Easter 2011

We had a great Easter this year.  Just our little family.

The Easter Bunny did make an appearance and left a jammin' basket full of goodies and lots of candy-filled eggs.  Lois was in heaven.

 Silly Lois.  She always pulls the strainer out of the cupboard, puts it on her head and calls herself a "spacer-man." Pretty funny, that girl.

 Here she is, checking out her basket.  This year, the EB brought her some lip gloss, a Rapunzel towel, a princess nightgown, some egg shaped sidewalk chalk, a little thing of sparkly nail polish and a chocolate bunny.  She still talks about the things the EB brought her.

 Unruly hair.  Check.  So excited that she couldn't talk straight?  Hi-larious.

 Look at that loot!  She kept finding eggs and screaming, "there's another one!!!"

 I laughed out loud when I downloaded this picture.  Look at those awesome faces.  Both thinking, "What the heck, mom."  We've got to work on Lois' camera smile.  Needs some perfecting.  Or not?  Hmmm....

 Simon at about 3 months.

And Lois enjoying a cupcake that had WAY too much dye in the frosting.  She was blue for hours.

Pima County Fair

Back in April, we went to the Pima County Fair.  

I love me a good fair!  

...and an awesome free petting zoo.  Lois spent a full hour in there.  

 Her favorite thing were the ducks.  This girl loves birds.  

She was also really interested in the two kangaroos that were in there.  We didn't get any pictures of her with them because they were so fast!

 And she thought this pot belly pig was so funny.  I whole-heartedly agree.  He was funny.  Funny lookin'.  Bless his lil' old heart!

 Lois was diggin' the tractor.  She might just have a little hick in her!

And she rode this Genie ride like three times in a row.  She was pretty happy about it and was not happy to say farewell.

Next year, I'm coming equipped to ride the huge, scary rides that were there, and Jason will watch the kids - since he turns green.  Too bad for him!

Hello.

Whoa.  That was a serious blog fast.  So, I think I should blog.  You know, so my three readers will know that we have not died.    

1.  It has taken me only three years to realize that if I don't do a load of laundry a day, I will forever be behind in my laundry.  And since Simon's birth and his out-of-this-world ability to spit up massive amounts, I have learned that this may have been pushed up to two loads a day.  While I've learned this lesson, it still seems that I am always behind on laundry.  Because throwing it in the washer is one thing...but who really wants to fold AND then put away laundry every. single. day?!?  Not me!  Also, if you come to my house and see that my carpet is disgustingly dirty, don't judge.  I know it's dirty.  But I'm not about to spend $100+ to have it cleaned only for my darling baby to spit up on it.  Again and again and again.  We're waiting until his "condition" has cleared up.  Then, I'll be able to have clean carpets again.  That will be a wonderful day.

2.  It's been a busy two+ months.  Simon has turned into a dream boat of a baby - minus the spitting up thing.  I guess he has to have some flaw, right?  He is napping well.  He's eating well.  He hardly cries.  He's happy.  He smiles all the day long.  He's simply the cutest rascal you've ever seen.  Now excuse me while I go die from cuteness overload.  He really is that cute.  I must have made a deal with the devil himself to get such a sweet and cuddly boy.  That, or I'm just that righteous.  Ha!  just kidding.  No really, I'm just kidding.

3.  At Simon's four-month check-up, the kid had grown to a whopping 29 inches long and weighed in at 14lbs and 2oz.  It is hard to believe that he's grown eight inches in four months.  It's also crazy that he's in the 99th percentile for height and only 50th for weight.  He's a total bean pole!  I'm preparing myself for future conversations with our beautiful and curvy lady Lois as to why she didn't inherit the coveted  "Hansen" gene - which allows you to eat whatever and whenever you want and never gain a pound.  I wish I had inherited that one.   :-)

4.  We spent the good part of May in Utah away from daddy.  Let me tell you, I don't think I'll be doing that again any time soon.  We missed him terribly.  He missed us terribly.  Taking care of a newborn and a quick-mood-swinging two year old by myself nearly killed me off.  Don't get me wrong, I had lots of help from adoring grandmas...but I was still the only parent and the buck stopped at me.  We did, however, have a wonderful time and got to see lots of family and a few friends.  So, I guess it was worth every ounce of tiredness and bouts of insanity that I suffered.

5.  Well, it is official.  I'm a resident widow again.  We won't be seeing much of Jason over the next 12 months as his second year of residency just started and he will be taking a lot (and I mean a lot) of call.  I'm pretty sure this will be the busiest year of his entire career.  He's only been going for about two weeks now and we have not seen too much of him already.  Glorious first year (and free weekends) are things of the past (at least for a year) and we have commenced the one-day-off-a-week marathon.  We love you, babe.  Thanks for all your hard work and we miss you already!  God speed through this crazy year!  And my mantra will be: "I think I can, I think I can..." - soon to be followed by "I thought I could!"  

6.  Lois is as vibrant as ever.  Shortly after turning three on June 5th, she started swimming lessons with Amber Peterman's swimming school.  She loved every single minute and begged to go swimming - like every single minute she wasn't at swimming.  We've had a little break and she's starting up lessons again on Monday with Allyson Spalding.  Lois is stoked and I'm excited for her!  I loved swimming as a kid.  

She has also potty trained herself.  I can't tell you how glad I am that I waited until she was ready.  I also can't tell you how worth it it was for me to change all those extra diapers until she was.  Needless to say, she's doing so well!  Literally, in one day, she was trained.  I just slapped some undies on her and off she went!  She even stays dry at night.  She's only had a handful of accidents - and most of them have been due to the fact that she couldn't get her pants off fast enough!  We've also found that she thinks it is impossible for her to go potty without stripping completely from the waist down.  We keep trying to explain to her that she doesn't have to undress to go potty.   It is a futile effort, folks.  I'm not complaining, though.  About a week ago, we took off the side to her crib and she is loving her new "big girl" bed.  She is good about staying in it and we're planning on buying a twin-sized bed here for her to officially transition her into a real-deal big girl bed. And Simon will finally have a crib! Poor kid's been sleeping on the floor all these months.
   No, he hasn't.  Totally kidding. But he's quickly outgrowing the "mini" crib we have him in.  This is a top priority - and I'm overjoyed to get to buy cute girl bedding again!    

Just today, she kept saying to Simon, "You're a cute boy! Yes you are!  You're a cute boy!"
She keeps us laughing with her antics and it's so fun to see how much she understands as we explain more complex ideas/thoughts.  She remembers everything, too.  Her new favorite outing is going to the library.  Weekly, we come home with a stack of 20 books that we read over and over again all throughout the week.  And it is super cute to see her read the books to herself.  I love doing this with her!
And just a few cute things she says over and over again, despite our efforts to correct her...
(spelled phonetically so I can remember)
Trampoline = "pal-loreena"
Quesadillas = "chick-a-dee-uh"
Balloon = "ba-da-doon"
Slinky = "snooky"
(I promise we don't watch Jersey Shore!)

If I have some soda (or something she wants that I have), she'll ask me if she can have a drink.  When I say yes and she takes a sip, she says, "Thank you for sharing your soda with me, mom."  She's so polite.  She also is pretty good about saying please and thank you and excuse me.  And every so often, she'll just come up to me, give me a big hug and say, "I just love you so much, mom."  And keeps hugging me and repeating it.  Seriously.  She's a sweet girl.

If I think of some more, I'll post them for the sake of remembering!

And now...time to post some pictures!!!
Warning:  There will be a blog overload tonight.  Just trying to catch up while my husband works the graveyard shift for six nights in a row!

Simon!

Simon is two months old.  Seems fast.  Seems like an eternity.    

To commence the occasion, we took him to the doctor and he got six shots.  

I didn't like that one bit.  Neither did Simon.  

But what's crazy is the kid has grown three inches in two months!  That's like me growing a foot in a month or something crazy. And he also gained three pounds.  He's almost as big as his five-month-old cousin.  Attaboy.  We like 'em big around here, I guess.

He is now 24 inches long and weighs 12lbs., 7oz.  

Simon is a huge spitter-upper.  Or more like a projectile vomiter.  Right around five weeks, he just started spewing EVERYTHING.  It feels like he spits up his entire meal (but obviously not, he's gaining weight and growing...) which is really, and I mean super annoying.  Just imagine a beautiful you, all dressed for the day in your newly washed clothes and hair all fixed up - only to be foiled by a nearly bottle-full of spit up all. over. you.  In your lap, down your back, in your hair...

Yep, not a pretty sight.  

It's a total scramble to catch the flying vomit, if/when it comes.  So fun.  Our poor couches and carpet have also fallen victim.  I'm grateful for washable slip covers and we're waiting to have our carpets cleaned until this all stops.

But because we love him, we adapt and cover ourselves the best we can and go for it.  

This is what they call unconditional love. 

 Have you smelt that stuff?  'Nuf said.  

But in all seriousness, we love him to death!  I've just had to increase my laundry duty and bibs are saving my life. 

 And while i'm on the subject of bibs - there's nothing like ruining a cute little outfit with an ugly bib.  Right? Right.

He's starting to smile more.

He's starting to coo.  SO CUTE.

And he LOVES to be held.  All day, to be exact.  

And that makes it really hard to get anything done.  The kid is pleased as punch until you put him down. Then he gives it to you.  Anyone wanna come over and hold my baby while I clean my house?  For me to shower, it usually involves him screaming his guts out.  But a girl's gotta do what she's gotta do.

He's sleeping okay at night.  Not great, but better than his sister did at this age.  We usually put him down around 8 or 9 and he sleeps until about 2am and then is up again by 5 or 6.  As you can imagine, we're both so tired.  Some days I feel like I have narcolepsy.  Falling asleep while relieving my bladder is not a lovely sight and I'm sure it is a pretty sure sign that I'm sleep deprived.  Yes.  Very, very sleep deprived.  But this too shall pass.  That's at least what I'm telling myself.

I've decided that the "newborn" stage is not my favorite.  I mean, it's the constant fickleness, you know?  It's the repeated thoughts in my head of "what should I try next?"  

Does he have acid reflux?  He's seems uncomfortable.  

Is it his diaper?  Is he tired?  Why won't he sleep?

Why is he crying?  What does he want?  

Is he hungry?  He shouldn't be, he just ate an hour ago.  But maybe he is.  

 Hmm...maybe his tummy hurts. 

Maybe it's the...blah, blah, blah. 

Repeat in head.  Over. And. Over. Again. 

It's tiring.  It's exhausting.  

Am I the only one that feels this way?  Am I lame?

Maybe I just have hard newborns.

I'm excited for the time when things normalize a little bit.  And maybe I'll be eating my words in a few months (or years,) but right now, I'm just excited for the fickleness of newborn-ness to be over.  

Despite it all, we love him.  And I mean LOVE.  We're so happy.  

And Lois adores him.  She sings, "I Am a Child of God" all day long and makes sure to let me know when he is crying.  She likes to shove the binky in his mouth and she loves to give him kisses and hugs.  It melts my heart.  I think they'll be good friends. 

 And I think Lois will be a really good boss for Simon.  :-)

And here's some pictures of our little dude!  My, how those cheeks have filled out!

This is usually the face he starts making as soon as I try to put him down.  

Let's see you try to ignore this face!  :-)  It's such a look of betrayal!

We think he has Jason's chin.  I think he looks a lot like my dad.   

It's always a constant, "who does he looks like?" 

Who knows, really.  

And we like this picture.  He looks like he's about to start a very serious conversation.

Until the next blogging stint, have a nice day, week, month until you visit again...

Hopefully, it's only a few days or weeks.  :-)

San Diego & Sea World

Jason took some vacation in the end of March and first part of April, so we decided to have a "stay-cation" here in Tucson...and a little three-day jaunt to San Diego!  

We had a great time, despite our lack of sleep while there.  Simon did surprisingly well and Lois had a blast.  Jason and I both enjoyed making some family memories and seeing the excitement in Lois' eyes.  There's nothing better than seeing the excitement in your children's eyes.  So precious.

The first night we were there, we headed to the Mission Beach boardwalk area and Lois got to ride the carousel, which was pretty fantastic.  She was beyond excited to ride the bunny.  And I couldn't get enough of her cute smile.

Look at that face!

 She was giggling like crazy and kept waving at me.  We kind of love her.

That same night, we ate at a little Mexican dive called Roberto's Taco Shop right there by the beach.  It was deeeee-licious!  We highly recommend it.  Yum.

 Here we are waiting for the dolphin show to start.  Lois thoroughly enjoyed herself.  And Simon slept!  A win-win for the parents.

 We just had to get a picture with the funky looking penguin!  And why has no one told me that my glasses look so darn funny?  Thanks for nothin', Jas.  :-)  

One of the nights we were there we ate the most fantastic Mexican food in Old Town San Diego.  If you are ever there, you must visit Casa Guadalajara.  I'm still dreaming about the deliciousness of this food. I'm not kidding.  It's probably good we don't live close to it because I think I'd be tempted to eat there weekly, which might leave me looking like jaba the hut!

 Jason looking suave...

 Hmm...like father, like daughter?

 Lois loved Sesame Street land at Sea World.  This is her second ride. 

 Jason's uncle taught him many years ago how to get the dolphins to come over to you...

He's passing on the secret...  

 It worked!  Lois got to pet the dolphin.  Way cool.

 Checking out the tide pool

 And touching a sea star.  She loved it.

 As a takeaway, she got to pick something from the millions of gift shops scattered throughout the park.  She picked a baby penguin inside a cute pink purse, naturally. She was a happy camper.  The best $19 we've ever spent.  It entertained her nearly the whole way home.   

Me and the sassy girl in pink!

The trip was a success.  Family memories were made, we survived and Simon was a total trooper!  The only thing that would have made it better was if the weather was good.  I'm so spoiled.  I didn't appreciate the clouds or the rain...or the cold weather.  

The Little Chunker

Pictures!  Enjoy.  

He is fantastically cute, you know?

The Vaseline Saga and more...

I don't know if many of you saw my facebook posts regarding Lois' adventure in rubbing an entire 16oz tub of Vaseline in her hair in the early month of January...but she did.  And it was AWFUL.  She looked like a greasy monkey (or as I coined her Greasy Mae, a name taken from Hunger Games) for an entire month.  AND my bathroom was covered from top to bottom in Vaseline.  It's amazing what a kid can do in ten minutes.  My lesson?  Never trust a quiet child.  

What's lovely is that not more than a month later, (after her hair had finally returned to its normal state)  she squeezed a nice, large dallop of Vaseline on her head AGAIN - after Simon was born.  You know how you have to use lots of that stuff for the circumcision? Well, she found the stash (which was hidden away! That sneaky girl...) and went to town.  And when she came to declare, "LOOK!" ...we've never seen her more proud of herself.  That little stinker!!  Thankfully, the second time around was just a "dallop" rather than a "gallon" of the stuff, so her recovery was much shorter!  Thank goodness!

Here's some pictures of the initial incident.  I wish I had gotten a picture of just the Vaseline and not the subsequent can of corn starch we dumped in her hair, but we were laughing and trying to mitigate damage as quickly as possible to have the camera out.  I'm not joking when I say the Vaseline was literally a 1/2 inch thick covering her head.   It looked like a Vaseline helmet. 

She looks so torn up about it, doesn't she?

SUCKERS!  

(I totally know this is what she was thinking...)

This was our FOURTH treatment of corn starch...

our little old lady Lois.

And her hair still looked like this after it.  Mind you, her hair is completely DRY in this picture.

I told Jason that her hair looked like Mickey Rourke's - if you don't know who he is, google him.  He's got the nastiest, greasiest hair!  He was pretty upset I compared our daughter to a seriously nasty man, but I'm serious when I say - her hair did look that nasty.

It took a total of 7 corn starch "treatments," some good clarifying shampoo, some dish soap and some fine tooth combing to finally get her back to normal.  I've now hidden all ointments - including Desitin, Vaseline and the like.  I hope I'm smarter than her...:-)

And on to other happenings...We went to the zoo on a day Jason had off and had a great time.  Lois was able to get a butterfly painted on her arm and she was pretty excited about it. 

She loves this frog fountain.  We sat and watched her for a good 20 minutes.  Twenty minutes of self entertainment and a close-by bench for tired parents??  Priceless.

She really wanted her picture taken by the parrot.  Gotta love that little grin!

And her I am MUCHO ripe for the pickin'.  

I'm really happy about the fact that I can sleep on my stomach again.  That is, if Simon lets me!  ;-)