Somerset turns 2!

Somerset is now 2 and we had a wonderful time celebrating her birthday. We started the festivities by giving her lots of extra special attention. She had her photos taken in her beautiful birthday dress (compliments of my mom: dress and photos). We then spent the night with Aunt Tiffy and Uncle Martin having cake and spoiling Somerset with gifts. She was showered with kitchen goods, a tea pot set, a doll that goes potty and clothes. She was very happy playing and showing us how much she loves her new things.

On Saturday, we headed to Newport to spend the day with G-Pops, Grandma Paula, Uncle Aaron and his girlfriend Maryam. It was so great to get away for a bit and it's always fun to be with family. We played, ate, visited the aquarium and the kid's loved spending time with family at the beach. FUN!!!

I am still having a difficult time grasping that Somerset is 2. It is so wonderful seeing her grow into such a fun, sweet, spunky little girl, but the baby is gone. She is a kid now. She talks (although we don't really understand all of what she says). She has her own interests: Caillou mainly. I think she is in love. She loves pretending she is me. She will grab a purse, perhaps a baby doll and wave goodbye to everyone. Yes, she is a girl on the go. She is in love with Leo and will often imitate him. The kids have a deep love for each other. Their bond in strong and I hope it stays that way for life. Somerset also has a deep love for us. She wants nothing more than to be close to me or Joe. I cherish hugging her Fuzzy head. I love the thickness of her chubby arms, which look just like mine.  I see so much of myself in her, which I never saw in Leo. It is strange, but wonderful. I just love how she fits into our family. She made Leo a brother, she made Joe fall in love again and she has stolen my heart. We are so lucky to have this amazing little girl in our lives.

Happy Birthday my little French Fry!

Where did the Summer go?

 Olympic Fever...oh yah, that happened too!

Leo cheered for the Czech Republic...not sure why, but it was sweet.

 Summy after her bee sting

 Leo's old robot jammies!

 Longer hair!

 This is her "cheeeeeeese" face!

 Shopping?

It pains me that it has been so long since I have updated the blog. It is not for lack of care, but it is a sign of the times. Our family has been trying to make headway on some debt and as a consequence, I am working about 5 nights a week. This is tough, but the money helps. I feel that it is too much though and I need to taper back. My family is my life and I don't want to miss a single moment.

So much has happened!!! Leo got his yellow belt! We are so proud of him. He is the model Karate student and a shining star in his class. Many of the kids look up to him for his leadership qualities.

Leo is excited for preschool to start. It starts next week and I know he missed his buddies, especially Donovan, Adelaide and Hazel.

Leo continues to love all things boy. As I write this, he is playing with his Legos and pretending they are from Star Wars. He loves any electronic game, but he just likes games in general. 

Summy is talking up a storm. We can understand most of what she says and she uses simple sentences now, but mostly 1-2 phrases. She is sweet but determined and she does not like when I give Leo too much attention. This pains me and I tell her that I love Leo and I love to hug him too. I am so lucky that Leo has the type of personality he does. He is pretty easy going about letting her dominate the cuddles.

Summy got stung by a bee. She was in our playroom and I hear her scream. I couldn't figure out what was wrong, but then she got listless and super tired and I really freaked out. I tired calling Joe and then the doctor. I thought maybe she got shocked, but we ruled that out. Still not knowing what was wrong with her, I let her nap and kept a close eye on her. She had quite the temperature too. When she woke up, I was holding her and noticed her finger was red and swollen, so I deduced she was bit or stung by something. Joe confirmed it when he removed the stinger...my poor Somerset!

I can't believe how fast the kids are growing up. Leo is a full on boy. He would be ready for Kindergarten if we could send him and Somerset is no longer a baby. She is looking more mature everyday. I am happy and sad for all these changes. I love the children they are becoming, but am sad that I will never hold them as babies again. I do admit that it does get better and better though.

Delayed

 A trip to the zoo with Mommy

  

Leo's first camping trip

 Leo and Summy built this cool house....together!

Wow! It has been way too long since I have updated the blog and so much has happened. I have been working a ton (4-5 nights a week), so the nights I have off are spent with the family or catching up on chores.

Well, let's see what's new. Probably the biggest change is that Somerset moved into a toddler bed last night. She only got out of bed once, so that's fantastic. Nap time was a bit more of an issue, but she did eventually fall asleep in her bed. Her toddler bed in Disney Princess themed and she also now has a bookcase and storage bench. It is all very sweet and sized just for her and her tiny room. She loves it and I think that is making the transition easier. Anyhow, we had to move her into a bed because she was getting her thigh caught between the slats and crying in pain when she was stuck.

Our little Summy is now entering the terrible 2s. In fact, as I write this, Joe is giving her her first time out ever because she threw her food across the floor. She is doing a lot of this. She only wants to eat nuts and crackers and of course she does not understand that this is not healthy. Something so cute is that she will say, "I'm sorry Daddy/Mommy." It is so heart melting, but her unreasonable behavior is not.

She now speaks in simple 2-3 word sentences. She is very smart and seems to know more than I realize. I am always surprised by the words she says. She is still potty training too.

As for Leo, he had his first ever camping trip. He had a great time with Joe. It was a one night trip, so it was short, but Joe and Leo seemed to have a really great time. I should have Joe make a blog post about it.

Leo has been very emotional recently. We have had more issues with him disobeying, throwing tantrums and being super emotional. In social situations, he has been complaining about having a sick tummy. This worries me because he has always flourished socially and I hate to think he has anxiety. Joe and I are trying to get to the root of the problem. As a child, Joe had ulcers, so I would hate to think that Leo is a worrier as well. He still is a shining star in so many ways, just look at that smile in the photos above, but I would feel remiss if I didn't mention this. I try to be honest in these posts.

We have all been really enjoying the sunshine though. We are happy that Summer is finally here!!! We are enjoying our farm share produce that we get from our CSA every week (this is so Portland of us). The kids are spending loads of time playing with the hose. Life is good!

Summer?

 Buzz cut for the Summer

 Local water feature. The kids had a blast!

 Summy always asks Daddy to bring her to me after her bath.

 Sneak peak at our life when the kids get older.

Summy got to sit with the big kids at our friend's birthday party. She is growing up so fast!

Summer is finally here, but we still haven't had a string of great days. We like to call it Juneuary around here. None the less, we are trying to make the most of the nice days we do have by spending loads of time outside. We took the kids to a local water feature and they had a blast. It was nothing too scary and it was so fun to see them both do there thing. They are growing up so fast! This will be a major theme of this post.

Leo is in Vacation Bible School this week. He seems to be having fun and I like that he has a school type structure when preschool is out for the summer. He has already made a friend named Luke. It seems as though Leo always makes friends named Luke. Leo is extremely popular and makes friends where ever he goes. He is the most articulate, outgoing, friendly 4 year old I have ever met. He is bursting at the seams when we encounter a new social situation, always eager to meet new friends and explore new situations. He is so blessed to posses this amazing ability.

Leo is doing great with Karate. He really loves it and is showing many leadership qualities. He is a shining star in class and although he does get in trouble at times for being a bit goofy or talking out of turn, he shows extreme focus and respect while in class. Plus, he looks so darn cute in his uniform.

Leo has also been doing a great job eating. He is up to 34 pounds and although that doesn't seem like much, his appetite is really taking off. I am so thrilled he isn't as finicky as he used to be.

Somerset has entered the terrible 2s a tad bit early. She is throwing tantrums and cannot be reasoned with on many occassions, ex. she wants nothing but nuts, all the time, even though it makes her sick. Although she is whiny and strong willed, she still seems like an easier child than Leo ever was. An example of this would be how she behaved ay our friend Audrey's 5th birthday party. She was able to sit at the big kid table and hang with the rest of the kids, following their lead and eating along with all of them. I can only imagine that Leo would have been all over the place, causing little disasters here and there. However, they do remind me of each other a lot.

Somerset is far more jealous than Leo. She does not like me to give Leo too much attention (but that won't stop me). She even gets jealous when I brush his teeth. Leo has never been jealous, so we are super lucky that we had him first. 

She started really articulating a few words very clearly like "yessss." She also says please and thank you now. She can understand every thing that we say to her, mind you, we speak very simply to her.

She adores animals, especially dogs and cats and I am sure she would be so pleased if we got a kitty. She also loves babies. She will chase down a mom and dad if she sees that they have a little baby with them. She also loves her baby dolls. Last night, Joe found her wiping her  baby's bummy with a paper towel and then using the towel as a diaper. So cute!!! She is more nurturing than Leo ever was.

Somerset is doing a great job potty training. She goes in the potty at least once a day, and ever went #2 a few times this week. Way to go Summy!!!

All in all, the kiddos are great! I am so lucky to have 2 happy, healthy, wonderful children.

Grandma turns 90!

 Yeah for Grandma. She sure looks pretty!

Summy has a new kitchen! She and Leo sure love joking around.

 

 My most advanced soap to date. Multi-layered! It sure smells good! I still have so much to learn.

 Somerset tucked Perry into bed. She is so nurturing.

 Not much is cuter than a toddler in jammies!

We just had a wonderful weekend with my Grandma, who came up for a visit with her sister Jeanette, my Uncle Andy and my mom's cousin Carolyn. My Grandma just had her 90th birthday and she is sharper than ever. She has such a lovely disposition and everyone who meets her loves her.

Today, we went on a brunch cruise on the Portland Spirit (a cruise ship that sails along the Willamette River) and it was a beautiful day to relax and enjoy each other's company. I would sure love to make my way down to CA soon to have more time to visit. I am hoping we can make this happen within the next year. I better start saving.

Leo also moved up a rank in Tae Kwon Do from a Orange Tiger belt to an Orange belt. Unfortunately, I missed most of the ceremony because I was on the cruise, but I arrived just in time to see them place his new belt on him. He still is super passionate about his classes and LOVES Karate. We are so proud of him.

Leo has been a royal pain. Maybe he misses school, but he has been testing the limits again. We are having many challenging moments with hi. I have such a sweet spot in my heart for this boy. I love him like no ther, but at times, he can be draining. All this hard work will pay off someday....right? 

Somerset is speaking more and more. Today, she fell and clear as a bell, she said, "I'm alright Daddy." She can put together simple sentences quite well and is really getting a firm grasp on language.

She also is sleeping later. A few times, she has even slept until 7 am, which is pure bliss to me! Her Mr. Sun alarm clock has been worth it's weight in gold!

It's been a few rough weeks because she had a minor cold and her canines have been poking their way through. I am looking forward to having my sweet Summy back!

She also got a few freckles. She got one on her rights leg and one on her left arm (I think, I will double check). They are so darn cute. Well, everything about her is cute to me!

 I have been loving making soap too. Last night, I made Joe a tea tree shampoo bar.  I hope he loves it. I just can't wait until I am super confident at this. All the learning and mistakes can be frustrating, but I am determined to get really good at this.

We are super excited for summer though. Hopefully we can meet up with friends more this summer. It seems as though there is never enough time. Plus, I have been working 3-4 shifts a week. It has been draining. I really should cut back, but the extra money made helps me justify the expenses of the soap hobby, Leo's Karate, hair salon visits etc.