May 19, 2014

Is the day it all came together. My heart was filled with love and I thought to myself, "this is what I'm here for-to raise these two sweet little children and for them to love each other, forever" 

We were getting ready for nap and both Parker and Price were running down the hall chasing each other and laughing. I finally yelled "nap time" and down the hall I hear Price say, "sissy I love you, give me a hug." and then I hear the sweetest response, "I love you tooooo." Parker just started saying I love you but I have never heard them say it to each other in a conversation they started on their own. It was so precious and it just made me so, so happy. They love each other so much and they will always be best friends. A brother sister bond, so special and something to definitely treasure. I'm happy for them.

This also reminds me of an incident that happened a few nights back. Parker was having a challenging time listening to directions from daddy about not doing something she wasn't suppose to at the dinner table. Finally Kadin said, "okay Parker I think we need to go into your room..." He picked her up, she started crying and they walked toward her room. Price then immediately gets uncomfortable. I noticed that and I say, "hey buddy, do you want to get a book for me to read to you?" and his response was, "I love sissy." He was so concerned with her getting upset and possibly in trouble, he did not like it at all! It was sad but incredibly cute how much he loves his sister. 

Summer is knocking on our door

The weather has been gorgeous lately and it's not even summer yet! Time to wash the rig! 

And time for picnics on our deck

Is that a baby Sasquatch picking raspberries?

Is that a little surfer boy baby? Nope, just Parker Lou! 

Got to spend my mother's day with those cuties. We went up to Daddy's school to play baseball and frisbee. Too much fun. 

Today we went on a ferry boat ride to Clinton with Grampy and Grammi. 

We can't wait until Daddy is home for summer. Not too much longer! 

Spring is almost here!

It's St. Patty's day tomorrow and that means the first day of spring is right around the corner. We are still waking up to clouds and rain most mornings but we can see the light! We are starting to get outside more, wearing less layers and having a lot of fun. Here are some highlights from the past couple months. 

Slide races at the new playground at 92nd street park. I think we are going to be using this a lot this spring/summer.

Always fun times with cousin Ko Ko

The zoo is always a day of fun! 

Rainy day beach exploring at Howarth Park. 

Our go to Beach. Lighthouse park, just right down the hill. This day we decided to get some fish and chips. Afterwards Price told daddy that night that he wanted a bike with a basket so he could carry the fish and chips. So cute. 

Deck Bubble fun!

This jumpy house has been a lifesaver on days we can't get outside. Too much fun.

Our weekly Trader Joe trips are a big deal. 

So proud of himself

Sissy putting on a library puppet show 

We love the Everett Children's museum. Can you spot a farmer milking the cow?

My favorite. My loves. My babies. 

Bottle it up

ahh my babies. Look at these guys. How can you not smile? I love them so much. Yesterday was one of those days where I was watching them play on the couch, giggling and hugging each other and thinking to myself, "I want time to freeze and for them to stay this age forever." I want to bottle up this time in our lives and remember it forever. Hopefully by writing this blog entry it'll help me do that. 

Price is not yet 3 and a half and Parker will turn 20 months in 3 days:) They are in full on toddler mode but still are my babies. I tried to explain to Price yesterday that he'll always be my baby and I don't think he appreciated it very much:) Let's start with Price. He is the most amazing, loving, sensitive, smart older brother to Parker. He surprises Kadin and I every day with his observations. He told Grammi the other day that we needed string cheese because it's "sissy's favorite." He is such a sweet heart. He recently went on a Grandma 2 night vacation down at Grandma's house and she couldn't stop talking about how sweet he is right now and how much fun he had. I don't think he wanted to come home. He's his own little person for sure. He can now pee standing up:), can write his name and knows all his letters. He got his first report card from school! He loves school but still likes to tell me when I pick him up from his 2 mornings a week that he "missed mommy." I think he tells me that more to make me feel special. The director of the preschool told me the other day when I picked him up that he was playing by himself at recess with his football, playing all the positions himself. Quarterback, running back, defender and eventually scored what she thought was a touchdown and threw his arms up in the air. He's incredible agile and athletic. I can't wait to see what he choses to play and participate in. He loves to sing, not always at the right volume, but he loves to sing. He loves playing with our cats. He said he wants, "melbourne, sydney, a dog and a pig" for a pet. Maybe we'll work on that dog part in the next couple years.....he loves mapping out the route at the zoo, getting his own groceries at the store, helping mommy bake, loading the dishwasher afterwards. He loves to brush his teeth but absolutely with no toothpaste or floss. He loves baths but "no hair." I can't wait until the no water, no shampoo stage is over. He is starting to make believe and play his own little games now. The other day he decided we were going to be in a parade and he was going to throw out "candy" to me and sissy. Yesterday he filled up his backpack with legos, appointed me as Santa and had me deliver toys to good boys and girls from Santa's backpack while he ran in front of me as Rudolph with his blinking red nose he was wearing. He is a puzzle fanatic. He will sit down and master a puzzle in no time flat. He lovess the challenge. Hands down though, if he could do one thing all day every day it would be to play football. "you mommy Wilson, Quarterback, me Marshawn Lynch" Sometimes I get to be Marshawn but I am corrected often as to how I need to hold the ball when he hands it off to me. He say he wants to be a doctor when he grows up. Won't be surprised if that happens. More than anything he is a lover down to his core. One of the most special memories I'll never forget even when he leaves home one day is how during naps every day we climb into mommy and daddy's bed, the two of us, and he says, "snuggle, snuggle, snuggle" pulling the sheets up over us, giving me a bear hug and putting his face right into mine. "I love you Price." "I love you too mommy." and he holds my hand falling asleep. 

Sissy: I'm not sure she knows her name is really Parker. She's a goofball. "Sissy is funny." Price says daily. She wakes up with a smile, goes to bed with a smile. No transitional periods needed for her. She wakes up ready to go, ready to play. She's talking a lot right now. When we ask her a question her first response is a long drawn out, "maybbeee...." and then picks something. She wants everything Price has. He gets a snack, she needs a snack. She loves to get a rise out of her brother. She's already fallen off the couch and scared the day lights out of Price but still goes right back to that same spot so Price can scream and tell her to get down. She has a pretty bad ass hair style right now. Very similar to mine when I was a baby. Sweeping side bangs, short sides, longer in the back with the cutest curly Q. Wispy locks, unlike Price's thicker hair. Both blondies, both adorable. She loves to swing, run in the opposite direction, going to the library with me for reading time with bubbles and Mr. Monkey every Tuesday morning while Price is at school. Sissy loves her daddy. She watches for him at the window every day when he gets home from school and greets him with a big bear hug. He taught her how to do eskimo kisses. When you tickle her you could record her giggle and it would the the perfect baby giggle. Parker loves her babies. Everything babies. We drop Price off at school, she looks for babies. We go to the park, she hunts out babies. For Christmas she got her own baby crib and high chair. Big hit. The last few nights she has to be put down in her crib with her favorite baby right next to her. "Good night baby, good night sissy." She runs, runs, runs, jumps, climbs, jumps. Then when it's bed time, we get her blankey, binkie, have our special rocking time, sing a couple songs and she's done. Plays hard, sleeps hard. 

Most importantly, as I'm sitting here typing this out while everyone still sleeps I am reminded how lucky I am to have two beautiful, happy, healthy babies. Life is not easy every day and breaks are definitely needed but Kadin and I are so grateful we have been blessed with two wonderful children who entertain and challenge us daily. I waited what seemed like forever to have this life and now that it's here I cherish it. They will not be this little forever and our lives will not always be this simple. I love how I get to stay home with them every day and care for them, play with them and be there for every moment. Our lives are sure different then they once were but we wouldn't have it any other way. 

Big ass deals!

This week has been HUGE! Big ass deals happening over here at the Brookings. Let me give you some background first. Price has been in our bed for some time now. He went from his crib to his big boy bed after Parker was born and I'm not sure how long he was in there for but didn't seem very long. Maybe 5 or 6 months at the most. He transitioned really easily from crib to bed but for whatever reason, he ended up in our bed. My brain is obviously fried so I can't recall why and Kadin isn't here to ask:) Anyway, our routine has been something like this each night for the past 17 months, or since Parker was born: 

Each night, I bring Parker out to the living room, feed her, put her in the Ergo carrier to fall asleep,, or lately, I'm able to just sing a couple songs to her and then put her down in her crib and she easily goes to sleep on her own. That is anywhere from 6:30-7:30. At that same time, Kadin takes Price into our room and reads books, lays down with him and has to wait until he falls asleep to come back out to see me. Usually he would make his appearance back into the living room by 8:00 each night. Just enough time for me to catch an episode, or close to a full episode, of either the Real Housewives of Miami, Parenthood or Kardashians. My on Demand crack. Then maybe we get a 1/2 hour or so together and then I head into bed and lay down to snuggle with Price before falling asleep. Kadin is not far behind. During the night I usually wake up to Parker crying out, first time about 10-11, I bring her back out to the living room, feed her real quick and put her down. Inconvenience for sure, but just enough time to catch up on Facebook, get a little snuggle and back to bed. Then I'd get a swift kick to the stomach by Price's foot, and then a whack in the head from his head. I'd try to fall back asleep reaching across the bed to touch Kadin's foot for some comfort. Then once I'm all comfortable, Parker cries out again around 2:30-3:30 in the morning, and I do the same routine. But that second wake up sucks. My alarm has been going off at 4:15 most mornings so really, there were many more days then not where I'd stay up after I put her down at 3:30. Why fall asleep to the alarm 45 minutes later? 

So here we are to last Sunday morning. Almost a week ago. I woke up and said to Kadin, "this is it. Price is out of our bed and she is going to sleep through the night." no easing into this. I'm done. So Kadin moved things around, took his big boy bed out of his room, put it into Parker's room and now we have a sharing situation and a play room. Perfect. And our bed is back. At least that is the plan. 

Well everyone, it's working, for the most part. I have had 4 nights in a row of NO GETTING UP TO BREAST FEED MY 17 MONTH YEAR OLD!  She has been crying out and waking us up but she puts herself to sleep each time. Kadin isn't even having to go in there to soothe her. I know she would have been able to do this months ago but I think I wasn't ready to give up feeding her. As tired as I was, always tired, I enjoyed that time with her. I always will cherish that time. So the first Big ass deal is she is sleeping through the night. No more boob at night. Just before bed and when she wakes up. 

Next big ass deal..... Now Kadin takes Price into his play room, reads him stories each night and then takes him into Parker's room to go to sleep. He falls asleep faster and is excited to sleep with his sissy to watch over her. He goes in her room quietly each night, careful to not wake her up and then Kadin is out. And we have options! We can either spend time together in the living room OR in our own bedroom, how bout that?? It's amazing! 

The glitches are that often when Parker cries out at night, she wakes up Price and he isn't able to recover so Kadin goes in, gets him and brings him back to our bed. Not a problem for us now, but I'm sure we'll have to work on that too at some point. But for now we are just thrilled to have a couple hours to ourselves. It's Heaven. Hawaiian vacation really. Oasis. 

Last night was pretty cute but pretty pathetic actually. Parker woke up, Price woke up and we laid in bed complaining, "why isn't she going back down?" It seemed like forever. Well, when I went out to the living room to find my phone to text my friend that I won't be making it to our 5am workout because I'm so tired, I found Price half way off our couch with his blanket and Pooh Bear, in is undies, legs freezing and Parker's door wide open! He was tired of her crying, he went out to the couch, he fell asleep. Parker meanwhile was having such a hard time because she didn't understand why her door was open and no one was coming for her. Anyway, 3:30am and I'm carrying Price into our room and shut the door for Parker. Everyone woke up at 6:00, everyone was happy.

In conclusion. 2 big ass deals. No more waking up to do feedings in the middle of the night and no more Price falling asleep in our bed. I'd say we have had a successful week! 

Happy Fall

As I'm sitting here typing this it's blowing leaves everywhere! We are having a bit of a wind storm and some are without power. Luckily ours is still on. But I love watching the trees and leaves blow all around. It's been quite the fall so far. Daddy was busy coaching 8th grade football, Price started a 2 morning a week preschool and Parker has grown like a weed and developing quite the spunky personality. She misses Price when he is at school, wishes she could go and walks around saying, "Bro, Bro" until we go and pick him up. She wakes up in the morning happy, goes to bed happy and is just a lover. She is almost 17 months. 

Price was a football player, quarterback to be exact. Price was Keith Price from the Huskies. 

This made me smile. Price's teachers put this list of what the kids said they were going to come dressed up like for Halloween. I took this picture, sent it to Kadin and said, "look, he must have talked!" I love it!

Sissy was of course his supportive Cheerleader. 

She runs to see him when school is out. And here is how she greets him when he comes out of the classroom....

We went to the zoo for their Halloween fun the weekend before. Sissy wanted to be a fluffy bunny. 

Auntie Karis and cousin Koen met us there. Ko Ko was a fox, way too cute! These two, I tell you, are going to get into some kind of mischief I'm afraid...

Boo!

Our precious little bunny foo foo

Price took a field trip to the pumpkin/animal farm in Edmonds. Parker and I got to tag along. We got to see 2 day old piglets. So cute!

We all got to go as a family to the same farm the weekend before. The kids were all about the pumpkins and the animals. So fun to watch.

Love our little pumpkin pie. Now it's time to gear up for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My favorite time of year and Kadin and I are so excited to enjoy this time with our two favorite little people. 

Happy birthday Price!

Price's party weekend officially started with a birthday donut in his birthday suit. Grandma came up on Sat morning, his actual birthday to surprise him. She brought goodies and gifts and had a great day with grandma so daddy and mommy could go to their first husky game of the season.

Sunday at 3:00 was his birthday party. His only request was a blue cake. Here is what he got!

Price had so much fun opening presents! He sure got some nice things from his friends. Sissy had fun helping too!

Mmmm....a $20 dollar bill. What will he buy??

 Look at that game face...

One gift he was really excited about was this book from Grammi and Grampy: the Water Hole. He loves finding the hidden animals in the pictures. 

Sissy and cousin Ko Ko had a ball! 

And of course the afternoon was filled with lots of football! 

One of his favorite gifts was a dinosaur set that he could paint himself. I loves it! Thanks Aunt Nancy! And thanks to her for taking such great pictures from the party. 

What a fun birthday! Bring on the 3's!