angieandjared.com

Our Time4Learning Curriculum Review

2011-09-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

As September is drawing to a close I'm back to share our thoughts on the Time4Learning (T4L) Curriculum we've had the pleasure of reviewing this last month.

I have to admit, in the beginning, I was a little skeptical that this could be used as as a core homeschool curriculum. It seemed too fun!

Overview:
Our experience was with the 1st grade level lessons. I did poke around a bit in the grade above and below since you get access to 3 grade levels at a time. We started at the beginning and just worked our way through a month of lessons for Language Arts. She picked which Math Lessons interested her most, and for 1st grade Science and Social Studies lessons are few. (I believe this changes in higher grades) For us that was fine because we do so many field trips and activities that we really only do systematic work in Language Arts and Math for now.

What We Loved:
Kaibre loves how fun it is. She logs on chooses a subject, finds the arrow pointing to the next activity in the sequence, and she's off and running. I am not a planner and could not imagine having to write "lesson plans" so this is a life saver to me! The lessons are entertaining and some portions are actual games. Today Kaibre caught me peeking ahead at the lessons in the coming weeks and was so overcome with excitement that she "demanded" to play right then and there. It was an activity where she writes her own story using characters and settings from the related lesson story.

I love the simplicity and the fact that she wants to do the lessons. Every activity she attempts or completes is automatically logged and I can view her progress through the built in reporting system. Every week I export the report and save it to my computer. You have full control over the subjects and dates reflected in each report. This makes record-keeping a breeze!

I contacted customer service in the beginning to change Kaibre's password and the response time was very fast and from a real person! Later I had a few questions about billing and had the same quick friendly personalized response.

What We Liked:
To me T4L is a great blend of independent learning with parent interaction, at least at our grade level. Kaibre can call me over any time and ask a question or have a concept clarified. I also sit in for the progressive phonics story books that accompany each Language Arts unit.

I like that we can repeat anything we'd like or dance through previously mastered concepts. She also develops the sense of pride that comes from figuring something out and advancing to the next activity.

What We Didn't Like:
Occasionally the screen would go blank and Kaibre got pretty darn frustrated because she really liked doing the activities. I don't think this actually had anything to do with the software or T4L and once I updated Flash and restarted the browser everything seemed to work again. We were on a Mac computer using Firefox and the T4L site does state that it is not fully tested for Mac. Other than an occasional glitch here or there, everything worked fine.

The graphics on some lessons seemed a little dated, but didn't interfere with the message. There was one lesson that required too much reading, and did not seem appropriate for the grade level. So I sat through that one and read it to her. In the end it's fine though because my idea of homeschooling does not include my kid sitting on a computer for 4 hours with no interaction from me.

There is one feature I would add in the parent admin area. The ability to mark a lesson "complete" in order to skip it and to "re-assign" lessons that need review.

The Conclusion:
As a work from home mom who's plate is already quite full, I had doubts if it could really be this simple. But it is! When I asked Kaibre in a very serious tone if she wanted to keep using Time4Learning, or if we should try something else after the 1 month review period ends, there there were tears at the very idea we wouldn't use it any more.

Subscriptions are $19.95/month but you can save some money with quarterly payments of $44.85 ($14.95/mo) or an annual payment of $169.95 ($14.16/mo). We're going with the quarterly payment. I can see how this would be cost prohibitive for larger families, but for the ease of use and content offered we are really happy with the price.

The Homeschool EdVenture Begins...

2011-08-31T16:01:00.000-07:00

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for a month in exchange for a candid review. Their online program can be used for homeschool, as an after school tutorial and for summer learning. My opinion will be my own, so come back and read about my experience. You can write your own curriculum review, too!

Catching Up...

2011-06-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

Hello readers...all two of ya, and that might even be a gross exaggeration ;)

We are still here in Southern California and it looks like we'll be staying! Jared's 6 month contract position was extended by one month, and then again by another month, but last week he transitioned into his permanent Field Engineer position with Mass Electric Construction Company. He'll be working on a project in the heart of Los Angeles, 45 miles from where we are now. Were taking a leap and moving to that side of town at the end of June. Hopefully this will be the last move for a while!

It sure is exhausting looking for a place to live in the city. Armed with GreatSchools.com, CrimeMapping.com and good ole Craigslist, we've narrowed down our search area and hope to find the perfect place soon. Rents are a little higher, and spaces a little smaller, but we're thinking it'll be fun to do the "city thing" for a while, and then hopefully get out of California altogether.

Kindergarten is winding down this next week and Kaibre has lots of fun memories from her first year in school. Her class hatched chicks a couple of weeks ago and she begged me to let her have one. I explained to her that they don't stay babies forever and that pretty soon we'd have a chicken and wouldn't have any place to put it. On the day the final chick went it's new home she said to me with a bit of regret, "Mom, we could have had one of those chicks, because then when it grew up, we could just eat it." Five-year-olds are so fun!

Kenslie is TWO! She is so sweet and loving, in a way that makes her seem old and wise. Her hair is getting really blonde and her eyes are a stunning black. She's going to be a heart-breaker. I am so excited that she's finally potty trained- again. At 18 months she basically potty trained herself and I thought, I was off the hook. But then she got sick a few months later and relapsed to the point of no return, so we went back to Pull-Ups for a couple of months. I really hate diapers so I decided to try out this method I'd read about in an e-book. It worked quite well and we've been diaper-free day and night for almost a month!

I'll get some more back posts up soon, there are lots of things we've been doing this year. Stay tuned :)

Christmas in California!

2011-01-10T23:01:00.001-08:00

Snow in the Park

2011-01-10T22:38:00.000-08:00

The city brought snow in for the day. So the kids could go sledding, and playing in the snow.

Halloween

2011-01-10T21:39:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving!

2010-11-28T22:16:00.000-08:00

So we had the fun opportunity to take an AMTRAK train ride from our place outside LA to Tuscan, AZ to spend time with ALL of Ang family for Thanksgiving this year. Here are some pics from our trip.

Farm Day at Kaibre's new school

2010-11-07T16:48:00.000-08:00

New adventures in Southern California

2010-11-07T16:24:00.000-08:00

Kaibre's 5th Birthday

2010-08-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

We decided to have the party at our place this year and have an all day BBQ and water party.

A little of this, and a little of that.

2010-08-25T09:00:00.000-07:00

5th Birthday Breakfast

Day at the Farm

First time fishers

Cousin McKenzie and Kaibre

A visit from the Birds

Zorb fun at the park

Visit and fun with Cory, Brett and Lucian

2010-08-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Please vote for Angie (and Kaibre)!!

2010-08-01T15:00:00.001-07:00

Please follow this link http://tiny.cc/205ny and click "like" just beneath the video on facebook. What is SBI? It's the all-in-one set of tools I use to research, develop, and build my Baby Gift site Thanks!!! Tell all your friends :)

Stop Everything...

2010-07-29T09:00:00.001-07:00

Oregon Camping

2010-07-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

4th of July

2010-07-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Skateboarding Class

2010-06-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Cougar Mountain!

2010-06-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about Seattle is having hikes like this 20 minutes from our house. Awesome!!

Uncle Nick's Wedding in Idaho

2010-06-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Ang, Kaibre and Kenslie got to fly out to Idaho for Ang's brother Nick's Wedding for a couple days.

Super Sunny Sudsy Afternoon!

2010-06-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Kaibre loved helping dad wash the car and well, get him and herself as wet as possible in the process.

Kenslie just loved being in the middle of them both.

The last couple months!

2010-04-29T00:27:00.000-07:00

Kaibre's New Bed - Both the girls love it!

Kaibre's Cubby

"Do I have your Attention?"

Snow Shoeing

2010-03-07T10:03:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple pics from our snowshoeing endeavors last week. We hiked up to beautiful frozen lake near snoqualmie ski resort. The snow was piled high and it was a ton of fun.

Kenslie Free Standing!

2010-03-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Sedona AZ!

2010-01-04T07:53:00.001-08:00

So where do we start with our Christmas Fun?

We decided to all leave home and trade in our own beds for a week in a hotel near Sedona, AZ. Why not mix up Christmas. Here are some of our activities!

Cactus..Buffalo and Snake for Lunch.. Mmm Mmm!!

A whole day of outdoor snow fun!

5 tubes tied together..7 people

Polar Express

Took the Polar Express to see Santa at the North Pole

Grand Canyon at Christmas!

Christmas in a Hotel

Kaibre and Kenslie got a fun new toy!

Kissy Kissy!

Check out these Hyenas!

Sedona, AZ Offroading

Kaibre caught a fish

Taking two kids on a plane for Christmas. Surprisingly we are the minority, but definitely worth while!

Kenslie's Christmas toy

2009-12-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

Church Christmas Program.

2009-12-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to our Ward Christmas Party after leaving the Washington/Cal football game. They had food, a christmas program and PIE..lots and lots of PIE. Kaibre was a part of the primary choir and we had a great little evening with friends.

Washington Huskies

2009-12-06T14:06:00.000-08:00

I was given a couple tickets to the Huskies college football game against Cal(19). So for fun I brought along my cheer squad.. Kaibre. It was a great little daddy daughter activity and we had great seats on the first row of the second level. It was a cool day so we had to bundle up but we had a fun time as Washington tore apart Cal 42-10. It was a great game to make it to.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/clubhouse?teamId=264

Recent Events

2009-12-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it feels like I only post after I go to an event and take photos. If I don't have photos from an event I won't talk about it, which if you have seen our blog recently you can see why we haven't posted.

So here are a couple recent pics.

Kaibre's new look

Her eyes have been looking this way for the past couple weeks. She didn't believe me when I told her that her eyes were going to get stuck that way. Oh well!!

Kaibre learned how to cross her eyes, but only when she wears her special glasses.

She doesn't look that bad

Girls just want to look funny!

I don't know if it is just in the family but I think Weatherheads have weak ankles, knees, fingers... We love our sports which is too bad because it takes little effort to sprang, twist, or tear any given body part on a semi regular basis. My dad always ran and worked out daily, Shawn runs 6 miles a day, and I do my fair share of sports, but none of that ever kept us from having the highest rate of injury out on the court. I most recently sprained/felt like I broke my ankle playing a pickup game of volleyball at the end of the church volleyball season. Now I'm one more step closer to being that old man I feel so much like.

We like to play hide and go seek once in a while. Sometimes I try to hide with Kenslie, sometimes we hide Kenslie.

Christmas.. Check!

2009-11-29T19:03:00.000-08:00

We were all ready to get things going for Christmas this year. As soon as Thanksgiving finished we set the tree up did some Black Friday Shopping checked everybody off the list, wrapped all the presents... and now we are able to casually enjoy December and soak up all the Christmas fun.

Trip to Wenatchee!

2009-11-10T08:42:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple pics from our trip to Randy and Cindy Birds place in November!

Don't worry they're best friends!

Feeding the animals at Small Town Harvest

Kenslie standing up

2009-11-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

Halloween Fun!!

2009-11-01T13:59:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple photos of our Halloween Week extravaganza!

Kenslie 6 1/2 months old, Kaibre at 4

2009-10-19T00:31:00.001-07:00

Kenslie's Performance!

2009-10-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

Kenslie is 6 1/2 months today. Over the last couple days Kenslie has been teasing us with crawling. She has been getting stronger being able to hold her body up with her arms, and has recently been getting up on her knees. For a week or so she has been rocking back and forth.

Then today she started going...

We happened to have the camera available, so this was her first time at it... and also caught on video. She did it a couple times in a row... so now there is no turning back. Watch out world here she comes!!

Daddy time

2009-10-18T16:59:00.000-07:00

So we have been less then regular on our postings, but life is busy, what can we say. Ang, is quite busy with the girls, and I am busy putting a business together...

Kaibre is growing into a small adult that we have to scold frequently. Her personality keeps growing and it will be fun to see who she becomes in the next couple years, because i'm amazed over the last year or so how much of a personality she has gained. She is not hindered by age or if your a man or women, boy or girl; she's your friend no matter your personality and she loves to do whatever you are doing, unless it's a daddy movie... which.. she still sits down to watch. She actually try to steal the controller away out of my deadlock hands. Ha! She has a pretty good bedtime schedule but we haven't locked her into going to bed too early quite yet. So frequently I will throw one of those DADDY shows on and forget she is even in the room. So, is it wrong to let her sit down and spend time watching a DADDY-ACTION, DRAMA show... I know, I know, I'm a bad daddy but probably not too far off most other dads; you moms will admit. I guess I have become desensitized at what is scary or mature content for a kid. So I guess this makes me wonder what kind of content our kids are accustomed too, because we let it slip.

Can I make a direct relationship to who she will be in 10-15 years based off these little actions or are all our kids going to be similarly impacted based on what media they are all watching today or in a couple years? Do you blame yourself if they are a great kid but a terrible teen, or visa versa. It's interesting to see good and bad kids come from good families, and we can definitely make relationships to bad kids with obviously bad parenting.

All I really want to know are kids much tougher than we were, because it seems like there isn't much that fazes her. She is starting to ask to have her bedroom door left open, but no nightmares about big spiders,etc.. Oh, well I guess until I know for sure I will assume the worst and act like things are normal. Isn't that how it goes?

The Best of What's Around...

2009-09-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

So, I've wanted to see a Dave Matthews Band concert since high school, but year after year after year it just hasn't worked out. Either we're traveling the US ourselves just ahead of his tour, or we're living in Tiny-ville where the big concert of the year is Donny Osmond or we're just not on-the-ball enough to get the tickets. Well, this year, Jared, scheming with his mom, made it happen for my birthday present!

Kaibre got to stay with Uncle Randy during the concert and since Aunt Cindy had some pressing wedding matters to attend to (congratulations Natalie and John) Kenslie got to come along with Mommy and Dad.

It was sort of gray and drizzly, but they say George, Washington, (Yes that is a real place) is usually not raining even when surrounding areas are. We pulled into our VIP parking space (thanks Deb) and started walking toward the gates as the drizzle turned to more of a pitter-pat. Once inside the rain started coming down a little harder, so as quickly as 3-handedly possible Jared and I tried to unfold the giant tarp we had borrowed to make a shelter. A fellow concert goer saw the difficulty we were having and offered to help. I am sure Kenslie had something to do with it :). We got it set up into a nice shelter and offered some of our tarp-space to the guy and his lady friend. A little while later, seeing that there was a bit more room, we invited in another couple. It was quite a large tarp, but 7 people was a good limit, though the looks on some of the other very wet peoples' faces would say otherwise.

The opening band began and the rain turned into a torrential downpour, but some sun rays in the distance kept us optimistic.

The rain got harder and harder but then the sky seemed to be getting brighter and brighter. Then the rain slowed and finally stopped!! The sun came out, people put on their sun-glasses, the enormous guy 10 rows up took off his shirt, and there was a complete double rainbow right over the campground in the distance.

It couldn't have been more perfect. During the main event you could see every star in the sky and the big dipper was directly overheard.

Kenslie was a big hit with everyone around us and we had an amazing time. We need to do this sort of thing much more often!!

Kaibre's Pirate Princess Birthday

2009-09-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

So we have been busy busy busy for the last month, hence not many updates on our blog.

Kaibre had a great birthday last month (August 25th). We decided to theme it as a Pirate Princess Party. Ang was able to buy all the pirate decorations at a online oriental trading store and party shop.

Kaibre has seen cars on the road with flags attached to the window for the Seattle Seahawks or the Mariners. She would point them out and say " Hey, mom look its a party car." So we thought we would surprise her for her birthday.

Later that day met her friends at the park for a Pirate Princess Party. We had fun setting up her party at a local park. It was ideal because it is beautiful but doesn't get much traffic in the middle of the week so we had the whole park to ourselves... for a TREASURE HUNT!

All of the (9) girls showed up dressed as princesses it was very cute. It was especially fun watching them run around the park all dressed up.

It took a little bit of time as parents but we put together an elaborate hunt that didn't go perfectly as planned but I don't think the kids realized. We split the girls up into groups of 3 by pulling colored coins out of a bag, then they gathered into groups and had to follow arrows in different directions around the park.

We placed rocks with arrows showing the direction they needed to go till they got to the next rock or arrow. There were three small piles of treasure they found along the way that led them to the next treasure in the end sending them all around the park.

After they found the third treasure there was a package and a clue to go to the crescent moon (picnic table) they saw earlier. Once they all arrive at the table they unwrapped their packages which had pieces of a map that they had to put together.

They then followed the last clue on the map to the ancient treasure in River View meadows.

It was very fun to watch all these little princesses run down the hill to the treasure.

Teeth, Rolling, Giggling and Sewing...

2009-08-09T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been mighty busy around here. Kaibre and I keep busy with our mommy groups and Jared has been working on various projects in addition to the on-going job hunt. I like to keep busy, but it makes the time fly by and somethings just don't get done. Like updating our blog.

We had a really really hot week here last week. I didn't think it was all that hot, compared to Texas, or even some summer days in New Jersey growing up. I guess the biggest difference is that no one here really has air conditioning. Because, "you don't need it." HA!!

We kept cool by visiting the local water-park, going to a couple of different sprinkler parks, and then our lovely neighbors brought up an A/C unit for us to use just before it started to cool down. It was nice to have though.

Kenslie grew a tooth one day a couple of weeks ago. Lucky for her, and us, it doesn't seem to be bothering her much. Not a whole lot of extra fussiness or irritability. So hooray for that. We got a picture of the little bud.

She is also rolling over. At first she only rolled from tummy to back, but now she rolls from back to tummy and just stays there. She lifts her whole upper torso into the air and waves her arms around. I think she looks like a little turtle swimming through the water. And it's the cutest thing ever when we can get her to giggle.

Yesterday Kaibre was looking at a picture of herself and asking when we had taken that picture of Kenslie. It turns out Kenslie was wearing the same sleeper as the one Kaibre was wearing in the picture. So I took a picture of Kenslie for compairison.

The first picture is Kaibre the other one is Kenslie. I guess they do look alike.

I also decided to do a little sewing project. I was in dire need of a new baby carrier, the one I have was 10 or 15 bucks and has always been a pain in the neck. Literally. I bought it when Kaibre was tiny and every time I wear it for longer than 5 minutes my neck is aching for the rest of the day. So after trying a few different friends' Ergo carriers out I decided that I must have one. Unfortunately they are $100+ new so I looked and looked on craigslist for a gently used one. After 3 "some one else is coming by but if they decided they don't want it I'll call you"s and the inspiration from a friend I decided I could make one. I started to make up my own pattern but then I found one someone kindly created and posted on their blog and I decided to use that one. I paid about $35 for all the supplies.

I think it turned out pretty well, and Kenslie loves it. She was always super fussy in my old carrier and I would always wind up carrying her AND the carrier. Now I carry her IN the carrier, comfortably and happily. I also decided that since I didn't add the hood, that I ought to make a matching hat out of the leftover fabric scraps.

It could use a little bit of adjusting, but I didn't use a pattern so I wasn't quite sure about sizing all the pieces. I think my favorite part of sewing is the engineering aspect- putting all the pieces together to make a whole. It's fun!

Wild Waves

2009-07-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well a busy week and a couple days behind on the updates. Ang had a fun B-day going to the neighborhood water park with friends. We even brought a cheesecake which has become Ang's favorite when we are lookin for something good and want to make a treat. It's good stuff! Kenslie slept all day, and Kaibre had some friends to splash the day away with.

Kaibre has been taking swim lessons this summer as our first attempt to get her back into the pool since last year. She was doing so well last year swimming across the pool that we didn't feel the need to do anything else at the time. Kaibre originally wanted to go down the slide at the neighborhood pool a year or so ago, but the rule states that she would have to be able to swim across the pool on her stomach and on her back. Well that was enough to motivate her to swim. But, a year later several inches taller and all her baby fat gone she is having to learn how to stay afloat all over. The swim class she has been in has been fun but I don't know how efficient it has been at teaching her to swim, which is understandable with 4 or 5 other kids and one teacher. After taking her to the pool once about six months ago and then swim lessons I thought she had lost the swimming feelin, but to my pleasure a couple weeks after her lessons have ended all it took is a little Kaibre initiative at the neighborhood water park and she was back into the flow. She's also quickly learned the art of diving from a friend of ours, which is a good lookin dive from a daddy's perspective if I do say so.

Monday we went to Wild Waves water park here in Seattle. We hung out the whole day with some friends jumping on rides with the kids.

The cut off for a lot of the rides is 42". Well with the right shoes Kaibre is 42 1/2", Ha! She is tall for her age so her being 3 and able to ride a ton of slides and rides most kids couldn't was fun, and I mean the big slides all by herself. Just picture Kaibre being the littlest kid in line of older kids and adults. It was funny. She would come out of the slide into 3 1/2 ft of water and just swim her way to the side.

I've been to tons of water parks growing up down south, but I have to say being able to go on all these rides with Kaibre for the first time made it one of the best times I've ever had. What fun it is to see kids so excited, and so new. You could tell she had such an awesome time and it was a lot of fun to see her so excited and dedicated to swim to me. She definitely has a lot of swimming to learn but it is sure fun to see her work at it and have it pay off.

Give us some more camping!

2009-07-09T23:51:00.001-07:00

We went out camping a couple days before the 4th of July with some friends. Like always we had a great time. Except those darn mosquitoes that just abused Kenslie's and Carmen's head, and we constantly had one of us on mosquito watch. They're tricky!

The lake is getting warmer but not really. Ang got in a little and then I got her in a lot. Ang decided to leave me which she has threatened to do if I ever toss her in a lake. But after a long 10 minute trial period apart she realized she really loved me doing it and would love for me to try it again sometime. Our marriage has never been better since:} ooxx.

Kaibre got in a couple times and had a riot pushing daddy off of a styrofoam raft into the water. The last day I finished my morning run with a dip in the lake and ended up sick the whole day. No fun! But when we got back Ang took care of me and the next day I was healed. The weather was great and the trip was of course lots of fun. Where to next?

Deception Falls, WA

Bianca and Kenslie down by the lake.

Pics, and Flics...

2009-06-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

I made Jared a slideshow for Father's Day. The concept is that life isn't all posed the way photographs always seem to depict it. I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on it since Jared sequestered himself in the office for the last 2 weeks hogging the good computer (the MAC of course) trying to get a website we are working on put together. Nonetheless, he really liked it :-) In the process I discovered that the "bad" photos are actually a lot of fun. And, I am really starting to embrace them.

That being said I have a few more pictures I wanted to post. I have lovingly titled this one: "1 Sleepy but happy daddy who just woke up to breakfast in bed, 1 completely oblivious infant with super red-eye, and 1 sour puss who is demanding her own breakfast in bed while refusing to pose happily for a picture."

Next. The obligatory "Sisterly Love" photo the kind of which we now find ourselves taking dozens per week.

Ok, so maybe that one wasn't really "bad" at all, but it was just a snapshot we happened to capture without a lot of planning. I also caught this video of Kenslie. Usually she is not terribly fond of tummy time. Watch her cute little tongue at the 16 second mark.

Point Definance Zoo and Aquarium...

2009-06-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

My good friend Rachel and I bought a zoo membership this time last year and it expires at the end of June. So, we decided to go one last time. Besides it was a good reason to get together since we don't see each other nearly enough these days.

The weather cooperated beautifully, and we even got to go on a camel ride- Rachel's treat. -Thanks Rach.

Childhood Rite of Passage...

2009-06-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

Seldom do I put Kaibre in shorts when we go out to play because 1) It's never really that warm here in Seattle (for a transplant to the PNW like me) and 2) I have witnessed her running full speed in one direction with her head turned nearly 180 degrees looking the other way which I know will one day end in disaster...

Well, as luck would have it Jared and Kaibre were frolicking across the grass after church. Kaibre tripped on the one small strip of concrete that was in their path and fell. Since she was wearing a lovely summery dress, she skinned her knee. Ouch! I am actually pretty surprised this hadn't happened before. But, a first skinned knee is definitely picture-worthy. Nay, blog-worthy!
Kaibre wasn't too enthused about any of it and didn't want a picture taken. Perhaps I'm a mean mom because we took one anyway. Jared doctored her up and she didn't complain much after that. I am sure her first skinned knee won't be her last.

Too Much Fun!!

2009-06-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

We had a great time last week with my mom, my sister and grandma in town. After Ang's parents had their fun with Kaibs and Kens the party continued, we went to the pool, hung out at the park....

..and then my mom took Kaibs for a couple days of fun out too Wenatchee to hang out with family...

On Friday Ang and I met up with my mom, Cristi, and Kaibs to go camping out at Lake Wenatchee. On the way we stopped and hiked to some gorgeous falls a couple hours NE of Seattle. It was one of the best days.

One thing I love is finding those falls that the majority of people know nothing about and are at most 1/4 mile off the main road like Scenic Falls.

Camping at Lake Wenatchee
We had the perfect site just across the way from the lake.

Kenslie's 1st Campout-she got two bites on her head. Poor girl!

Lake Wenatchee is gorgeous. It is also very cold. There was a beach full of people and you wouldn't find a single one that would be willing to last more than 20 seconds out there. So being my fathers son a true blue Canadian I forced myself to stay in there as long as possible. I even got to toss my sister in. It's expected for a Weatherhead to toss a family member in especially when it's this cold...it's too bad Ang isn't much of a sport!? She'd have so much fun!!

And I might as well end with this one at the Liberty Orchards
Aplets and Cotlets Factory Tour in Cashmere.

Check out our album to the right with more pics.

Tadpole Update...

2009-06-18T21:45:00.000-07:00

If you remember our earlier post about Kaibre's tadpoles here is an update. We started with 23. Then it seemed like the tadpole plague came to visit reducing our numbers to about 15. We never did get an exact count. The little buggers swim fast and you couldn't rely on just counting bodies because it seemed (and wikipedia verified) that they were eating each other. Then, over the next few days we lost one a day, before they stabilized around 10 or so. I noticed another casualty yesterday. :-( But one little guy always seemed fatter than the rest. He sprouted back legs last week, then one front leg, and a couple days later the other front leg. Between getting up today, and dinner time, he turned green and started to look really froggy to us!

The internet said to put a rock in the tank once they start sprouting legs, because their gills dissapear and lungs grow and without a resting place the frog will drown.

It's probably time to take them back to the pond we captured them from. I don't really want tiny frogs hopping out onto our counter and this little guy seems to be able to walk up the edges of his tank.

In unrelated news, our last set of visitors has left and we are settling in as a family of 4. Jared is still on the official job hunt although, we are exploring some options that will hopefully work out in the long-term future. Kenslie is already 2 and a half months old! She is a chubby little ball of fun. On a side note: I found this swimsuit at Dollar Tree. Can't beat a $1 swimsuit!!
She definitely makes you work for her smiles, but we really love her little personality. Luckily she gives me a solid 7 hour block of sleep most nights- If I am smart and go to bed when she does that is. She wakes up for an early breakfast, then she usually falls back asleep and we all get up around 8. I can't really complain, right? I am sure Jared will be along to post about our camping trip at Lake Wenatchee. It was a lot of fun, and Kenslie really enjoyed it. You always wonder what a baby + camping will equal. But more on that to come...

Kenslie's Baby Blessing

2009-06-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

We've had a great last couple days with Ang's mom and dad in town as well as my mom, my grandma and my sister. Everybody came into town for Kenslie's baby blessing on sunday. Ang's dad kept Kenslie for his very own every opportunity he could get, she loved it and it was cute. My family will be in town this whole week so they will get lots of kiddie time.
check out our photo album for more pics.

The World is Their Playground...

2009-06-02T17:29:00.000-07:00

The world is so magical to children. The other night I was searching through our junk cupboard for something or other and a roll of ribbon unraveled hanging out the door. I thought to myself how annoying that roll of ribbon was for having a mind of its own, but didn't bother rolling it back up and closed the cabinet door leaving it looking like this.

Not much later, Kaibre came walking into the kitchen and saw the ribbon hanging out of the door right away. It was pink and shimmery. She immediately scooted her stool over to the cupboard and began gently sliding the ribbon through her fingers with a look of wonder on her face. She looked at me and said, "Mommy, can I cut it?" I told her she could and she giddily ran to find her scissors. She returned shortly and got back up on her stool, then ever so carefully clipped the ribbon off right where it met the door. She said, "I know, we can make a butterfly, and it can have wings, we can use some shiny 'luminum' foil, and cut it, and glue it and it can be pink, and sparkly and it can fly and it will be beautiful." So we sat down together, pulled out the construction paper, the aluminum foil, tape, glue sticks and a straw she found and concocted this:

She was just beside herself when she discovered that there was more of that shiny ribbon in the cupboard. I got the whole roll down and let her just go at it. The final result was this:

It's simply pieces of paper with ribbon taped to it. But to her, it was a shiny, butterfly kite. She then fluttered around the house with it like a butterfly herself. She kept saying, "look mommy," and telling me all about her beautiful creation.

This is why I love my girls and love being a mom. Simple little things mean so much to them and it really helps you keep life in perspective. Great happiness comes in little packages.

Mommy, can I take one home?

2009-06-02T17:09:00.000-07:00

We went to Kaibre's friend Carmen's house for a play date last Friday and one of the activities on the agenda was to look at the tadpoles in their backyard pond. Kaibre asked if she could have one to take home. Carmen's mom said it was OK. So, armed with a little fishing net and a gallon Ziploc bag I attempted to catch a few. I had decided that 3 might be a good number, since it was possible they might not all make it through the entire metamorphosis to frog-dom. I swished the net once and ended up with 23! Into the Ziploc they went and we brought them home. I googled "what to feed tadpoles" and multiple sources told me that lettuce was wonderful tadpole fare. But, we didn't have any, so I thought we would try the goldfish pellets we had leftover from our beta that Jared killed last year. (In Kaibre's words: He didn't put some drops in the water, so we gived him the one-way swim.) Kaibre asks to feed them every day and so far the little guys are doing great! Jared commented that a bowl of tadpoles isn't quite as beautiful as a bowl of tropical fish. Looking at the photo anyone would agree; but it should be fun to watch them transform into frogs. Then we just have to figure out what to do with 23 baby frogs!

Hangin out with Uncle Ronnie

2009-05-25T09:32:00.000-07:00

Ang's Brother Ronnie is in town for the week to see his nieces Kenslie
and Kaibre and soak up this gorgeous weather we are having. Funny
enough he would prefer the clouds and rain since he is coming from
the heat of Arizona. Funny stuff. Well he'll just have to deal with it.
Saturday we went out to Snoqualmie and North Bend to do a little
hiking and see some falls.

The good, the bad, and the happy

2009-05-23T09:47:00.000-07:00

Monkey Bars

2009-05-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

When we went to the park a couple of weeks ago Kaibre was showing a lot of promise on the monkey bars. Yesterday, we told Kaibre that if she went all the way across the monkey bars, it was definitely deserving of Reeses (her favorite candy). We did not however, specify HOW she had to get across.... Here is some of it on video...

We'll have to post again when she's had a little more practice. She could only try it a couple times before her arms were dead... but she was determined! Oh and we did give her Reeses :)

Tulip Festival

2009-05-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

We had a little free time so we decided to take a day trip up to the Tulip Festival at Mt Vernon WA. As we drove out of town we thought that we might have come too late and missed the flowers blooming, but after a little searching we found Shangri-La our hidden garden of flowers. At first we planned to do a drive-by flower viewing, but then being hypnotized by all the pretty colors off in the distance we caved in and dished out the money to get up close and smell the tulips.

Gorgeous day at the park!

2009-04-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

We had 2 amazing spring days in a row so naturally, we spent both on the beach at Coulon Park. For those of you who don't live here the beach is that of Lake Washington. It's peaceful and beautiful and a wonderful way to spend the day. (Except for the time we were there last year and saw one guy beat another guy with a pipe and subsequently be arrested. That wasn't so peaceful, but that is an exception.)

What was she thinking?

2009-04-22T09:59:00.001-07:00

If you remember, Kaibre loves food storage. Well, recently she has also learned to love getting into the weirdest predicaments. As far as we can tell, she is just getting started.

The Easter Story (as told by Kaibre)...

2009-04-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

We were sitting around the dinner table this afternoon for Easter dinner and Grammie asked Kaibre what she had learned in church today. Kaibre shrugged. Grammie got more specific and asked which pictures the teacher talked about in class today. Kaibre perked right up and proceeded to tell us the following:

"There was a guy. And they poked him. And he died. And then, they put him in a tube. But, it wasn't a water tube. It wasn't a swimming tube. It was just a regular tube. And then they closed it up! And when he comed out, he was alive!"

You have to admit, "tube" and "tomb" do sound a lot alike especially to a 3 year old who had never heard the word "tomb" before.

The Week After

2009-04-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

For some reason my family has been in town for the past week or so. Since Ang has been on recovery from some stomach ache she picked up recently we tried to think of activities the would be simple but allow her to enjoy some of the nice weather we've had this past week. We suggested a ferry ride, being pushed around in a wheel chair at the zoo, and going for a hike.... In the end we were able to have a picnic at the park (very close to the car), a couple dinners on our new deck in the back and then an easter egg hunt for Kaibs.

Washington Waterfalls

2009-04-10T16:18:00.000-07:00

With family in town we decided to give Ang some relax time so we went on a couple hikes to Twin Falls and then over to the Olympic Peninsula. Pictures really don't do the falls justice.
We had a great time hiking and probably burned off a couple pounds at the same time. What is great about Washington is we have only seen a handful of the hundreds of falls in the state. This place is gorgeous. (Check out our photo album with more photos.)

Introducing Kenslie Makae Weatherhead...

2009-04-04T17:33:00.000-07:00

Little Kenslie greeted us at 7:06 am on Friday April 3rd. She was 8 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches long! She has 10 fingers and 10 toes and a little bit of dark hair. But that is how her birth story ends. If you would like to know the beginning keep reading.

At 4:30 am I woke up, as usual, to visit the restroom. My stomach tightened up in a painless contraction, but it frequently does during midnight potty trips so, I wasn’t too excited. As I left the bathroom another contraction came, this time accompanied by a warm, almost burning sensation very low in my abdomen. I had felt that feeling once before; when I was in labor with Kaibre. I knew this was it. Funny enough Jared had gotten out of bed as well, and I said, “If you are tired, get some sleep because we are having a baby today.”

Another 4 or 5 minutes went by and another contraction came. They didn’t last very long 30-45 seconds but they were pretty intense. Not really “painful” but definitely intense. Another 4 minutes, and another 30 second contraction. I let Jared know that he was not going to be able to go back to bed after all, because I knew this was going to happen really fast.

I called our midwife, Amanda, at 5 am and told her what was happening. I told her I’d had 5 pretty intense contractions in the last 20 minutes. She said she was on her way. She arrived at 5:25, just as I was coming to turn on our porch light for her. In the mean time, I had instructed Jared to begin inflating the birthing tub.

Not long after Amanda arrived, her assistant, Allison came through the door. Among other birth preparations, she set to work filling the tub. At 6am I got in and it provided some very much needed relief. The contractions were getting sort of painful, but it’s a different kind of pain a pain only a laboring mother can describe.

The warm water really took the edge off and it wasn’t long before that 'urge' to push came, around 6:45 am. Though, I don’t think I would even call it an urge. It was more like an involuntary reaction. My body just went PUSH and I went with it. Kenslie was born about 15 minutes later!

Jared caught her and handed her right to me. It was the most amazing feeling in the world.
I couldn’t believe how fast everything happened. We got to cuddle Kenslie for a good hour before her newborn exam.

Kaibre had slept through everything. She woke up at 8:30 as usual and came into our bedroom. She smiled when she saw Kenslie and marched over happy as can be, and said she loved her and gave her a kiss.
The midwives stayed for a couple more hours. They cleaned up the house, helped get a yummy breakfast of Belgian waffles underway and made sure we were settled in, and comfortable with everything. After giving us some helpful newborn and postpartum care instructions, they went on their way leaving us to bond as a family. They do a 24 hour and 3 day home check-up for both of us, before the postpartum office visits in a couple of weeks.

I cannot say enough about what a wonderful experience Kenslie's birth was. We are all adjusting well, and are so happy to have her in our family.

Why we chose homebirth...

2009-04-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have asked what made me decided I wanted to have our baby at home. If you had told me 3 and a half years ago, just after Kaibre had been born, that our next birth would be at all natural and at home, I probably would have laughed at you.

But when we started talking about having another baby and thinking about our hospital birth experience, I knew I wanted to do a lot of things differently. I had heard a little bit about water birth in the past and decided that this time around, that was the route we wanted to go. It wasn't an option with Kaibre, because we were induced.

As I began to research the area we live now, I discovered that water birth was not an option in any of the nearby hospitals. That left us with 2 options; home birth, or a free standing birth center. Since the closest birthing center is 2o minutes away, by the hospital in Bellevue and there is another hospital is just down the street, we decided that having our baby at home was the best option for us.

I researched area midwives and found one that was very close by. She was actually the only midwife I interviewed, but I really liked her and decided she was the one. As the pregnancy continued I found more and more reasons that made me very confident in our decision to have a home birth. I experienced quite a shift in my thinking about childbirth alltogether. It really isn't a medical emergency in most cases, and I felt like the hospital had caused me a lot of anxiety that really didn't need to be.

I very much enjoyed the personalized level of care we received from our midwife and her assistant. With Kaibre's pregnancy, our prenatal appointments often felt rushed and somewhat impersonal. The labor and delivery staff rotated on the hospital's schedule, not ours.

This time around each prenatal appointment was about an hour, and we were able to really get to know the people who would be there for the entire labor and the birth of our baby. Jared was also able to be very involved with everything, which is what he wanted. Sometimes I think dads get sort of disconnected when it comes to childbirth because they become such by-standers in the whole process. We are very happy with the decision we made.

April Fools Birthday

2009-04-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

For all of you who missed out on our APRIL 1st Photoshop Facebook fun here are Kenslie's "birth photos".

...Later that day we posted more birth photos

We'd like to thank everyone who had fun and maybe believed even for just a minute. You know who you are. April Fools!

Riding in Cars with Kids...

2009-03-26T13:00:00.001-07:00

Kaibre and I spend a bit of time in the car with all the fun events we go to in our lives. There are a lot of times we talk or sing together, but other times we are both in our own little world until of course Kaibre pipes up and says something. Usually it is very entertaining because if you know anything about Kaibre, you know her little mind is constantly churning. This is an exchange from a couple of days ago:

Kaibre: Mommy, when you was a little kid, did you eat your chicken when your mommy told you to?

Me: Yes, I did.

Kaibre: And even turkey-chicken, did you eat that when your Mommy told you to? (She calls whole cooked rotisserie chickens "turkey-chicken")

Me: Yes Kaibre, I did.

Kaibre: Hmm...Well what about vegetables? Did you eat all of your vegetables when you was a little kid mommy? Even when your Mommy told you to eat them and you didn't want to but you did anyway?

Me: Yep, even my vegetables.

Kaibre: Wow! You was a good little kid Mommy.

She is very interested lately in what Jared and I were like as little children. I think the concept that we were once children like her is becoming concrete in her mind. She understands who our parents are, and that we lived with them as children just like she lives with us.

Ice Skating...

2009-03-23T12:51:00.000-07:00

Last week one of the events on my Mommy Group Calendar was Ice Skating, so we decided to give it a go. They have a special pre-schooler time and the ice was nearly empty not to mention the lovely $3 price tag which included that skate rental! Considering that I trip standing still sometimes it was very nice to have Jared available to be on the ice with Kaibre, while I played picture-taking-bystanding-Mommy.

I don't think Ice Skating is a good idea at 8 1/2 months pregnant. Kaibre did pretty well for a first timer and she and Jared made it around the rink a few times before trying out the 'walker'.

Kaibre did that a bit on her own, but eventually her feet started to hurt because, let's face it, rental skates are never terribly comfortable. We took off the skates and spent a bit watching broom-hockey which was taking place in the next rink over. Such a fun day.

37 Weeks...

2009-03-19T07:54:00.000-07:00

As of Tuesday I am 37 weeks pregnant, which is the medical world's arbitrary date that the baby is "ready" should she decided to come. Ok, so maybe there is some rhyme to their reason, the lungs are developed and the baby is ready to face the big bright world. We will visit the midwife weekly (on Wednesday) from this point on. Yesterday she said things were getting underway, and that I am 4 cm dilated. But that really means nothing because we could easily go past our "due date" or Kenslie could come waltzing out tomorrow. She did say that it will most likely go pretty quickly when labor does start. I have felt pretty good up until now, and other than being overly tired all the time I can't say I have many complaints. Which is why I think we still have lots of time before she comes. We are busy making final preparations. Kaibre is so excited, though I still think when we actually produce a baby she will be a little surprised since we've been talking and talking about it for so long. Stay tuned. It's only a matter of time. The question being, 'How much?'

My unorthodox view on "extreme couponing"...

2009-03-15T12:29:00.001-07:00

[Edit: I am not a good candidate for couponing. Couponing may work for you, your lifestyle, and your personality type, but it just isn't for me. I tried it, I blogged about it, I ruffled more feathers than I probably should have, and now I will put it to rest. Hopefully you all can too.]

Disclaimer: The intent of this post is not to offend, but to share an opinion and have a little fun-because that is what blogging is ALL about right?)

It seems to me that the latest craze sweeping the blogging world is brag-posts about what I will call "extreme couponing" (who knows maybe that is what it is actually called). There are sites I have seen dedicated exclusively to this 'art' providing tips and techniques on where and how to get the latest "deals". This essentially translates into combining coupons in a conniving way so that you get the product(s) for free.

While I see nothing wrong with clipping coupons from your Sunday newspaper, or perusing your local grocery flier for specials on the things you would normally buy or need, I do see somewhat of an ethical dilemma in this "extreme couponing".

First of all, the economy is bad enough as it is. Do we really need to take extra and somewhat exhausting steps to try and screw retailers out of a few dollars profit? The free market works in a very specific way. While EVERYONE does not participate in this couponing method, if they did the economy would crumble even more than it already has.

Secondly, I see a pattern in these extreme deals, most of the time you get some needed items mixed in with a hodge-podge of garbage I would never want to eat nor feed my family. When is a good deal not a good deal? When it's mostly crap. Call me obnoxious, but we have been unemployed for a month and a half now and I'm still really OK with spending $.99 on that bottle of Suave® shampoo I would normally buy. What? They are on sale this week for 2/$1.50? Even better.

Sure, I appreciate the coupons for the fancy-shmancy diapers I've been receiving in the mail because I somehow got on an expectant mother mailing list. Combined with this printable coupon, and that 'this week only' store deal they come out to $.67 a pack? Eh, ok, but name-brand diapers never really did it for me anyway, and somehow the time and energy just doesn't seem worth it. In the end, the Target® brand diapers are the one's I have no problem spending $5.74 a pack for- because Seattle-ite or not, I'm not going to cloth diaper.

Our baby needs a middle name...

2009-03-08T21:42:00.001-07:00

We are about 4 weeks from our due date and still searching for the perfect middle name. So, consider this post a virtual suggestion box. If you don't know already, the first name we have settled on is "Kenslie".
Not that we have to be all matchy-matchy but I do think that 'Kaibre & Kenslie' has a certain ring to it. Kaibre's middle name is Drue. I am not for or against them sharing all the same initials either. I sort of think a one syllable middle name would be ideal since Weatherhead is so long. But really, we just want something that sounds good and flows. So, leave a comment or shoot us an email and who knows- you might just be responsible for helping us name our little girl!

Who knew there was so much to know?

2009-03-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have had a little free time on my hands since they closed my office here in Seattle a couple weeks ago. You could say this is bad timing or good based on Ang being due in a couple weeks. So, aside from job-hunting, I have been prepping myself with baby birthing wisdom, oh my. Yes, yes, I have been loving being just a little more involved and informed with the birthing process. I definitely learned quite a bit with Kaibre's birth but the first time it felt surreal. It's like when someone says, "How's married life?" and you're like, "It's pretty cool, but the same...give me a couple weeks to really be able to start comprehending it." Since I have an awesome, loving, sweet kid already I can now comprehend and feel love for a little bump or a kick. Kaibre wasn't much of a mover. Actually, I rarely ever felt her move, while Kenslie is a little break dancing, constantly spinning, high kicking, wiggle worm. So, I have lots of kicks to love.

The time has been passing quickly, we had the midwives come for the first home visit; we are doing a home water birth to change things up, so no drugs. We'll have a tub in our bedroom which will be an interesting change. I think there will be some fun advantages to a home birth, can anybody say Wii™ tournament in between contractions? Yeah!

Even though Ang doesn't look supper preggie she feels like Kenslie is going to come early. The official due date is April 7th but she is measuring a week big which is when Ang originally calculated she was coming. So we'll just have to wait and see how soon our dancing queen will want more room for dancing. Which also means I better buckle down and learn how to be a good birthing partner...any advice?

The Downside of Personal Preparedness...

2009-02-21T00:21:00.001-08:00

Polo Weekend

2009-02-15T21:56:00.000-08:00

One of the things I have loved about living here in Seattle is being able to be a part of a club water polo team. It's fun to be able to get in 1 or 2 great workouts a week. Although, with everything going on and myself gone all day I've had to justify how often I can get out to play. I love being home spending the evening with my girls, who wouldn't they're awesome. So last weekend (February 7th) was great because we hosted a water polo tournament here in Seattle. I played for two of our four teams, the men's and a co-ed team. In one day I was able to play in 6 games. Awesome!! And to help me out on my New Years resolution I took off 7 of a total 12 lbs to date. Double Awesome!! All right now all I have is another 18lbs to go.... I'll let you know in a couple months.

Ang and Kaibre have been great supporters coming to all of the tournaments over the past 2 years. I have high hopes for Kaibs and maybe that little water polo ball in Ang's belly.

3D/4D Ultrasound...

2009-01-23T17:33:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine told me about a branch of Siemens Ultrasound in Issaquah that develops software for ultrasound equipment. From time to time they need pregnant volunteers to test their software or train on, and I put myself on their volunteer list a few weeks ago. Last night a lady called and asked if I would like to come in this morning for a FREE Ultrasound. It is really a chance for them to test out their newest software, but then they do a 3D/4D session for you just for helping them out. Unfortunately, the baby wasn't in the best position for face pictures since she is head down facing MY back. Luckily, that is the absolute best position for birth. So, as long as she stays where she is for the next 2 and a half months (and she most likely will) we're set for her birth. This is the best picture we were able to get of her cute little face:And, if you look carefully at this picture, you can see her legs and feet which are crossed at the ankles, left over right. It was so cool! We also got very clear confirmation that she IS in fact a girl. In addition, we got a couple video clips in the standard 2D ultrasound variety, but this one is really cool, because you can see her yawn and stick out her tongue! To give you a point of reference, it's as if she is lying on her back, head to the right.

My funny girl...

2009-01-20T11:26:00.000-08:00

So, today I was in the kitchen cleaning, shocker I know, and I hear this low rolling sound coming down the hallway toward the kitchen. As I heard it get closer I turned around to see what was making the sound and see Kaibre roll into the kitchen looking like this...Apparently, barefoot-pajama-tricycling is an extreme sport, and requires full protective headgear. Who would have thought?! She proceeded to turn tight circles around the kitchen about 7 times only bumping into the dishwasher briefly. Then she saw some chocolate on the counter and wanted it. I told her "no" because truth be told I had been asking her to get dressed for over 2 hours (but lets face it, this scenario wouldn't have been half as cute if it weren't for the monkey PJs). She decides that "no" is not a good answer to, "Mommy, can I have some of that chocolate?" and backs her tricycle up all the way to the kitchen door. She then declares, "Mommy if you don't let me have that chocolate I'm going to run into you!" Fat chance! I met her threat with another, "If you run into me you will be spending the rest of the day in your room." With a huff she pedaled out of the kitchen, on to bigger things I suppose. Gotta love those Mommy moments. I will probably help her get dressed and clean her room, then we'll BOTH have some chocolate. Sounds good to me!!

Nesting...

2009-01-15T16:51:00.000-08:00

So, apparently nesting is a very real phenomenon. I never really had the urge to clean and start getting baby things all ready before Kaibre was born; but this time around, it's all I want to do. I told myself I had to wait until after the New Year to start any baby preparations, so now I am all over the place. I washed all of our baby clothes in storage from 0 to 6 months and then rigged up a dowel in Kaibre's closet to hang the ones that aren't neatly folded in drawers.
I bought enough diapers to last at least the first month and of course we had to have the fleece blankets that were on clearance for $2.78 at Target. Then, naturally, it was time to pull out the sewing machine. I made 8 burp cloths. They are lavender terry-cloth on one side and this crazy-cool-flower fabric on the other.
When I finished them I realized that it would be nice to have a matching nursing cover. Too bad I had used every last scrap of my crazy-cool-flower fabric right? Wrong! That prompted me to go to every JoAnn Fabric within 10 miles of our house looking for it. I found it at JoAnn Store #3. Not too shabby since that JoAnns happened to be right across the street from Chuck E. Cheese, our destination for the day anyway. The nursing cover turned out pretty well, and I only messed up a few times. I also found this great rainbow-butterfly thermal fabric in our travels and decided that I needed to make a receiving blanket out of it. So I did.
The edges are kind of sloppy, but I don't think the baby will care. Speaking of the baby, she does have a name. We aren't one of those couples that requires a top secret security clearance to know our prospective baby names. We've settled on Kenslie. But who knows - if she comes out and looks nothing like a Kenslie it could change. Also, if she comes out a he for some reason, the name will change as well; though, the ultrasound lady seemed pretty confident. Kaibre is so excited for Kenslie to come, every morning she hugs my belly and says, "I love you baby sister, I'll see you in 3 months." It's adorable.

Wonderful White Winter

2008-12-30T09:06:00.000-08:00

It's a Christmas Miracle...

2008-12-25T13:53:00.000-08:00

We hope that you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did. We are spending Christmas and New Years with Jared's family in Idaho and are having a fabulous time. So, you may have noticed a little addition to the top of our blog - a baby ticker. It's official, baby number 2 is on the way!! Some of you already know this, but let me give a quick run-down for those of you who don't. In March of this year, we found out we were pregnant, but unfortunately miscarried the end of May. Much to our surprise we got pregnant again the very next month and being cautious decided to hold off telling anyone for a while. Then we got this crazy idea. What if we could hold off on telling Jared's family until Christmas? After all Jared's mom believes that I am incapable of keeping a secret, and boldly said once, "You could never hide a pregnancy from us, you just get too excited about things like that." A couple of months went by and we realized that it would sound much more believable if we told her we were expecting, but pushed the dates three months LATER than they actually were. It worked like a charm and they totally bought our story. We showed up for Christmas and with the help of a giant sweatshirt, we were able to hide my "supposed to be 3 month but actually 6 month" pregnant belly until it was time to open gifts. We let it go for a few rounds before we had Jared's mom open a framed copy of this...She was SHOCKED! Jared's birthday is April 1st, and our official "due date" is April 7th, but at our ultrasound a month ago the baby was measuring a full week bigger than expected. So we could very well be adding another little April Fool to our family. We are absolutely thrilled to be having another little girl. Kaibre is so excited to be a big sister and keeping it a surprise has made this pregnancy go by a lot faster for everyone.

The Weather Outside is Frightful...

2008-12-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

A cliche title, I know, but we couldn't resist. It turns out last week's snow storm was just a preview of what was to come. We are in the midst of what they are calling the "worse" snow storm in 10 years here in Seattle. The biggest problem is all the hills.

Icy and hills aren't a very good pair. Jared and Kaibre braved the cold later in the afternoon to go "sledding" down the hill that is actually the basement unit's driveway. Kaibre absolutely loved it and delicious hot cocoa followed. Inside things are toasty warm, hooray for electricity! Thank you, Benjamin Franklin.

Our tree has been up for a while, but we finally took some pictures of it. We bought it last year and it is just as beautiful the second time around. Not to mention incredibly easy to set up and plug in!

Shmushmallows...

2008-12-16T22:59:00.000-08:00

We have found two things that work very well as bargaining chips with Kaibre. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, and Shmushmallows (marshmallows). Today I put 5 mini marshmallows out by her dinner and told her she could have them if she finished it. Well she got whisked out of the kitchen before she had a chance to eat them, but had finished her dinner and was entitled to the sugary treats. She was in her jammies and her teeth were brushed when she wandered back into the kitchen and discovered her little pile of marshmallows waiting to be eaten. She grabbed them and pitter-patted down the hall to the office where Jared and I were. She started to put one in her mouth when Jared said, "Kaibre you can't eat those you've already brushed your teeth." To which she replied, "But they're white!" We both just laughed heartily and let her have them. So tonight Kaibre brushed her teeth twice!

Snow in Seattle...

2008-12-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

We are heading into our second winter here in Washington and have discovered something curious. First of all, everyone considers it to be very cold when it gets down to 40. When it actually snows and ices over, everything shuts down! We've had some friends bragging about a little snow down in Texas. Well we got out of church, and possibly a day of work for Jared up in our neck of the woods! In Idaho we could go for weeks at a time without actually getting into the TEENS. "Snow Day" isn't even in the school childrens' vocabularies. I will say, I am quite disappointed that we cannot go out and make a snowman. The windchill has turned the fluffy snow into an icy crust. If only we had some snow-cone syrup. Hopefully this cold spell will end in time for us to travel across the pass to Idaho for Christmas. We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone!

Notice anything different??

2008-12-09T17:57:00.000-08:00

So, as you can see we have converted to the eViL but simpler ways of posting. You can still partake of our mad web design skills if you choose to look at our photo galleries, or video links. You can find the links at the top of this page. Hopefully we will be able to keep our website more up to date now that posting is easier, but not nearly as awesome!! Happy reading.

Thanksgiving Fun!

2008-11-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

We had Thanksgiving with half of the Fast clan this year. Angie's parents, brother and sister came and Kaibre loved the attention.

Before Gumpins and Gummins left we took a trip to the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, and got to see some cool animals. Not necessarily as cool as Koala Bears or a T-Rex, but cool animals that are local to the Pacific Northwest- You know, buffalo, racoons, river otters and moose to name a few. We rode a tram through their free roam area and the animals are just hanging out waiting to entertain with their majestic beauty.