One Year Old!

Indigo turned one last week. She is such a big girl! She started walking just a few days before her birthday. Today we bought her first pair of shoes. I didn't feel weepy about her turning one, but the shoes have me tearing up a bit. Here are some photos of Ms. Personality. Dress by Grammy.

Unfortunately, I have no photos from her birthday party, as I was wielding the cake. Granna will have to fill in the photo documentation. I made a kitty-cake from an Applesauce Cake recipe, but had a near-disaster with the icing. I was rescued by Jeff who begged new icing bags from the Alberston's bakery. As I said, photos of the Thoroughly Iced Kitty Cake will be here soon!

Almost One and summer stuff

So many things are happening for my kids this summer, and there is never time to blog about it. I'm getting lots of photos (thank you iPhone) and frequently posting to facebook, so the fam can stay up to speed. Although we haven't had much summer weather, we are still out and having fun whenever possible. So what if we have to wear long sleeves to the beach, less sunscreen used, and less chance of burning our alabaster skin- I say!

Indigo-she will turn one this month. The past year has been a whirlwind!

1. Almost walking. Will turn anything into her personal mode of transportation. Easel, trash cans, etc.

2. Has the cutest bent pointer finger thingy. Will try to photograph again tomorrow. Her finger is straight, the bend is at the wrist. She points at EVERYTHING!

3. Her loves: Birds, cats, babies, dolls, Nordy (a stuffed shoe horn toy from Nordstrom), giving kisses.

4. She enjoys finding her reflection in things: the trash can, the dishwasher, the mirror. Such a smiley happy girl most of the time.

Ryan

1. Transitioning to the big potty for poops. This has taken a lot of work on my part. He is not a fan of the noise it makes hitting the bottom of the pot.

2. Playing soccer. We had a major meltdown at one of the practices. But he came to enjoy his time running and playing with some new kids.

3. Creative play is starting to get interesting. He is making up stories about things, and is great at rhyming and making up songs. Gets that one from me. :)

Indigo's Affections

At 10 months, Indigo has developed a myriad of kissing techniques.

We have:

1) The nose kiss. She basically gives a raspberry using her nose. Sometimes there is an inhale with the nostrils attached to your cheek, and almost always, there is an exhale. With her current cold, I am enjoying this display of affection less and less. And my throat is starting to hurt. Darn petri dish children!

2) The real deal: This kiss is so sweet, she is trying to pucker her lips. So there is a suction sound as she makes an O shape with her mouth and touches it to my cheek.

3) The Lick: This kiss was an early form for her, and is becoming more rare as she gains skills. I'm starting to miss it. (weird I know)

4) The Head Butt. Just today I noticed her attempting to bonk people and things with her head. She mostly uses her forehead, but there was a reverse throwing-herself-backwards maneuver today that was a backwards head butt for sure.

Other milestone updates: She has FINALLY managed to say Mama. It's good to hear it. :) She is trying to walk. Using laundry baskets and toys for support, she is beginning the cruising stage. She will walk with me for a few steps with hands held.

Today also marks Ryan's Half Birthday. His big news is that the #2 training is going VERY WELL. It has been more than a week since his last party foul. He will be rewarded soon with a date to the new Cars 2 movie. My dad made him a fabulous potty chart to keep track of it all. We filled in spot 9 of 15 today!

Ryan's Questions

Let the Big Questions begin!

Ryan: Mommy, where was Indi when I was in your tummy?

Me: In heaven.

R: Was Daddy with her?

Me: No.

R: Who was with her?

Me: Angels.

R: Oh.

10 second pause.

Ryan: How do babies grow in your tummy?

Me: When I eat food, then they can grow bigger.

R: Oh.

No, there aren't any babies in my tummy. But Ryan has been expecting his baby to come ever since I announced my pregnancy with Indigo. When I ask him now about it, I getting varying answers such as "in 5 weeks" or "in 3 days". His labor is imminent. :)

Other cuteness from my oldest: "Mommy, I want Indi to enjoy us." (he meant join)

Where Have I Been?

You may be wondering. Too busy to blog would be the obvious answer. The literal answer, Hawaii, Georgia, Tennessee, renovating my house, and hosting grandparents are the more exclusive responses. Here are photos of the beginning of demolition, and a portion of reconstruction. Soon, I will have completed project photos.

The project: kill the ugly pink tile, replace with beautiful vertical cut carbonized bamboo. We did some demo and hired out the construction part. The plastic sheeting a la Dexter, is to prevent major dust from infiltrating the entire house. It did not work. I returned from a 10 day Hawaiian vacation to a beautiful floor, but had to vacuum my couch before sitting on it. Oh, and clean a 1/4 inch layer of dust off of EVERYTHING. Good times.

FInding my Grace

Alone with the kids for 3 days, I feel like my world is crumbling. I've scheduled a house warming party for Saturday (yes, I'm insane) and am trying to prepare one room per day this week, with the big rush when Jeff gets back on the main traffic areas. I'm going to focus on the positive things since so much has gone wrong.

1. Ryan has had no potty accidents YET today (it's 2:34 PM)

2. The downstairs bathroom is completely sanitized and all that was brown is now sparkling white. (Don't ask about the S&*^storm that caused the cleaning).

3. Indigo is no longer constipated :)

As I determined in school, the entire world DOES revolve around poop!

Photos from my phone

Since joining the current tech age, I have been taking photos with my phone. Most of them make their way to Facebook, but my mom complained, so here are a few gems from my collection.