Tim's Blog

Tim has finally started a blog with daily comic reviews- We've been bugging him to do this for ages, rather than just e-mailing his reviews to his friends. Today he had a very special guest reviewer. Check it out.

The Masked Ice Cream Cowgirl

I was washing dishes this morning when I heard footsteps creeping up behind me... I turn around and see THIS:

Actually, the ice cream cone was stuck in the waist of her pants, and she says she was an Ice Cream Monster, not a cowgirl. She was very serious about it this.

Speaking of little footsteps, Lizzie is off to the races!

Almost caught up

We went to the pumpkin patch (there's Todd with his two little pumpkins), and the night before Halloween we carved them! I made a Barack O'Lantern :D

Vacation!

In mid-October we went to Door County with Todd, Kelli and Hannah and Tori, Tom and Gracie. We had a great time, saw some beautiful scenery, ate good food, and caught ping pong balls dropped from a helicopter! Yes, really.

Lizzie's First Birthday!

We had a great day with family and friends and a cake with a LOT of frosting. I think I am still coming down from the sugar buzz.

Halloween

This year we had a wonderfully warm Halloween! It was so nice not to have to try to figure out how to bundle up a fairy princess without hiding her beautiful wings! It was Lizzie's first Halloween, and she did not love it. As a reminder, here's what she looked like last Halloween, next to a couple of pictures of this year's costume. I'm gonna bet she was happier last year.


This year Allison was a Fairy Princess. Whenever someone suggested she might be a Fairy, a Princess, a Butterfly, or an Angel, she used her favorite made up contraction, "No I amn't, I'm a Fairy Princess!" We have tried to teach her that "am not" just can't be shortened the way "are not" or "I am" can, but she's not hearing it.

Lizzie did enjoy the day a little, when she saw the bounty of Allison's trick or treating. (No, we didn't actually let her eat any!)
I don't have any good pictures of Allison's costume on this computer- Tim has them and has been promising to send them to me for two weeks. But here is one of her trying to cheer up the sad chicken.

Allison had her first visit from the Great Pumpkin this year. She got to pick out a few pieces of candy to keep, and she left the rest out for the Great Pumpkin to take and replace with a non-candy treat. She was VERY pleased with her Princess Aurora doll that came with, as she calls it, a "noble steed." Aurora has been having a great time playing with the action figures, and today we discovered that Aurora's pink high heels fit Batman!

Long time, no blog (again)

A lot has happened since I last posted. On October 2, we lost Grampy, Tim's maternal Grandfather. It was unexpected so we're all still adjusting, but we are glad he was able to live out his life in his own home, as he wanted, and that he was able to be a part of the girls' lives for as long as he was. He loved his great-granddaughters and was sure that Allison is destined to be a great athlete.

A Song About Princesses

by Allison

Princesses are very brave
Even in a cave
Princesses are beautiful
But not beautiful, they are tough!
And really really strong!

This week, the future president and vice president of the United States (Sisters can be President and VP together, right? Schmidt 2048!) met the next first lady of the United States! Mrs. Obama asked Allison if she was ticklish. This was after a wonderful rally in Madison, I feel really lucky to have been there! Lizzie was asleep, but I hope the encounter made an impression on some level! And yes, Michelle Obama is REALLY tall!

This afternoon Allison was playing with some toys and started chanting, "Yes We Can! Yes We Can!" and I was so excited- I thought, "Hey, that rally really stuck with her!" I asked her what she was doing and she said she was playing Bob the Builder. Score another one for PBS Kids.

The Artist's Latest Works

As I mentioned, Allison is taking an art class. Here is last week's project, a super cool wire sculpture. This class is giving me some great ideas for winter projects! It's just a block of wood with some small holes drilled into it. You put a drop of glue into the hole, then some wire, a toothpick, a pipecleaner- whatever you can find. Then you can put beads on the wire, twist it, bend it, etc., then put the other end of the wire into another hole! There was an option to decorate the edges of the block with ribbon, but Allison chose not to. Artistic license and all of that.


This week she made a replica of our house. It's a remarkable likeness, don't you think?


Here's a close-up, with the artist herself! The "roof" is one of those sample pieces of frame that they use to show you your options at a framing shop! Cool, eh? And in case you couldn't tell, those shiny pieces are shingles. Don't you wish real shingles came in metallic pink, blue and purple? I know I do!


Clearly, she gets her artistic skills from her mother. Here is a picture I drew of her. The "shading" is courtesy of Lizzie, who promptly crawled all over the drawing, giving it her own personal touch. And as if you couldn't tell, the person standing next to the drawing of Allison is Allison's portrait of Mommy.

An office for laaadieees...

Today we went to the zoo. On the way there we passed a construction site and Allison asked what was being built. I didn't know, and I asked her what she thought they might be building. She thought maybe it was an "office for laaaadieeees." I asked her what the ladies would do at the office, and she said, "Lady work." I asked her what lady work entailed, and she said, "Looking for toys for their kids!" So, that was followed by a conversation about how ladies can do the same work men do (and I resisted the urge to say "and usually do a better job!").

The Power of Advertising. Wow Wow Wow!

I was in the kitchen washing dishes, and all of a sudden Allison starts yelling from the living room, "MOMMY!!! I have some exciting news!!!" So I go in there and play along and ask what the exciting news is. "Wubbzy is available on DVD!!!!!!!!!!!" she says. "Wow!" I say. "What does that mean?" She stares at me, wide-eyed. "I don't know. But isn't it EXCITING?!?!??!"

A few of our favorite things

OK, these just arrived today, so they aren't bona fide favorites yet, as they've only been here a few hours, but I know they will be! Allison and Lizzie each got a giraffe from Starbright Baby on etsy. Technically they are teething giraffes, which is how I found them in the first place, as Lizzie is teething like a fool. But they are so cute and I knew Allison would love them too. So we got two, and they are a big hit!



The next favorite thing is Lizzie's kett made spoon. My friend Colleen and her husband Mark were looking for a non-plastic, non-metal baby spoon for their son Yonah. Mark is a luthier (guitar maker! Did you know they were called luthiers? I didn't either, until I met Colleen!) and he is a woodworking artist. He came up with the perfect size and shape for a baby spoon and he uses beautiful exotic woods. The spoon really is a keepsake item. It's the only spoon we use with Lizzie and it is wonderful! The spoon has two ends, one very small for little appetites, and a wider end for hungry-baby days. Ours is made of bubinga wood. SO pretty!

Sisters

Rahw Rah Uggabigbid

I asked Lizzie what today's blog post should be titled, and that's what she said. The poor kid got a couple of vaccinations today, so I figure she gets to call the post whatever she wants.

Today was the 9 month check up (nevermind that she's a few days over 10 months). She weighs in at 19 lbs, 15 oz and is 29 1/4 inches tall. We switched to a new doctor, a family doctor who has a 14 month old of her own, and she is fantastic. I'd been wanting to find one doctor for all of us, and I really wanted a female doctor for the girls to "grow up" with. This doctor has just finished her residency and she used the same midwives that I used when Lizzie was born! I feel so lucky to have found a doctor I really click with. She completely understood my fuzzy-headedness that results from being up all night with wide awake kids.

Speaking of which- We had a wild night last night, the girls decided that since Daddy was away, it would be a good idea to repeatedly wake each other up until Mommy gave up on the idea of sleep and we all stayed up until 1am! Lizzie was being really cute, and I tried to get a picture of her happy smile. Instead, I got this:

This is not the baby you are looking for...

Lizzie is practicing her Jedi mind tricks.

A slow news day...

The art class went well. Allison drew "the sea, with two friend fish and a mean shark." The regular teacher is out of town for two weeks, so I guess the class is sort of low key until she returns. She had no problem whatsoever hopping off to the classroom without a backward glance at old mom. So to fill the time, I checked out an amazing knitting store a few doors down- Nevermind that I can't knit, I spent most of the class time just ogling the gorgeous yarn. They do offer knitting classes, and I can set my own time for the class- So hypothetically I could take a 30 minute class during Allison's 45 minute art class. Drop her off, head down the block, and be done and back before her class is over. Watch this space for my next hobby/obsession!

Amplify Art!

Since we decided to wait until next year to do the preschool thing, I've been looking for some kind of class to get Allison into so she can hang with some kids her age and get used to someone other than Mom and Dad being in charge. Most of the classes are obscenely priced, but I finally found something somewhat reasonable. It's called "Amplify Art" and it promises to, "introduce your young child to the joys of self-expression through art!" Allison doesn't need much help with self-expression, or amplification, but I think this will be a lot of fun for her. Her first class is tomorrow, so I will post an update as soon as I can!

With sprinkles, Daddy?

Allison woke up at 3am with a pretty nasty fever. Being the seasoned parents that we are, we waited a whole 30 minutes before panicking and calling the doctor. She's fine now, she's had a nasty cough for a few days and I think the fever was just the tail end of that cold, trying to fight off the nastiness. She was pretty funny in her fever-induced delirium- singing a beautiful song that neither Tim nor I recognized, and asking Daddy for something or other with sprinkles.

Perhaps I am on the twice a year posting plan?

Seven months since my last post... So it seems it's time for a new one?

I've decided that I am a horrible mother because I just barely kept a baby book for Allison and I have yet to even write Elizabeth's name into hers. So now I have decided I will be a mom of the future and keep a Baby Blog instead. I will attempt to record funny stories about the kiddos, for future generations to enjoy.

There is a tradition in Tim's family- His aunt plays the organ at Grampy's house while wearing a silly hat. Much hilarity ensues. We decided on this most recent visit that Aunt Jane should take on an apprentice. And here is the first training session. Note the very necessary butt-wiggle incorporated into the display.





This might be the last video for a while, as Lizzie appears to have consumed the camera.

Allison's Birthday Party

Yesterday was Allison's 3rd birthday party. A good time was had by all, I think. The grown-ups played Rock Band and the kiddos basically just ran around like maniacs. I crimped Allison's hair for the party, so that was hilarious. It made for an especially nice effect when she jumped off the bed and her hair was flying everywhere. By bedtime the M&Ms, cake, ice cream and Kool-Aid (all blue, of course) had worn off and she crashed hard. The day ended with her sitting on the kitchen floor babbling and crying about nothing in particular. She fell asleep pretty quickly and slept until almost 9:30 this morning. And when she woke up, the first thing she asked for was another cupcake. Doh!

Also, Elizabeth did her version of Granddad's Ed Grimley impression last night.

Business Owner!

I am now officially a small business owner. dumplindesigns.etsy.com opened last week and I've already made one sale! I mainly started it because I embroidered more onesies than Elizabeth could possibly wear, so I figured I'd try to make some money. I have lots more ready to go but I am waiting for permission from the company that designed the images I worked from. Hopefully I'll hear from them in the next week and then I can list a bunch more.

Allison is 3!

Today is Allison's 3rd Birthday. We didn't do much, the "big" party is on Sunday. Today we had lunch with Daddy and then went to the party store (or the Birthday Store, as Allison called it) and bought supplies for Sunday. We are having a "blue" party- She loves blue and said she wanted her party to be blue. So of course she wanted to buy everything in Party City that was blue. I managed to keep her to the necessities- cups, plates, napkins... and a blue Tootsie Pop. When she said good night tonight she thanked me for giving birth to her. She was coached by Tim to say it, but it was funny anyway. The actual to-the-minute anniversary of her birth is about 2 hours away. Time flies!

Rockband

Tim and I bought the game Rockband for the X-Box this weekend. We have finally found a game we both enjoy and that he is willing to play! We're on tour and so far we've played Seattle and Los Angeles, with New York, Chicago, and San Francisco coming soon. I'm the guitarist and Tim (using his stage name Pug Rocksworth) plays bass. We rock.

My Second Ever Blog Post

Hmmmm.... There's this thing called pregnancy brain- It makes you a little bit forgetful. Apparently I had it when I started this blog last year. That potential pregnancy I posted about is now my 11 week old daughter Elizabeth! So now this blog will be for updates about the girls, and various other goings on!