Super Kids

Ephraim's frog-themed birthday party was great! We blew up and twisted balloons, the kids painted frog toys, and they played a catching bugs game (bugs with paperclips with a magnet fishing pole tongue). I think everyone had lots of fun (except our downstairs neighbors who didn't like the jumping frogs, oops!).

My dad made a super awesome frog cake! Chocolate cake with mint ice cream frosting. Rrrribbit!

We saw a cute photoshoot of a boy and Gabriel decided he wanted to be Clark Kent/Superman too. So adorable!

Look at those hazel eyes!!

He really likes taking one bite of something and putting it back. He'll do it to cucumbers too (same shape).

The Talkative Twos

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EPHRAIM! Today he is two years old! (I love his smile!)

I asked him to sit on the couch so I could take his picture and he posed very nicely for me. We are having a family birthday party for him tomorrow (Saturday), so we blew up green balloons and put up streamers.

He is a talkative little boy, if we let him. Thanks to his brother, he is learning to say all the names of the Star Wars characters. Paul and I wish his vocabulary was slightly different, but it is undeniably cute to hear him say "ra-ra-doh" for Roger-roger-droid (Gabriel's term) or Boba Fett. He still does the "koo-pah" sound effect for Darth Vader, but he is learning to imitate lightsaber noises and such. Such boys! He loves doing what his brother does. Ephraim still loves playing with cars, sometimes as a vehicle for some other toy and sometimes as their own personalities. He likes talking to puppets, namely our hands (as either a naked puppet or a spider). He likes having a mommy and a baby of something. The big dinosaur and matching "baby" dinosaurs are often sought. Today he insisted I blow up a balloon only halfway so we could have mommy balloons and a baby balloon. He is getting to be such a big boy and I'm sad when he wipes my kisses off his cheek (which is often because he is so kissably cute -- sorry, kid, tough it out).

Last Friday I decided we needed to do something fun and explore our area. The Sacramento Zoo is close by (we'll go with daddy soon) and across the street is Fairytale Town. It is cheap and it was a beautiful sunny day.

My two princes! Gabriel liked the castle and the knights' round table.

To Ephraim's joy, they had The Little Engine That Could. Yay trains!

Driving Cinderella to the ball.

We finally decided on a preschool for Gabriel. I'm not crazy about it, but he needs something. Today they wore green and ate green food.

A rare moment of love: Jengo Fett brushes a jedi's hair.

My friends Skot and Amy gave me a sewing machine (long story, they got an extra by mistake). I was more than thrilled since I needed and wanted a new one. I don't have a lot of experience sewing, but I do have a strong desire to learn. Paul generously gave me some time to myself last weekend and I drove to the closest Jo-Ann's (20+ minutes away). I was originally just going for thread (since I couldn't find my craft box), but I found a great idea book for felt. Gabriel asked for the hooking monkeys (more to come, I'm sure) and I made two bean-filled frogs for Ephraim's frog-themed birthday party.

Gabriel struggles with finding things he likes to do, but once he finds something, he has so much fun. He sat down at the blocks one day and a little later he was very excited to show me his creation. He made Mr Incredible from the Incredibles Pixar movie. He pointed out the details of the yellow and white on his chest for the crest. Cool.

New Home in Sacramento

We survived the first week and a half of living in our new apartment in Sacramento. The movers came and packed up everything for us on Monday, February 20. They came back the next day to finish packing last minute stuff and loaded it all into the moving truck. We drove out to Sacramento and they unloaded half the boxes into storage (stored until we buy a house). Gabriel and Ephraim "drove" around the storage place while waiting. I was thankful to have Grandma McMillan there to help.

The boys enjoy the sunshine on our apartment balcony. I put the garage rug out there to make it more comfy.

We took a walk by the lake. This is directly behind our apartment building, still in the complex. We can see the lake from the master bedroom. We hear the geese all the time, it is great. We also hear lots of dogs. Apparently, a large number of people here have dogs in their apartment. It beats the five+ stray cats giving birth to kittens in our backyard I guess.

My beautiful boys are sleeping in the same room! It has really worked out so far. One bedroom is their sleeping room and the other room is just a playroom with all their toys.

We signed the escrow paperwork on Friday, March 2. We'll close escrow about a week from then. Sad to know that house is no longer ours.

We now live an hour apart from both my parents and Paul's mom and stepdad. Paul's grandparents got about a foot of snow last week so we went up on Saturday before it melted. This was Ephraim's first time in the snow and he loved it! Gabriel got to play in the snow two years ago but he doesn't remember it.

"Snow!"

Snow angel

Snowball fight with dad!

Recent Life as a Collection of Bad Photos

My sleeping beauty! Ephraim is exactly 23 months old today. My baby will be TWO next month, it's hard to believe sometimes.

Last week we decided to visit dad in Sacramento and see our new apartment. It was week #4 without dad and I thought seeing the new apartment would be good for all of us (I could plan furniture placement and the kids could envision our new life). The kids LOVED staying there overnight (shared a room AND slept well) and exploring all the empty cupboards. Lots of room to run around and play airplanes.

Paul came home for dinner (first time in YEARS!) since his commute is only 15 minutes. We had ice cream for dessert to celebrate.

The next day the boys and I drove home and stopped in Pleasanton (about midway between Sac and San Jose). I drove by our first apartment together, the kids and I ate lunch at the Noah's Bagels Paul and I always went to, and the kids played at the park where Paul and I would often walk together (madly in love and dreaming of kids). It was an awesome trip all around!! The next day was Gabriel's last day of preschool here. So sad. We're both looking forward to him starting school again.

On Valentine's Day, Gabriel noticed lots of flower stands by the side of the road (nearly every corner). He was my sweet Valentine and picked flowers for me!!

Bubble bath!

Frozen Green Beans--Who Knew

The house is on the market as of today! The pressure is on to keep it clean.

It has been beautiful weather lately! We need the rain, but the sunshine is irresistible. A friend invited us to go to a new park in the area. We missed seeing them but we enjoyed the park anyway, with a picnic after picking up Gabriel from preschool.

Ephraim is a picky eater. He used to eat at least cooked carrots and broccoli. Now the only veggies I can get him to eat (and only when he feels like it) are snap peas and cucumbers. The other day I got out a bag of frozen small green beans to break apart and put on a frozen pizza we were going to have for dinner. Gabriel reached into the bag and snagged a green bean. Ephraim saw and tried one too. I was surprised as he fought off his brother and ate the rest of the bag of green beans!!! Maybe veggies are a texture thing for him?

Moments with kids:
I heard lots of laughter coming from our room and the music on my alarm clock got louder and louder. The boys were having their first party!! Turning up the music, jumping on our bed, and laughing like there's no tomorrow!! I love them! So cute!

Yesterday while we were eating dinner (with grandma) Gabriel had to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of it. A few minutes later we hear "Mom, come see my poop!! It's a funny shape. It looks like a..." We cut him off trying to convince him not to talk about poop while we're eating.

Moving Update

Two cute boys! (and Kermit)

Moving update:  Paul secured an apartment in Sacramento. We are very excited about it. We need to fill out paperwork, get approved, and then Paul can move in so he doesn't have to stay at the hotel (even at the company's expense). I'm excited that he can start taking stuff up there. We don't have a solid plan yet, still playing it by ear. Our house goes on the market February 2. Gabriel has two more weeks of preschool (had to give them notice), so his last day there will be February 10. We'll see how crazy it is to still live here while trying to show the house. Maybe it will sell fast and we can join dad soon. Maybe it will be impossible to keep the house clean enough and get out of the way for potential buyers while still living here. I don't know. 

On to more fun kids stuff:

Ephraim is talking more and more, when given the chance. He has put several words together to form thoughts.

"Ah do" or "Ah doit" = I want to do it. (and you better not stop him)

“Ga do” = Gabriel did it.  (pointing at Gabriel after I asked who broke a toy)

“Ah stah sa” = I stepped on your shadow. (we were playing with our shadows last night before sleeping)

“Spa!” or “Pot!” = I took your spot! (always said with a big proud grin)

He holds his index finger up close to his mouth and says “hmmmm” when looking for something. Funny to see him pick up this mannerism.

Gabriel continues to impress his teachers with his interest in learning new things. Not as easy to get him to sit down and practice writing or do his preschool homework. Earlier this week, I told Gabriel "10 more minutes. That means when the big hand goes from the 2 to the 4." He cheerfully piped up, "I know that, mom. I learned that in preschool!" We watched the movie "Princess Bride" today and Gabriel spent all afternoon acting out the sword fighting scene, attempting to do the acrobatic moves. He is still amazingly gifted physically. His stubborn streak makes me look for and try to create the moments when he initiates something himself and finishes a task that he's proud of.

Just Ephraim

Spotlight on Ephraim, 22 months old today! Ephraim loves the Muppets and interacting with my Kermit. We sing the Manamana song all the time. I caught Ephraim singing it the other day:

He has many TWO moments--rarely losing patience but often frustrated and insisting on doing things himself (closing the door, walking somewhere, etc.). He tries to climb back into my lap FEET first from the floor and is frustrated when it doesn't work. He often has a strong opinion about what he wears. Many tears are shed if we need to change his shirt from too much spilled water (happens at least once daily) or spilled food. I try to give him a choice about the clean shirt so we rotate between a few favorites. For three days straight he insisted on wearing only ONE shoe around the house! He can say "one" and "two" and hold up the right number of fingers and identify that many objects. Two is by far his favorite number. He has to have two crackers/cookies/pieces of something. He loves using toys to role play. We played for about 30 minutes with our pretend animals and dinosaurs, drinking from water and eating trees and making noises. Cars and trucks fall and get hurt just like people do. So adorable!