We are American, 2012

Our 4th of July this year was quite memorable, especially for not having any plans in advance (other than eating red, white and blue popsicles of course!) This was the first 4th of July that Graham and I have BOTH had off in the history of our marriage so we filled the day to the brim! We started the day with a family walk (bike ride for Isla) to Starbucks for some FREE drip coffee (in honor of the 4th) and our favorite Chonga bagels.

After a quick nap for Emma, we packed a special picnic lunch (read: star-shaped) and joined our friends Jeremy & Oliver for our 1st ever Kirkland parade experience. The parade was surprisingly long and Isla loved all the different old cars and kept telling us which one she wanted. Emma loved the balloons tied to the stroller in front of us. :)

Before heading home, we stopped at Starbucks for ANOTHER free drip coffee (we are American) and the girls got their own balloons from a local shop.

After naps, we lounged in the backyard and ate our festive homemade treat. Graham posted a picture of Isla eating the popsicle on Facebook and I was alarmed that the majority of the comments made were something to the extent of "You let Isla have a popsicle?!" Yes, people. It was a holiday after all! :)

I did some grilling and made a delicious picnic dinner if I do say so myself: grilled jerk chicken, grilled corn on the cob with spicy lime butter and homemade potato salad.

We took the food to the Kirkland Marina where we met up with the Welchs (this time Rachel was there as well). There was a DJ playing music and Isla just couldn't get enough of the dancing. She wanted me to spin her until we were "so, sooooo dizzy." We kept asking her if she wanted to eat and she told us she wanted to keep dancing (unheard of for this girl who adores her dinner!)

As it turns out, we were picnicking right behind Seattle Sounder's Ozzie Alonso. Graham wasn't shy at all and approached him for a picture (and proceeded to blow his cover as he'd gone unnoticed before...)

We'd set out blankets at Heritage Park earlier in the day to reserve a firework-viewing spot. After dinner, we carted the girls home, put them to bed, had a cocktail, and then got them up an hour and 15 minutes later to go watch the fireworks. Yes, you read that right. We tore them out of bed at 9:15 PM to watch a 10:15 PM show! Such irresponsible parents! But it was worth it. Isla ate it up and kept saying the fireworks were "so beautiful!" I'd popped some popcorn for Isla (a first for her!) and Kettle corn for us so we had something to munch on while we watched. I'm pretty sure Emma wished she were back in bed but with constantly bouncing, we distracted her long enough to make it through the show.

Such a fun day!

Sabbath

Yesterday I finally responded to a pressing conviction and celebrated the Sabbath. We went to church together, did a little mattress shopping, spontaneously went out to lunch with Graham's family, the girls napped, I read my Bible and a book, Graham played the guitar. We had some good intentional conversations, we lounged, ate dinner together, put the girls to bed and watched a show. I must confess I'd forgotten what it felt like to have a day without an agenda. I'm grateful that the Lord reminded me that taking a day of rest is not an option, it's a command. And boy am I a better person for it! Here's to making this a habit!

Emma: 10 Months

I know I said last month that Emma figured out how to clap but now she is perfecting it. She claps when you ask her to or when anyone says "yay!" I forgot how much fun this age is as she gets more responsive! I'm still working to get a video of her clapping....

Emma is so, so, so close to crawling! I mean so close I don't know how she could get any closer. She hasn't had much drive to figure it out as her rolling mechanism has been so effective but she's spent the last month on her hands and knees rocking back and forth and doing planks. She did this on Wednesday (does it count?):

We've had a bit of a rocky month with breastfeeding. My milk supply has always been significantly better on one side and I think Emma finally got frustrated with it and decided the "dud" side was not worth her time. She started to refuse to eat on the left a few weeks back and, though I've been taking supplements, pumping and doing whatever I can to get her to latch on both sides (including the football position to make her thing she's on the "good side!"), I basically lost my supply on the left. I've never heard of this happening before so I'm not quite sure what to do about it other then press on, watch closely to make sure my good side picks up the slack and she continues follow her growth curve and then wean her completely at 1 year. I'd really like to make it through without formula! Unfortunately this whole ordeal has put a quite a damper on the joys of breastfeeding and it has become more a source of stress than joy I think for both of us! Sad. :( 

On a happier note, Emma has begun to nap!!!!!!!! I'm not sure what changed but she is finally sleeping for 1, often 2, sometimes 3 hours at naptime!! Hallelujah! It's been a challenging 10 months but I'm finally getting some pockets of time where both girls are asleep and I can get things done. Unfortunately these "things" are usually chores but I'm grateful nonetheless. Emma's morning nap is averaging ~1 1/2 in length (beginning around 8:30 AM) and then her afternoon naps is usually 2-2 1/2 hrs (1-3:30PM). I didn't realize how overtired she was until I finally experience her in a well-rested state. She actually wakes up from her naps HAPPY now and ready to play so that's wonderful.

I've started giving her 2 pacifiers when she sleeps--one for the mouth and one for her to hold. As soon as I started doing this, she basically stopped crying at nap times (distraction technique!) She loves banging the 2nd one on the crib rails and that's usually how I know she's awake--I hearing drumming upstairs. She is also sleeping through the night!!! She wakes between 5:45 and 6:30 AM for an early feed but then goes back down for another hour or 2. I've been getting up for the day after nursing her and enjoying some coffee and quiet time to myself before the whole house wakes. It's heavenly!

We spend lots of time at the park these days to burn off morning energy. Emma loves the swing almost as much as her big sister and I just love seeing her smile! She has also begun to dance when she hears music and likes to drum her hands to the beat.
Emma has begun to take some steps while hanging on to. She seems to get a kick out of being upright though she hasn't yet figured out how to pull herself up on anything on her own other than the laundry basket.

I just have to post another video of Emma's "sideways" trick. Now she likes to put on a full show while she sits in her high chair, do her sideways thing and then clapping for herself. She knows she's cute!

Isla: 2 Years, 10 Months (34 mo)

We have welcomed a few new members to our household this month. Isla's "friends," as she calls them, often join us at the table for dinner, ride in the backseat of the car and just plain follow us whereever we go. I've asked her what their names are to which she usually responds "I don't remember." I'm pretty sure there are a lot of them but honestly I couldn't tell you because I can't see them. Oh yes, we have reached that momentous milestone of imaginary friendships and no, my daughter's not in the corner talking to herself. She's talking to her friends.

Though she may not be able to come up with names for these pretend friends, she sure comes up with creative ones for her babies and animals. Some popular favorites include "Eeekah," "Mop" and "Leek."

We've been flying around to a lot of different places lately on Isla's pretend airplane. Usually we go to the park but sometimes we also go to one of her cousin's houses. She likes to have us stand in line, board the plane, get buckled in (heaven forbid we forget that one!) and then wait for various extended family members who were running late to board the plane (which, by the way, is our staircase). Isla will line up every single baby and animal she owns along the stairs and make sure each one is buckled individually. On a good day, we actually arrive at our destination but usually we spend the entire time getting/gathering/doing more things so we are ready to go. :)

Isla continues to love arts and crafts. This month we broke out the finger paints which she loved. She ended up rubbing the paint around on her hands like lotion and made some fun pieces that we hung in the girls' room.

I am so, so, SO happy to announce she is completely, 100%, totally potty-trained! We only had to put her in diapers while she slept for a couple short weeks and then into underwear she went. We made her a chart with 6 empty boxes and each time she woke up clean and dry, she got to put a sticker in a box. After 6 stickers (in 7 nights--only one oops!) her chart was full and we ordered her reward: A BIKE!!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Wilson! I'd been wanting to get Isla a bike but with her birthday so late in the summer, I didn't want to wait until then. But I couldn't just give her a bike for no reason so we used it as a reward (win-win if you ask me!) Though she really wanted pink at first, she settled on blue as a more neutral color was needed as it will be passed down amongst the grandkids. We found a nice blue floral helmet to keep in girly (though her pink-loving eyes did wander toward the hot pink Barbie one first--no thanks!) She's doing a great job figuring the bike out, a slow but steady process.

Isla continues to nap once a day (for 2-3 hours) and usually sleeps from ~7:30PM-7:30AM at night. We've been hearing an awful lot of singing and talking coming from the girls' room "after hours" so I think she's having a bit of a harder time falling asleep. She remains in her crib at night but sleeps on the double bed in the guest room for naps. She's totally ready for a big girl bed all the time but, until she tries to climb out of that crib, why fix something that isn't broken? She asked me once if she could climb out by herself, I told her "no" and she hasn't ever tried to do it again. Boy did we luck out! The other day though, Isla went in "to get Emma" after her nap and I came in to find the foot rest for the rocking glider pushed next to Emma's crib and both girls inside!! Smart girl.

Isla's fascination with breasts continues! Thankfully she has only asked people we know about their breasts and so far all the people she has approached have been women. Phew. She talks about them daily and even found one in her bacon the other morning. You know how bacon gets bumpy when cooked? Apparently lumps = breasts. The best part about it all is the way she pronounces it: "breffs."

One challenge we've encountered as of late is Isla's ever-developing ability to stall and dilly-dally. We are trying to crack down on it as the process of getting her pants back on and hands washed after going potty has grown painfully long. She is definitely testing us!

I had heard rumor that "the terrible twos" would be more aptly changed to "the terrible threes." I'm beginning to wonder if that might actually be the case. We aren't quite at the 3 year mark but the tantrums that have materialized in recent days are epic and seemingly out of no where. If Isla is willing to accept help (which is rare), she usually wants it to be from me. She's started screaming and yelling if ever Graham tries to take her to the bathroom or put her to bed "Mommy do it!!!" Of course we don't let her get her way and so things get loud.

The other morning, after a record-breaking tantrum that closed out the night before, Isla matter of factly informed me "I'm going to start calling my ducky 'Princess Isla'!" WHAT?!!? Ironic maybe, given her princess-like behavior the evening prior, but most off-putting to me what that she a) knew what a princess was and b) that she was attaching it to her name. Apparently I'm not a fan of princess play, something which sort of took me by surprise. Of course Isla blamed our friend Jeremy and said he taught her about them which I find quite hilarious as he is the very LAST person in our life who would even say the word "princess."

I can't believe it has taken me this long to get a picture like this posted on here but this is our very dear friend Olona and her dogs Martha (Isla calles her "Marfa") and Louise. They are our walking companions and Olona is my running buddy and has played a HUGE role in keeping me going. Olona and Isla have a very special relationship which warms my heart tremendously as her mother.

Isla loves band-aids and finds various "wounds" almost daily on her skin that she feels require one. I've started telling her that she only gets a band-aid if her owie is bleeding a lot to which she usually responds "Mom, it's bleeding a lot!" Graham's test this week for his Masters program was timely as it involved performing a full physical assessment on a test subject. Who better to examine than his own daughter who seems to be "falling ill" and needing lots medicine and band-aids? Of course she ate it all up and had a good time playing doctor with daddy.

Here we go again

He hates it that I make him do this. But I'm his wife. And so I must. He turned around and gave me a brief smile that lasted all of 0.6 seconds before he did what he was really wanting to do which was head for the hills. Or to class.

This week is back-to-school week at the Crozier household! While so many around us are celebrating graduations and welcoming summer vacation, we're hunkering down for what is looking to be the busiest year of our lives thus far. Truth be told, I'm NOT looking forward to it, but I've been working on my attitude and am trying to no longer refer to it as "The Year of Dread." A good friend reminded me a while back to take things one day at a time and those word have stuck with me and I'm trying to apply them!
We've had what I can only summarize as a crazily chaotic week and I can't help but think God is working to teach us to hold things loosely. Isla sat in my dresser drawer and it broke. Graham went to hang his new strand of outdoor lights (a Father's Day gift) and they slipped and shattered on the patio. One of the legs on our chairs snapped. And the toilet won't stop running. Small things when you look at the big picture, but hiccups nonetheless. It has felt a bit like I'm moving in slow motion, working really hard all day only to collapse at the end wondering Did I get anything done today? and Did I even play with my kids?

Graham got the big blow at work on Tuesday when he was told his work schedule is changing completely. He'll be back to working every other weekend which means lots of adjustments for our family. It was more or less inevitable but unwelcome all the same. So again, I think we're being stretched to hold everything in our lives with an open palm. To cherish the blessings while we have them, and then let them go when it's time to move on. It's making me realize how incredibly much I take fore granted. Like drawers that open and shut! And chair legs that remain attached when you use them... I won't be able to take any of that with me when I die though so I really want to learn to keep my hands open. Interestingly enough, my pastor just blogged on this very thing today and you can read about it here.

My favorite quote is this one:

"The truth that we need to live into over and over again in our lives is this: empty hands will be filled with God’s blessing, which we can than empty again as we share those blessings, and in the emptiness of our hands, we’re given still more – it happens over and over again and will continue to happen until the day we close our fist around some particular blessing and say “mine”, say, “only when you pry it from my cold dead hand”. When that day comes you can kiss joy, and lightness, liberty and fruitfulness goodbye."

What a good word that spoke to me today!

In pursuit of a good picture...

It really shouldn't be that hard, should it? To get a good Father's Day picture, I mean. Well, you can't say that we didn't try!! Here's our attempt at capturing a photo of Graham and his girls:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And this last one might have been good had the flash recharged in time...oh well!

Emma: 9 Months

Emma is getting so big! She had her 9 mo appointment and weighed 17 pounds, 5.5 ounces (25%ile), was 26.5 inches long (10-25%ile). She desperately wants to be more mobile than her rolling tactics allow but actually does get around pretty well, all things considered. We often find her in precarious locations like this:

She has begun to eagerly grab at any fingers in the near vicinity to use to pull herself up. She hasn't quite figuring out how to move her legs once in the walking position but sure loves to stand. I often come in after her nap to find her up on all fours and I've seen her get from there to the sitting position on a few occasions. I think crawling is in the very near future!

She is learning new things every day. On May 28th, she clapped for the first time and she is just figuring out how to wave. She is in the copying phase and likes to mimic the various sounds we make. Oh, and she discovered her voice. She LOVES shrieking as loud and high as she possibly can.

It has really struck me this month that Emma has her own personality and it is beginning to shine through! She's generally easy-going and happy to sit surrounded by toys or roll around the room and find her own fun. But she also has a bit of a willful side that she is declaring over the past couple weeks. She's figured out how to cry and scream when she doesn't want something and stubbornly wait in her highchair, not touching her food in hopes I will give her something else (which I don't do and she eventually eats what's served). She also is tender and sensitive and has developed a real sense of fear. She is 100% scared of dogs, even stuffed ones. If one even comes in the same room as her, she begins blinking rapidly and squinting her eyes, pulling away and screaming in fear. This caught me quite by surprise as Isla was never this way so it drove home the point: we have two very different, unique children. And I love that!

Emma is such a little ham! She is still doing her signature move where she tilts her head to the side when we say "sideways" but now she adds some drama to it for extra attention. She loves to throw her cup (and food) off the side of the high chair and then quick lean over to watch it hit the floor. Kids are so smart. And they learn early!

We've transitioned Emma is to pretty much all finger foods which has made her quite the happy camper and over the past week, I fed her cut up pieces of the family meal every night. This is making dinner much easier. The main challenge now is cutting up the food fast enough--she's an eating machine! This month, we've introduced wheat, yogurt, cheese (which she seems to prefer in combination with bread or tortilla--quesadilla or grilled cheese), salmon, zucchini, berries, radish, asparagus, watermelon, orange, grapefruit and the list continues. Since she's done so well, I'm no longer really doing the introduce-foods-one-at-a-time thing but rather just avoiding a few key items: milk, egg whites, shellfish, honey and nuts (although I accidentally fed her sweet potatoes that had been cooked in peanut oil--oops!) She loves meat, particularly shredded chicken and she's a sucker for Cheerios. She becomes instantly hungry anytime she sees that big yellow box. She's made me a proud mama, watching her chow down on steak w/ anchovy sauce and spicy rapini. (Yep, no teeth on this one either....)

This girl also loves the bath. As soon as you put her in the tub, she begins flailing and splashing with all her might. It's really quite entertaining and the girls have a great time in there together.

Oh, and she probably could use a haircut but I just can't bring myself to do it! You know it's bad when you alternate which side you part your kids' hair each week in hopes that maybe you were just doing it on the "wrong" side before... Nope. Emma's hair is chalk full of cowlicks and it wants to go every which way, including straight into her eyes. I've tried clips but then found her with one in her mouth (total choking hazard!!!!) so now that's out... The top middle is all her original hair so it's about 3 times as long as the rest but it's precious and just love my girls, crazy hair and all!