All in a Hard Day's Work

Tommy’s favorite thing in the world is to “help” Daddy.  Not just helping a parent, but specifically helping Daddy with just about anything.  Last night he helped Daddy paint a small block of wood that was to be a piece of missing baseboard in our kitchen.  Today while we had a brief reprieve of rain, he helped Daddy dig holes in our sandbox in preparation for the fort we’re going to start building very soon (as soon as this rain stops!)

Tommy Thinks Pink

Does this dress lie in our future?  I’ve asked Tommy a few times over the past couple of weeks whether he’d like a little sister or a little brother.  One-hundred percent of the time he says “sister”.  He knows there is a baby in mommy’s tummy (not anatomically correct, but whatever...I’m not ready to introduce the word ‘uterus’ quite yet) so when I ask him if he thinks the baby is a girl or boy, he says girl 100% of the time.  Is there something to this?  I actually think there is.


On the message board I belong to for Tommy’s birth month/year, I mentioned my conversations with him regarding the sex of our baby.  I got back lots of comments about how other moms’ children also correctly predicted the sex of their baby.  One woman’s 2 year old actually told her that she was pregnant weeks before she even tested positive!  Do these little people know something we don’t?  We’ll find out in 3 weeks if Tommy is correct!

Marriage Survey

This survey has been floating around Facebook for awhile, so I thought it would be fun to complete it and share it here.


What are your middle names?
Mine is Courtney, his is Kenneth


How long have you been together?
4.5 years, 5 if you count dating


How long did you know each other before you started dating?
Hard to say...we didn't know each other and we never really started "dating". We met online and talked incessantly until we decided this was "it" and we would probably end up marrying each other. We talked online for 3 months by the time I realized he would be my future husband.


Who asked whom out?
Doesn't really apply


How old are each of you?
I'm 25, he's 31


Whose siblings do you see the most?
Mark's brother, his only sibling. He lives down the street with his wife and 2 girls and we see them almost every day. I have no siblings.


Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Kids, hands down. Life was easy before kids. Now we have to figure out how to "stay ourselves" and retain some semblance of the lovey-doveyness we had before kids when we have these little people running around us all day.


Did you go to the same school?
No...he went to UC Davis (in CA), I went to Southern Connecticut State University.


Are you from the same home town?
No. Mark grew up in Morgan Hill, CA and I grew up in a few different towns in Connecticut.


Who is smarter?
Mark thinks I'm smarter, but I think he's smarter. He's a genius at math and maps. I have superhuman hearing and ninja-like skills. So maybe it's a draw.


Who is the most sensitive?
Probably me. I've gotten exponentially better since we were first married, though.


Where do you eat out most as a couple?
We just found an yummy and affordable Italian restaurant 15 mins away, so we've been eating there a lot lately.


Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
We drove across the country from Connecticut to California. We've never been out of the country together (or apart, for that matter)


Who has the craziest exes?
Neither


Who has the worst temper?
Me. Having 2 children has brought it out of me and with God's help I've learned to control it. You'd never know it if you just met me though. I'm normally very soft-spoken and quiet, but when you give me 2 screaming children, both hanging on me and both wanting something but unable to express what that is, I can definitely get annoyed.  I grew up with a yelling mom and don’t want that for my kids, so I’ve been motivated to nip that in the bud.


Who does the cooking?
Me.


Who is the neat-freak?
Probably me, but we're both organized people


Who is more stubborn?
Neither of us is stubborn


Who hogs the bed?
Mark, but it's understandable when you're 13 inches taller and 100 lbs heavier than your wife. 


Who wakes up earlier?
Me. I wake up at 5:30am every morning except on weekends. He wakes up around 6:30


Where was your first date?
Empire State Building


Who is more jealous?
Neither


How long did it take to get serious?
Three months


Who eats more?
Depends if I'm pregnant at the time...if I am, then me.  Otherwise I'd say Mark.


Who does the laundry?
Me.


Who's better with the computer?
Mark


Who drives when you are together?
Me.

Fishy Business

Hi, Mark here. I thought I would put up a post about one of my hobbies, fish keeping. I first got an aquarium over a year ago, just before Ben was born. I have learned a lot since then.  I have loved aquariums my whole life. I have always been awed by the tranquil fantasy world you could create full of light, color and life.  When I see a beautiful aquarium, I really want to live inside it.


Until recently I thought that the hobby would be boring and a lot of work.  Well, it does take patience, but if you keep everything in order, the work is minimal.


Aquariums are worlds in a box.  You create whole ecosystems and nurture them to life.  Far from boring, there is so much activity and beauty to see. On a daily basis I find myself stopping to watch, often pulling up a chair. A very enjoyable hobby. Thanks for reading.

Spring 2008 - My first tank, 30 gallons

Fall 2008 - The 30 gallon is thriving

January 2009 - My new 60 gallon

Feb 2009 - With CO2 injections, the plants are exploding with growth. The green stalks in the back grow about 2 inches a day

Conversations with Tommy

Tommy’s language has exploded lately.  He picks up so much of what we say, which makes us so thankful that our speech is clean, save for the occasional fart or burp joke.  Here are some samples of Tommy’s cute sayings:
“Bizzit?” = What is it?
“Biter-biter” = Firefighter
“Choshat-mote” = Chocolate milk
“Her okay, Mommy?” - whenever I bump myself and exclaim “ouch!”


Here is a recent bedtime conversation:
Me:  Time to pray, Tommy
Tommy: Lord, thank you...
Me: [repeats]
Tommy: For Benji.
Me: [repeats]....Is there anything else?
Tommy: (pauses)...for Jesus.


Atta boy.  :)

Snow Day!

It snowed last night!  Not at our house of course, but up in the mountains of Henry Coe Park.  We went up there this morning to see the snow and to show it off to the kids.  It was their first time ever experiencing the cold wet stuff.  


It was a bit bizarre for me, having grown up in Connecticut and seeing snow every winter for 21 years, to see the cold wet stuff here in sunny California.  I admit I’ve been California-ized in the 4 years I’ve lived here, and so I wasn’t very prepared.  For some reason I thought it would be sunny and warm at the top of them mountain and I would miraculously be surrounded by snow in spite of sunshine.  Not true. 


It was snowing pretty heavy up there and reminded me so much of back East.  Luckily Tommy was wearing his boots and we had some extra jackets in the car, so the kids were fine.


I tried to encourage Tommy to eat snow, but he wanted no part of it.  He seemed to enjoy walking in it and looking at it, but was reluctant to touch it.  Hopefully we’ll see the snow again before winter ends.

An Art Project

This is what we do when it’s cold, rainy, and yucky outside.  We rip up old tissue paper and party streamers and glue them to a paper grocery bag, with a beautiful effect!

Mixing the glue...

Carefully applying glue...

Finished product!

Happy 1st Birthday, Benji!

Last Sunday, February 1st, you turned one!  It’s been a fun year - I can’t believe how quickly time passes with children!  In just one year you’ve gone from a helpless tiny infant to a walking, babbling toddler.  You’re a very happy, easy-going little guy.  You love to laugh at your older brother’s ‘jokes’ (read: screaming).  You are quick towards independence, preferring table food and sippy cups early on instead of pureed baby food and bottles.  I can’t wait to see how you grow in your 2nd year!

Newborn

12 Months

The Boys

It’s been quite awhile since my last post, so here’s an update in pictures:

Tommy is becoming proficient at the art of time out.  While his “terrible twos” seem to be mostly over, he still has moments of outright testing.  He sees a lot of this corner.

Benji is really good at amusing himself.  Here he has some of his favorite playthings: a spoon and a pot lid, good for both making a ruckus and for chewing on.

Tommy is in a “cutting” phase, where he loves to use his toddler fork to cut anything he can.  Here he is cutting Cheerios on half.  He also loves spending time with me in the kitchen, so this is a great way to keep him busy.

Benji is quite the climber.  He can get up to the second step on this slide, and can climb any staircase.  Getting back down is a different story...

Tommy is spending more time with books lately and is even happy to sit quietly and look at them by himself.  His favorites, of course, are books about cars, trucks, trains, anything with wheels.  Here he is in his ‘reading nook’ looking at a book about tow trucks.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Tommy!

Dear Tommy,


One year ago:

• You couldn’t walk more than 10 feet without falling over
• You loved to play “Simon Says” and laughed with delight when we’d mimic your hand clapping or raspberry blowing
• You had a habit of crawling into the bath with your clothes on when we weren’t looking

Today you are 2!  You love hearing us sing “The Wheels on the Bus” and even sing along, adding the word “town” at the appropriate moment.  You love all things vehicular.  You love trying to do things for yourself, like putting your shirt and shoes on.  We try to give you shoes that are simple for you to put on.  :)  You love grated cheese and ketchup.  You’re so polite when you say “more che-chup peese” and we love hearing those cute words.  You try to mimic our spelling whenever you see oversized letters, saying “eee, arr, iiii, eee!” even though the letters say “T - O - M.”


You are my little buddy and I love spending time with you, whether we’re watching Cars, tickling, or reading a book.  I can’t wait to see how you grow and figure the world out during this next year. 

Hours Old

4 months

14 months

20 months

2 years

Halloween Preview

We bought this spider costume for Nemo at Target yesterday. We tried it on today and Nemo didn't think much of it. He danced around for awhile chasing the many legs until he finally caught one. This costume was so worth the money.

Do You Like See-Food?

Tommy really enjoyed his snack today of raspberries, blueberries, and a waffle. He gobbled up the raspberries faster than I've ever seen him eat anything. I think they must be his favorite food. There's a lot of pictures because I loved them all and couldn't narrow them down!

.

Then and Now

Here is Tommy at 2 weeks, and then at 9 months. Quite a difference!

9 Month Checkup

Tommy had his 9 month checkup this afternoon and he is a very healthy little boy! He weighs 24 lbs (91%ile) and is 30.5 inches long (97%ile). He had to get a big needle and have blood drawn for lead test, but he didn't even cry. Just watched with mild interest as the nice lab tech took some blood. Lucky kid didn't even have to get his immunization shots today.

At home, he's been babbling a lot lately, saying mama, dada, yaya, and baba. He pulls up on furniture and cruises and LOVES to push around his little 'mail cart' which Mark and I affectionately call "Baby Hugo". (Hugo is a company that makes walkers for adults). He loves Nemo as much as ever and has figured out how to play tug-of-war with him by waving something in front of Nemo's face until he tries to get the object. He also plays peek-a-boo if you give him a big cloth and say, "Tommy, want to play peek-a-boo?" He'll put the cloth over his face and pull it down with a big grin. So as you can see, he's a very happy and healthy little guy.

New Tenant

Here's the little guy who had taken up residence in our spare bedroom. Cute, isn't he? I moved him and his belongings into the yard, since I thought he'd be more comfortable there. We were sad to see him go.

Fun with Spaghetti

Tommy had his first experience with spaghetti today and he loved playing with it. He tried to eat some, but it didn't work very well. We haven't posted in awhile because we've been so busy unpacking. Things are calming down a bit, so hopefully we'll have more updates in the future.

Moved In!

We're finally moved in our new house and are mostly unpacked. It's really starting to feel like home now that we've been in the house for a week.

Squatting at Mom & Dad's House

We've been living with Mark's parents for a week now, with one more week to go until our house closes escrow. This is the house Mark grew up in and it's been fun for Tommy's grandparents and great-grandmother to see him do the things Mark did as a baby in the same places he did them. We are so glad we decided to move to this town. Tommy will likely go to the same schools his father did, if we decide to put the kids in public school.

We've realized how much we missed living in a rural area, seeing cows and horses everywhere, and actually walking on dirt on the side of the road. There is also an amazing local orchard within walking distance, not to mention other fresh fruit and vegetable stands everywhere. Last night we took a walk down the street and saw...stars! We could never see stars in the city because there were always too many lights, trees, and buildings. We don't miss the city traffic, constant stream of strip malls, or the cramped feeling. I think we're really going to enjoy living here.

- Autumn

Mark (on the right) and his brother taking a bath

Tommy taking a bath in the same tub, 25 years later.

Packing Up

We've made good progress with packing the house up. Nemo didn't like being boxed up, but Tommy sure liked it!

Floorplans

For those of you who have not seen the layout of the house, I measured and sketched out the floorplan. This is so Autumn and I can better plan furniture placement, since the average room is smaller then our current place. Although there are a lot more rooms! Note that I already started sketching some furniture layouts in the master bedroom and family room.

You WHAT?!

It is amazing how much your life can change in 48 hours.

Sunday, 5:00 AM: Autumn finds out she is pregnant with our second child.

Sunday, 11:00 AM: We visit my parents along with Matt and Cameron. Mom tells us about a house for sale on the end of the street.

Sunday, 1:00 PM: The selling agent agrees to show up and show us the house. We love it. We make an appointment with our agent, Russ Warrick, to talk about it on Monday.

Monday, 1:00 PM: For 3 hours Autumn, Russ, and I discuss all the details with purchasing the house, selling our condo, and getting financing. We talk with Mom and Dad a few hours as well.

Monday, 8:30 PM: We meet Russ at his office, loan pre-qualification letter and deposit check in hand. We go over the offer he wrote, sign and submit it.

Monday, 9:30 PM: We head home, exhausted and dazed from the day's events. Meanwhile, the selling agent calls the seller into the office. They look over and discuss our offer.

Monday, 11:00 PM: Russ calls us to say that they accepted the offer. We call our family to let them know. Close of escrow is June 29th, roughly 3 weeks away.

We just bought a house, when we were not seriously looking 2 days ago. And we found out we are having a baby in that same time period.

The house is amazing! Everything we were looking for. Big and beautiful back yard, hardwood floors throughout, 22 second drive from Mom, Dad and Grandma, out of the city, inexpensive for the area, and much more. It is perfect! Take a look at the new photo album on the sidebar. Note that that is not our furniture inside.

- Mark

A peanut's Life, Issue 12

Issue 12 of "A Peanut's Life". Click on the image below to see the full-size version.

Yes... we are pregnant!

Tommy Plays Soccer