention to whoever most urgently needs it at the moment. And then there are times when they have simultaneous super-poops or Eleanor’s crying sets off Luke and it can be hard to choose, but ultimately someone is prioritized and someone has to wait. I can still only care for one child emergency at a time!

For us right now, it’s Luke who needs attention more often than Eleanor. She is content to sleep or spectate in her bouncy seat most of the time, while Luke clamors for a playmate fairly constantly. So I have to be careful to carve out time to just focus on Eleanor so that Luke doesn’t dominate all of our attention with his more vocal requests for it. Plus she is such a sweet cuddlebug to sit and love on. She definitely makes it worthwhile by sweetly looking into my eyes as her tiny precious frame snuggles in my arms. What a joy our first week and a half with her has been. She truly is the perfect addition to our family!

A family tradition

2011-01-08T10:45:00.001-07:00

After Luke was born, our first family outing was to a garden center. This past Monday, we decided to repeat that trip with our little Eleanor, making her first destination a nursery named ‘Plants of the Southwest’. My concern for germs far outweighs my concern for cool temps, so even in the winter months a garden center is super newborn-friendly in my book. As soon as Luke glimpsed their collection of wagons, he heartily approved of our new tradition as well.

Of course a wagon isn’t complete without someone to push in it. We just needed a ‘baby on board’ bumper sticker to complete the scene:

The tradition suits Erik and me well too since my parents have visited soon after both children’s births and we always love to get their expert advice on what to plant in our yard. This time, they helped us collect ideas for our side yard which we’d like to one day reclaim from the wild and for our front yard which we have aspirations to xeriscape.

But of course we didn’t just talk plants with my parents. Here are a few pics of them with our munchkins. Luke is still making a racecar version of ‘vroom, vroom’ noises the way my dad did with him…

and he hasn’t forgotten making brownies with Nika! I hope he remembers that for a long time because this level of participation won’t be permitted again until she comes back!

Papi and Nika were also wooed by their newest grandchild – little Eleanor! They helped put on her hat fashion show (photos here), ran errands, helped take care of both kiddos, and cooked marvelous meals. Here you see Eleanor posing with Papi in her cow outfit in honor of his dairy farm roots. Luke did the same thing as a newborn here!

Today we’re thinking of taking our second family outing since Eleanor’s birth. Poor Luke has been confined to the house mostly, because I suspect that Eleanor’s first sickness will be a gift from her big brother. So our plan is to stick with outdoor destinations and head to the biopark, double stroller and blankets in tow!

Luke meets Eleanor!

2011-01-01T22:25:00.001-07:00

Luke’s curiosity about Eleanor is a little bit tentative. He always wants to know where she is and likes to peer in at her, but he’s a little skittish when asked about holding her and has yet to take that plunge. Maybe he knows himself better than his parents do, because just an hour after we came home from the hospital, Eleanor had a narrow escape from his foot. When we lie down on the floor, it’s an invitation for our energetic Luke-boy to jump on us. So when we all sat on the floor, with Eleanor lying in the middle, first Luke was very doting, bringing blanket after blanket to place on his baby. But then his role suddenly changed from nurturing to playful and he started barreling toward Eleanor’s blanket. Erik swept him up just as his foot planted on her forehead. Thankfully he hadn’t placed any weight on it yet! He seemed to instantly realize that he could have hurt her, and both children started crying at the same time. Eleanor calmed down before Luke did, but neither were distressed for long, and now after a few days without any further incidents, Erik and I can laugh about it too.

Mostly though, Luke has a tender sweetness toward his little sis. When he sees her, he always wants to give her a gentle kiss. Usually he doesn’t even plant it on her skin but kisses the air just above her head. When we hold her, he points to her bouncy seat saying ‘it’ – requesting that she sit there so he can see her better and sometimes bounce her. He knows her name is Eleanor, but opts to cutely call her ‘baby’ instead.

Much of the time though, Luke’s interest in his sister is quickly outmatched by the appeal of his new Christmas toys and his visiting grandparents. With them here, he seems to be adjusting relatively easily to sharing his parents with a little sister. But more striking has been the smoothness of Eleanor’s adjustment to the world outside the womb. She seems to be a wonderfully patient, contented baby, rarely crying and quickly consoled. Caring for her puts our memory of Luke as a baby in a new light – maybe he was a colicky child after all! Here’s hoping the relatively peaceful transition continues…

Click here for a cute video of Luke & Eleanor and find lots more baby pics here.

Meet Eleanor Thessalia! Her name & mini birth story

2010-12-29T11:46:00.001-07:00

Our sweet little girl arrived yesterday! Her name Eleanor means shining light and we love the way it matches Luke’s name, which also means light. Now we have two little lights to love!

We also like the connection between shining light and the Christmas season of Eleanor’s birth. This is the time when we celebrate God’s gift of light to the world in Christ, and so we like that her name captures a piece of that most momentous birth too.

Her middle name Thessalia is in honor of Erik’s mother and great-grandmother. We are delighted to be able to link her to these two very talented and caring women, and we also like that their name reminds us of the two New Testament letters to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 5:23-24).

While her name matches her brother’s closely, her arrival couldn’t have been more the opposite. Luke was over two pounds heavier and it took almost three hours of pushing before he was born, which happened 5 hours after I reached 10 cm! In hopes of avoiding that, Eleanor was induced (with pitocin) on her due date. She arrived only fifteen minutes after I’d been pronounced 8 cm, coming out during just one dramatic contraction which included my water breaking! Needless to say we are all feeling much more chipper following her delivery and are most thankful that both babies arrived perfectly healthy.

We had some wonderful friends from church watch Luke for us last night, and now Erik is home with him for a bit before they both come back to the hospital to take me and Eleanor home. We can’t wait for Luke to meet his sister then!!

Luke’s partners in crime

2010-12-22T22:31:00.001-07:00

Recently we busted a crime ring. Their hideout was Luke’s bedroom and their illicit activities took place at approximately 8:30 pm each night. Take note of the ringleader:

For the past few weeks, Luke’s ability to sleep through the night had deteriorated drastically. While a full night of zzz’s had previously been the norm, he had begun waking up once an hour or more in an inconsolable state, beginning around 1 am. We tried all sorts of measures and finally targeted his bedtime. The little boy would seem fairly peaceful when we put him in his crib around 8 pm. But then we would hear his happy talking noises until 10 pm or later! Since he was fairly quiet and happy, we didn’t see it as a problem until he started crying around 10, and then he would need a little reassurance before he would finally fall asleep.

Well, eventually it dawned on us that staying up too late in his crib must be making him so overtired that he wasn’t able to settle back to sleep during the night. But we weren’t sure how to encourage him to fall asleep sooner. After all, when we left him we made sure he had his night light on, his shushing machine playing softly, and his favorite blankets and stuffed animals at his side. Wait! The stuffed animals! They must be the main participants in all the animated talking and moving around that we heard from the living room. So Erik decided to try removing them from Luke’s crib.

When he walked in to do so, he found Luke jumping Mr. Chipmunk from wall to wall – a red-handed arrest. Once the animals were removed, Luke has settled down to sleep in just 10 minutes or so and is back to sleeping through the night! Who would have known that such sweet looking toys would be criminal influences on our child? Perhaps that chipmunk does have a suspicious look to him now that we think about it. Daytime activities only from now on for him!

Luke’s first snowman

2010-12-20T22:35:00.001-07:00

Last week brought the season’s second snowfall (read about the first one here), coating the grass and even the roads with an inch or two of snow! First Luke monitored the accumulation…

And then he got ready to face the elements!

Erik made a marvelous snowman and I added accessories. Don’t you love the pink cheeks? All that took was a spritz of food coloring tinted water, though I’d suggest using a proper spray bottle so that it might be less apt to seep down Frosty’s face…

Luke’s admiration of our handiwork didn’t last long, soon he was back to munching on handfuls of snow

and snowmobiling. Looks like Luke should have opted for the winter package on his cozy coupe -- but he did get the CB antenna!

Despite his soggy pants and gloves, Luke would confidently reply ‘O!’ whenever asked if he was cold. So a few tears were shed when it was time to go inside. But once he was cozy with an ‘ibbit” (Lukespeak for blanket) on the couch, he was all smiles once again.

Merry Christmas to me!

2010-12-19T22:20:00.001-07:00

Erik gave me the perfect gift this Christmas and strategically completed it a few weeks early. For years, jackets left on the couch, a pile of shoes by the door, and bags set on the table have been my nemeses! But without an easy place to store these outlaws, I’ve had little success in keeping them in line. But now a new sheriff is in town, and we have a mini-mudroom in our entry to corral these offending articles!

I bought the bench online and Erik used paint leftover from our cabinets to give it a crisp white finish. He also made a matching hook rack. I love the time-worn dark grey finish on these vintage hooks, found on ebay.

Then we picked up a few baskets for shoes from Target and our entry miscellany was corralled! Now there’s even room to add another little person’s shoes, coats, and bags to our home. Thank you Erik, it’s just what I wanted for Christmas!

Our baby Luke

2010-12-17T00:03:00.001-07:00

The end of Luke’s tenure as our only baby feels a little bittersweet. We can’t wait to meet our already-adored little girl, but I don’t entirely relish how a baby sister will bump our sweet Luke out of the baby role in our family. Both in our eyes and his own, it will suddenly be clear that he’s light years away from a newborn and we’ll all start to see him as more of a big kid and maybe even a little helper. I know I’ll miss the luxury of time I have to spend playing with and caring for him now, noting his every cute phrase and action.

So here are some things about Luke right now that I just love.

How he says his name – ‘ook’.
His astonishing sense of direction. It took me some time to get to know my way around the curving streets of our neighborhood, but Luke already has a surefire sense for which way you need to turn to get to the playground. If we’re out on a walk and we don’t make the turns that will take us there, he instantly starts to whine and cry!
The way he bends over with one hand on his head to sign reindeer when he wants us to take him out to see the neighbors’ Christmas lawn ornaments.
The cute way he kicks his stuffed soccer ball around the house.
How he knows the difference between a wheel and a tire thanks to his daddy.
The way he rocks his whole body when he nods yes. It is so earnest and eager and adorable!

How he tap dances like Elmo on his ‘the Best of Elmo’ DVD. (I also love the eighties-style ‘Five’ song on that DVD!)
How he’s quick to say ‘shhhh’ when he sees an animal or person sleeping. Hopefully this bodes well for him respecting little sister’s naptimes!
How he thinks Albuquerque is full of fire trucks because of all the red public transit buses. When I try to describe why they aren’t fire trucks, I realize that the difference is rather subtle if you can’t read!
How he waves bye and blows kisses without prompting, which is especially entertaining when those kisses are received by the tough guys on the sanitation truck who aren’t quite sure how to respond.
How he tells me ‘it’ while pointing to a spot on the carpet when he wants me to sit and play with him.

It’s so much fun to see the world in new ways through his happy, inquisitive, active exploration of it!

Christmas wonders

2010-12-15T22:22:00.001-07:00

Thanks to our baby girl (due in less than two weeks!), we’ll be spending Christmas in our own home, a first for us as a couple. We also recently hosted two Christmas parties and a few small get-togethers, which adds up to an unprecedented dose of decorating incentive. But most motivational of all is our precious Luke boy who is just enthralled by Christmas lights and symbols!

Our tree definitely got the Luke treatment. After considering buying a real one, we opted to pull out our skinny artificial standby to avoid policing him on de-needling. Then we added colored lights, which he delights to identify, and used non-breakable ornaments exclusively. We love our fun, stress-free tree and the hours of toddler entertainment it has provided.

Luke ‘helped’ put up the tree and add lights, but we waited until he was in bed to decorate further (is that cruel?). The next morning he was so enraptured that he tried to give each ornament a kiss!

He was also pretty delighted when he saw the reindeer on his stocking. But his eyes really widened when I said there would be presents inside on Christmas!

We love our nativity set, but keep it up high until Luke gets a little more trustworthy with his ‘gentle’ skills. In the meantime we have a terrific fisher-price version that we can use to talk about the Christmas story with him.

Things are looking pretty Christmas-ready in our house, now all we need is our much-awaited Christmas gift! When will we bring her home I wonder?!

PS: I love to make and give these Danish heart ornaments at Christmas time. All it involves is folding paper (here’s a diagram and directions). I made this set with watercolor paper which gives them a more sophisticated texture, but it’s a little easier to make them with smooth cardstock since that weaves more easily. You can find lots of additional weaving designs online.

Monkey boy

2010-12-02T18:48:00.001-07:00

This has become a frequent scene underneath our kitchen counter. Sometimes it’s Luke’s way of releasing frustration, sometimes it’s a performance to earn our applause, and other times it just seems to be baby body building. We love how the scene captures some of his sweet and active munchkin personality (just as long as our countertop is up for the challenge!).

Since posting about Luke’s speech patterns earlier this week, I keep thinking of additional Luke-isms. So here are three more of my favorites… ‘ah-joo’ = juice; ‘ee-up’ = clean up; ‘ake-ooo’ = thank you; and ‘bel-bo’ = Elmo, often followed by an enthusiastic ‘a-a-a-a’ rendition of the Elmo’s World song.

He also says ‘ee-po’ for Home Depot. He will even cooperate with a diaper change and getting dressed when a trip to this store is on the line. The forklifts captivate him, and his whole body stiffens with glee when their beep, beep sound starts up. He simply can’t contain his excitement until we go spectate and he shines when the operators wave at him. The moving animals and other lawn ornaments in the Christmas section are another big hit with our Luke boy. Most nights we bundle up before bedtime to walk down our block and look at the holiday lights already out on display in neighbors’ yards. What a magic it brings to Christmas to see Luke experience pieces of it for the first time!

Master bedroom reveal!

2010-11-30T10:54:00.001-07:00

For so long our bedroom was a depressing place. None of the furniture matched, in fact much of it wasn’t even intended for a bedroom – we had a desk, buffet, bookcase, and toddler toys all vying for floorspace. We lacked many standard bedroom items such as night stands, a mirror, and sufficient storage. But the worst part was that it was always a mess, clearly serving as the overflow zone for the rest of the house’s junk, and lacking proper storage to ever be neatly organized. I would shut the door when we had guests and cringe if anyone peeked inside!

Slowly, we’ve transformed it. I’ll fill you in on the main stages:

1. We painted the walls. I think it’s recommended that you decide on all your furnishings and decorative accents and then paint to match, but since I hated the old color and a can of paint is a cheap change, we started there. Since the room opens directly into our living room, I picked a deep, saturated teal because I wanted a contrast in color to help it feel more like a separate space. Wee had Home Depot color match Benjamin Moore’s ‘azores’.

2. Window treatments. We traded out the old stained vertical blinds (that would flap unsettlingly whenever we opened the windows) for white faux-wood horizontal blinds at Home Depot. We love the look, price and sturdiness of these blinds, plus we got them at deep discount due to minor damage. They keep the room cozier and more private by blocking the top half of the window while letting in light and air on the bottom. They also work well with two sheer curtain panels that I bought in high school, thinking that they’d be lovely curtains for my house someday and/or a great egyptian costume! Now they’ve served me well on both counts!

3. Erik made us a bed. I loved Pottery Barn’s Riley bed but not its price tag. So I found one of the Riley slipcovers slightly used on ebay and Erik used its measurements to construct a headboard that holds it perfectly, just like the PB one. Then he made an extra-high platform bedframe, which allows for a line-up of storage bins underneath. The bins and the frame’s unfinished 2x4’s are completely hidden thanks to a pretty 18” tailored bedskirt, also an ebay find.

4. We found good homes for a few furniture items that we just couldn’t make work together. This might have been the hardest step, but made such a difference! Our house is 1400 square feet with no basement, virtually no attic storage, and Erik is very territorial when it comes to the garage. So finding new homes was our only option for things that couldn’t work within our floor plan.

5. We flew to Phoenix to ~~shop at Ikea~~ buy a car. We flew in, bought Solveig, and then drove across town to Ikea with a completely empty vehicle to fill with furniture! It was actually my first time ever at Ikea and I do wish there was one closer, or that we hadn’t been rushed by a cranky baby and a looming eight-hour drive back to ABQ that afternoon. Nonetheless, I had a glorious time selecting two nightstands and a wardrobe, all of which matched, for our bedroom. The wardrobe only came with a few shelves because it was meant to store hanging clothes, but Erik crafted plywood shelves so that it now accommodates a slew of plastic bins.

6. I bought a Lane cedar chest on Craig’s List. The date of manufacture printed on the bottom is in the 1940s! It makes me wonder what sort of history it has seen, and I just love all the storage it provides at the base of our bed. Right now it’s holding gifts that our east coast Santas have dropped off early, my own Christmas shopping to date, and holiday decorations.

7. My mom found the perfect bedside lamps and shades for us on clearance at Target. I love these Thomas O’Brien lamps and the black shades that break up all the white in the room and stand up to the dark walls.

8. On a walk in our neighborhood, we found a huge antique mirror marked down to $30 at an estate sale. It brightens and opens the room wonderfully, and holds its own against the space’s other big pieces.

9. Then I just framed a couple photos and made up the bed with new euro shams.

10. And here is the finished room!

Thanksgiving snow!

2010-11-29T14:02:00.001-07:00

Well, we didn’t manage to get Luke into his Thanksgiving costumes this year. I had the best intentions, but by the time we deliberated over paint colors using our stockpile of sample cans, went to the grocery store, and made and ate a turkey dinner, we were all starting to run out of steam. I broached the topic of putting on the ‘deerskin’ vest with the little brave but decided not to push his evening mood from fragile to critical.

Despite his tired ending, the little boy had been in high spirits that morning as he set off to explore the freshly fallen snow!

Without any prompting, he got right to work digging his car out. Just think what he could do with a real snow shovel!

There was one minor point of confusion however. He would empty each shovelful into the trunk of his coupe. We’ll have to be sure to clear that up before we let him shovel out our car.

Then he began to push it free of the ice… and picked up speed!

O, Ommy!

2010-11-28T21:50:00.001-07:00

We have a little bit of a love-hate relationship with Luke’s verbal communication skills. He has never been a talker, waiting a while before saying his first words and still only reluctantly resorting to speech as a mode of communication. He also tends to omit the first sound of words, thereby lessening their impact and often muddling his meaning altogether. Often we ask him to ‘use words’ with no intelligible response, leaving him frustrated that I won’t fulfill his demand and me aggravated by his whining.

But once I finally figure out his way of saying a word, I grow attached to his quirky reinventions. For a long time I wondered if he had some sort of color blindness because he would say all of his colors reliably except for orange which was ‘juh” – green right? But eventually I realized that green is ‘geen’ and ‘juh’ is orange according to his pattern of removing the first sound, only this time he took off two sounds.*

Only a couple months ago did Luke begin to use the word mommy regularly. Before he would cry for me with a ‘ma-ma’ once in a while, but mostly he would just cry or whine and assume that I knew that the noise was for my benefit. But now when he wants me he calls out, ‘ommy!’ Sometimes Erik tries to correct his pronounciation, emphasizing the ‘'mmmuh’ sound, but I’m quick to interrupt and assure Luke that ‘ommy’ is the perfect way to say my name. There are plenty of mommies out there, I’d like to enjoy my elite ‘ommy’ status just a little while longer, thank you!

Fortunately, Luke has also yet to become a child who uses the word ‘no’ frequently, with anger, or even intelligibly! My parents joke that it’s because he never hears it and Erik likes to think it was reinforced by his consistent use of the phrase ‘not for you’ as a no substitute for Luke. Myself, I would like to think that it’s because our boy has such a contented temperament, although I’m not sure how that quality stacks with his whiny fits on the floor. Nevertheless I think we can all agree that his cuteness plus his pattern of removing a word’s first sound leaves him with the sweetest ‘no’ that there could be! If you ask him a question he’d like to decline, he simply shakes his head sweetly and says ‘oh’!

* Need a Lukan lexicon for colors? Red: ‘eye’, blue: ‘boo’, white: ‘ite’, yellow: ‘ellow’, black: ‘app’, purple: ‘buh-ple’, pink: ‘pin-tuh’, brown: ‘bown’. He still is resistant to saying the names of most animals, though he will gladly let you know what sounds they make!

Ship ahoy!

2010-11-24T20:31:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow brings our maiden voyage in Thanksgiving dinner preparation! We tried inviting some friends over and considered going to a friend’s house, but due to travel, colds and Luke’s naptime, none of those scenarios quite worked out, so I’m planning dinner for three. While I still need several items from the grocery store and have yet to start cooking, we’re set to sail on the tablescape front. In fact, I had the table set so far in advance that tonight Luke was delighted to host dinner for the three of us at his play table.

I was inspired by a little pilgrim craft (instructions here) I saw in the Thanksgiving issue of Martha Stewart Living. I added a few sea creatures to our ship scene since Luke loves his ocean books, and then marked the boat with three special initials and a pilgrim hat. Don’t worry, the candles are lit by LEDs so the risk of ship fires is low.

Of course my beloved turkeys needed a little limelight too. And who knows how we would beat out all the competition for our seats without namecards!

Next time, especially if guests are coming, I’ll be sure to have the food prep started a little sooner. But since it’s just the three of us we’re having a very simplified Thanksgiving spread. We’re also hoping to continue Luke’s dress-up tradition – bringing out his homemade ‘indian’ costume from last year (below) and adding a pilgrim one. Happy Thanksgiving says our little brave!

[PS: there are new photos in our most recent Luke gallery plus new videos, hopefully we’ll have cute T-giving shots up soon!]

Website mini-makeover

2010-11-22T18:35:00.001-07:00

“We made lots of great changes on our website this weekend!” I reported excitedly.

“Fabulous! I’ve visited it twice already today and didn’t see them, when will they show up?”

Actually, they’d been up all day, but I guess the improvements weren’t quite as dramatic as I’d thought. Nevertheless, we’d love for you to visit our website homepage to see its sleeker look and try out the new links in the header. We also added a navigation bar to our photo galleries page. It allows you to easily access some of our favorite photos and to view photo galleries by topic. On the blog, we updated aesthetics, labeled posts with keywords, and added a sidebar that sorts posts by topic.

As I write out these changes, I can see how my sister missed them. And I wonder if the time it took to make the tiny font, color, or alignment customizations was a little inordinate. Perhaps, but Erik and I enjoyed working on it together, and it’s satisfying to see many of those pesky imperfections resolved. Luke looks pretty impressed with his new publicity platform, doesn’t he?!

PS: Here’s a ‘before’ pic of the blog for comparison…

Don’t honk at cattle

2010-11-20T15:34:00.001-07:00

Twenty miles of washboard after a long empty paved road, we arrived. For miles the road had seemed to be slowly petering out and it completely disappeared after this house. Several cattleguards previous, any signs or road names had ceased, which explained the seller’s lack of address. We noticed several solar panels and a ring of rain barrels, and as I wondered about their purification system I made a mental note to avoid accepting a glass of water.

“You thought I grew up in the middle of nowhere, honey, what do you say now?'” Erik asked. I didn’t need to say anything to concede his point. We took Luke out of his car seat and I wondered once again what we would do if they demanded our money, our camera equipment, or worse. Would our precious boy be safer if I just stayed with him in the car, keys at the ready, or would he ensure our protection with his irresistible cuteness? I assured myself that they seemed nice on the phone, and we walked toward the house.

We were met by an older couple with friendly smiles and very tanned skin. They were very thoughtful and solicitous in asking about our drive, and their kindness put me at ease. When we entered their home, I was relieved to see the camera equipment set out for us, and typical kitchen and dining furnishings. The couple explained that they no longer used these types of lenses for their landscape artwork, which Luke and I enjoyed viewing while Erik inspected the equipment. They offered us terrific prices. It seemed their location may have somehow discouraged other Craigslist trollers from snapping up the deals.

We left with several upgraded lenses for hardly more than we would earn selling our current models on ebay. Erik was elated, and my patient and indulgent wife status was secured for many months to come. We also came away with some tips on humanure and this solemnly given advice – don’t honk your horn if a crowd of cattle collects in front of you on a dirt road. Evidently, the ranchers honk when they drive out to the cattle with truckloads of feed, so honking will cause the animals to mob your vehicle and significantly delay you. Instead, roll down your window, bang on the side of your car, and yell loudly. Getting to try out this tactic would have added to the story, but I didn’t mind that our journey back to civilization proceeded without incident.

Since this mid-October trip, it’s been fun to see the nicer pictures that our camera can produce. One of these was the winning shot for the (very small) Kiwi Industries photo competition. Wasn’t it worth the adventure to capture such cuteness!?

Perfect autumn days

2010-11-08T20:34:00.001-07:00

Around the Rio Grande, fall foliage seemed to peak this past weekend and we took advantage of it with a trip to the zoo and another to the botanic gardens. Albuquerque autumns get prettier and prettier to me each year we’re here. They don’t offer the range of reds and oranges that you find on the east coast, but there is plenty of beautiful yellow from cottonwoods and aspens as well as other spotlight specimens of rusty red and the occasional orange. We spent Sunday afternoon at the Japanese garden (in the ABQ biopark) and soaked up the exquisite fall foliage colors on display there.

Luke loved throwing leaves to the fish in the pond. He was also generous with his kisses for the baby. For some reason he gives the baby sweet perfect kisses but all his parents usually get are head butts on the cheek. At least he softens the tough guy act for his sister!

Then we lured him away from the pond by watching the biopark train pass by

And Daddy taught him how to drive a tractor -- basically it’s the same techniques Luke’s already perfected on the cozy coupe. (:

On Friday we spent another gorgeous afternoon at the zoo. Luke wore his ‘circle sweater’ because the manufacturer (kiwi industries) is having a photo contest and I wanted to submit a pic or two of our little munchkin. Does my certainty that he should win destine me to be overly concerned about my child’s achievement?

Here we are watching the mountain lion exhibit. The cats paced magnificently along the front of their cage, but the fact that they are native to our area combined with the way their eyes seemed to track Luke’s every movement made us both a little nervous…

This week the weather is turning cooler and soon those leaves will be on the ground. We’ll miss you perfect autumn days!

A tale of four faucets

2010-11-07T14:13:00.001-07:00

It seems that the nesting stage of this pregnancy has hit a little early as we’ve been flying through home projects these past few weeks. The thought of two little troublemakers goads us on, and Erik’s talent and patience for all sorts of projects makes it easy to cross items off my list!

I’ll start with the most dramatic transformation, our two bathrooms. We painted the oak cabinets (using the same paint we’d already applied to the kitchen ones) and installed new faucets (in hopes of solving a recurring leak). Then we added a few decorative touches. Here is the master bath when we first moved in – we hadn’t yet replaced the carpet (around the toilet!) or taken down the wallpaper:

This is it today, after tiling, wallpaper removal, updated door & cabinet hardware, wall & cabinet painting, and new faucets. In a dream world, I would replace the big mirror and light fixture with two more interesting ones of each, one pair over each sink. But I’m pretty certain those projects are beyond the scope of our plans for this house.

Here is the guest/kids’ bath before, with more busy wallpaper and less than lovely linoleum.

And this is the guest/kids’ bath after. Of course our biggest improvement is the precious little marshmallow man! But I also like my alligator towels and the new tile… (:

Another sink in our house saw a smaller spruce-up recently. When I saw this in Home Depot, I decided that the time had come to upgrade our kitchen faucet too.

Then I made a valence for the sink window since the old one hadn’t matched as well since we repainted the walls. Don’t look too closely, I’m still learning to sew and it came out rather crooked.

We’ve also made big strides in the master and guest bedrooms, but they are still awaiting finishing touches. I’ll be back to post on them once we put a few more pieces into place. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a photo of how Luke has been preparing for the new addition to our family. Watch out for fire trucks, baby!

More pumpkins…

2010-11-06T21:16:00.001-06:00

This will be my last pumpkin post of the season, I promise! A few days ago I found these Halloween luminaries discounted at Target and I love them so much that I can’t pack them away quite yet.

In fact, I thought they were such a find that I had to buy some for my mom since her local Tar-jay was out of stock. I still do most of my non-food shopping with my mom despite the 1700 miles that separate us. Lately our venues of choice have been ebay (we’ll both have our computers on and send auction links back and forth) and the Target clearance areas (we each go to our respective stores and discuss the inventory, sending photos as needed). She and my sister are still my primary authorities on all style questions. Sorry, Erik! But anyway, here are the luminaries on the bookcase behind our table:

They combine well with Luke’s gourd collection to make a pretty autumnal arrangement, but in reality these gourds can’t display long before Luke manages to whine them off the platter and into his trucks.

Tomorrow I’ll post about our recent bathroom facelift. Now that we’re in November and ‘little princess’ is due next month, the pressure to finish things off is really on!

Halloween weekend!

2010-11-03T23:01:00.001-06:00

This year Luke had two more admirers for his Halloween costume. Grandma and Grandpa Nielsen came out to visit for the weekend! Luke has developed into such a pumpkin enthusiast that we decided to spend Sunday afternoon at another pumpkin patch. The combination of autumn gourds and child-size tractors made for a Lukan paradise which could only be enhanced by Grandpa’s willingness to push the little boy around on the tractor.

Later that evening our wholesome little farmer morphed into a fearsome tiger! Watch out below!

Despite his stealthy prowling and wild roars, this tiger did have a soft spot for the paparazzi…

Notice the three candy bowls on the sideboard in the pic below? We were visited by about 175 trick-or-treaters and then had to turn off our lights at 7:45 because we were out of treats!

While the grandparents did candy duty, Erik and I took the little wildcat around to a few neighbors' houses. He picked up the technique of holding out his bag and was fairly reliable about saying ‘thank you’. But he never quite managed to deliver the ‘trick or treat’ line. Too much to distract him at the crucial moment! Maybe next year he’ll master that one. In the meantime, he’ll leave you with a ‘So Long, Cowboys!’

For more Halloween weekend pics, click here.

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater

2010-10-25T15:25:00.001-06:00

Are you wondering if our nature-lover let a chipmunk into the house? Luke carefully selected this tiny green pumpkin, passing over all the farm’s larger, orange ones in favor of his (current) favorite color. But before it made it home I looked back to see it firmly locked in our little boy’s jaws! Of course I hastily snatched it away, and Erik almost swerved off the road as we both shook with laughter at its chewed up condition. We’d had pumpkin ice cream the night before, so maybe that gave our child the idea that pumpkins are tasty? Luke had generously applied this pumpkin principle by giving his other green one to the goats at the farm. But the goats ate much less raw pumpkin than Luke did!

While raw pumpkins may fail to intimidate us, the hayride earlier that afternoon was a more harrowing experience. We had watched as trailer loads of farm visitors enjoyed the scenic loop atop hay bales. Quaint, we thought, but perhaps a bit boring? Luke’s enthusiasm for the tractor convinced us to take a turn ourselves anyway, so we piled into the trailer’s last seats. With a lurch, the driver started down the path, and as we approached the heavily rutted lane he only sped up! Occasionally we’d come to an especially deep rut and instead of lurching over it, he would brake swiftly, causing everyone in the trailer to slam into each other. Below you see our little boy looking rather concerned, and if you could see my face it wouldn’t be looking too pleased either! As we were walking off the trailer with sighs of relief, another passenger told us that this was not the normal hayride driver who had been giving rides all day. Clearly some sort of hayride driver’s license should be offered by the DMV/MVD!

With the exception of the hayride, we enjoyed a very pleasant, relaxing autumn afternoon. Of course we took plenty of photos of our favorite pumpkin patch peruser…

All against a gorgeous mountain backdrop!

When we weren’t picking pumpkins this weekend, we were working on a number of house projects. Maybe I’ll post a recap of those soon too. In the meantime, there are plenty more pics of our autumn outing here!

Luke at the lake (Grand Lake part 2)

2010-10-11T11:25:00.001-06:00

Before Grand Lake, any hikes longer than three miles with Luke included a guaranteed five minutes of crying. These crying spells were especially painful for Erik whose ears would be fixed just a few short inches from Luke’s wailing lungs! We continued to take the babe on hikes, knowing that each crying spell could only last so long and then our child would resign himself to the hiking pack, fall asleep, or we’d reach our destination. But they still felt awfully long, and we always felt bad for the other hikers who had planned a quiet afternoon amidst nature only to encounter a Lukan soundtrack!

You can imagine our delight when the little boy transitioned to an enthusiastic hiking companion during our Grand Lake vacation! The many chipmunks, squirrels and birds that we encountered captivated our little naturalist. He spent most of our hikes sitting straight up in the backpack, with his eyes wide and his pointer finger ready, looking around for his forest friends. Hearing their calls would elicit his own happy squeals, and the few times he started to whimper, all it took to shush him was the reminder that his crying would scare away the animals. Then when we stopped for breaks he’d gleefully pursue his forest friends himself: On Monday we took a leisurely hike along the Colorado River Trail and reveled in the happy spirits of our budding hiker. Then on Tuesday we chose a more ambitious trip, an almost ten-mile loop that passed by several mountain lakes and waterfalls. We had hiked a variation on this loop five years earlier on our honeymoon, and remembered it fondly as our favorite trek of that trip. To our surprise, Luke thoroughly enjoyed the entire hike! He loved stopping at lakes to throw in stones and scramble over rocks. And he continued to be entertained by the wildlife provided that we pointed out animals to him and handed him a leaf or stick to hold from time to time. He delighted everyone else on the trail as well by waving and sweetly saying ‘hi’. Then he peacefully drifted off to sleep in the pack without any fuss at all. Two days later he made more forest friends and then slept blissfully on a seven-mile hike to Cascade Falls. What a transformation! The other major Luke development on our trip was leash-training! We fit in perfectly with all the dog walkers in Grand Lake by strapping a baby leash onto our little boy whenever we went out to stroll the town or lake. He complained a little when we pulled it over his head, but once it was on he seemed to enjoy walking on his own. We maintained the hand-holding rule for crossing streets and appreciated the leash’s security and ease. Here Luke waves ‘hi’ to a fellow leash-wearer:

We also found the leash to be a handy way to keep the little guy from taking a swim.We came to Grand Lake expecting pretty rivers and gorgeous mountains, but a wonder we didn’t anticipate was their fire station open house! After seeing it advertised in the town square, we decide to stop by for the benefit of our little fire truck enthusiast. He had a terrific time sitting behind the wheel in the trucks (video here) and getting a fireman hat, but I don’t think he could fully appreciate the fire station Shangri-La that Grand Lake holds. Not only did they have an enormous hook and ladder truck, a regular truck, and an ambulance, they also had an impressive fire boat, a mountain rescue truck, and a forest fire fighting truck! All that plus Smokey the Bear and a Dalmation! What more could a little boy ask for. We happened upon another unanticipated treat during our trip back to Albuquerque. In a very remote part of southern Colorado, we found ourselves driving by a National Historic Monument, the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Station! We were intrigued and Luke was getting antsy, so we pulled in, strapped on his leash, and let him marvel at the enormous steam trains moving slowly through the train yard. At first, he was brimming with excitement and delight, waving furiously and trying to approach the trains as closely as we would permit. But then one started moving a little more quickly and making very loud noises, which didn’t sound anything like the ‘chug-a-chug-chug, choo choo!’ that he’s accustomed to in storybooks (see video). After that he was ready for a little more distance from the trains and enjoyed checking out the decorations by the gift shop. He’d been so well-behaved for the trip that we decided we couldn’t leave without a little forest friend for our nature lover. He was thrilled, and here you see him playing with his chipmunk back at home. He seems to remember that chipmunks typically live outdoors and keeps trying to smuggle it out when he goes in the backyard. Or maybe he’s been listening closely to the lyrics of Raffi’s Joshua Giraffe song…