Ski School Part 2

We took the residents for "Northern Warfare Training" up in the mountains as one of our yearly team building exercises.  There happens to be a ski school in the training area where Jake has been once before.  Today was a beatiful day in the mountains and there were very few people and almost no other kids in the class.  Jake progressed today from the magic carpet to the chairlift and really enjoyed being able to ski all by himself.  He was the only kid in his group during the afternoon so had his own ski instructor who did a great job helping him have fun and be able ski without holding on to anyone else.  The difference between today and the first lessons he took is night and day.

Mt. Ranier in the Background

Allie is 2 months old Part 2

Here is Jake when Scott took him skiing on President's Day. He really had a good time. I had a little bit of a hard time as I was left behind with the two "babies". I guess that is part of being a mom, right? I'll be happy when everyone can ski together!

In an effort to organize our mudroom, we had one of those locker systems built by the builder who did our downstairs cabinets. I think it turned out pretty nice. Anyone have any opinions? Yes, there are 4 lockers. It doesn't mean anything about the ultimate number of kids. It just means that Scott needs a space to contain all his sneakers.

I didn't get this one flipped, sorry. Here is Allie today in one of her cute outfits. I'm just now actually dressing her in anything other that pajama onesie outfits. If it weren't freezing outside, I think she'd be in a onesie all day long!

I actually caught her smiling. She's got the same dimples as Jake and Sam. Definitely cute!

Here she is today up close. She is now really active, looking around, smiling, and cooing. She is sleeping for a solid 5-6 hours every night and usually will go back to sleep for another 5 hours. She's growing well and now has the standard chubby cheeks. She is losing her hair for anyone interested. Who knows if she'll stay dark like daddy?

Allie is 2 months old Part 1

Here is Jake and Sam in their newly formed biker gang. Jake was a previous member of a scooter gang in Atlanta. They've now upgraded!

Meg was here last week for a really fun visit. Of course, she took some great pictures of all the kids. Here is Allie in some sunshine that preceeded our current cold, wintery weather.

Jake and Milo are riding in our new garden cart. It is definitely a favorite mode of transportation.

Sam is peeking through the play gym. He climbs up the steps, goes down the slide all by himself. He goes down the hill to the play gym from our driveway on his tricycle. He's quite the daredevil.

Jake jumping off the picnic table. Another one of Meg's excellent photos.

I can't believe it's already been a month since my last post. We've had a ton happen, which is why I'll do this in two separate posts in order to include more pictures. I went back to work for about a week, which flew by, between a conference, a crazy on call night, and a biostats quiz (which I flunked). I went back on leave for the last half of February when Meg and Milo came to visit. We traveled to Portland on Saturday and Jake is now with Grandma Barb. They will come back tomorrow as I am going to UW for classes this weekend. More to come about Allie on post #2!

Allie is 1 month old!

Grammy and Tom Tom enjoyed meeting Allie and posing for some pictures with their first grand daughter!

She's very alert when she's awake.

She hates to be cold and in our current winter, this means bundling in cozy PJs and blankets.

This is a good recent picture. Amazing how they change in such a short time.

Well, we've made it through 1 month of having 3 kids. It feels like it has gone by so fast. I go back to work in less than 2 weeks, which feels really fast. Allie is doing great, probably around 10 lbs now and still has a full head of dark hair. She has been great, feeding well, sleeping pretty well, and generally being very amenable to the various places I bring her in the Baby Bjorn. Today was Chuck E Cheese as well as a shared back pack ride with Sam. I'll post a picture of that one. The two kids balanced (one on my back and one on the front) so that it actually made it easier to carry both of them. This is a trick I learned in Afghanistan when I was carrying multiple packs. Sam has been improving from his initial shock at being the middle child. I think this has more to do with the fact that he has learned to communicate in the last month. He nods yes and no, he says a ton of words now including kitty, meow, mommy, daddy, jake, allie. He points at everyone when you say their name, and at parts of his body like nose, mouth, and ears. Over the last 2 weeks, he had some good one on one time thanks to Grammy Kris and Tom Tom being in town. We had quite the snow adventure, which I also must blog about at some point. Jake is continuing on, doing well in preschool, speaking in full sentences, writing his name. He is helpful when directed, but is less inclined to spontaneously help. This is Sam's department. I hope that trait continues! We're continuing to be grateful for all three kids, though I look forward to a full night's rest sometime in the future. I'm a little stressed about getting everything done in the next months and years. I am thankful for all the help of our family and Emily, our nanny, but when I am away from the kids doing work, I am constantly thinking about them and feeling guilty about not being with them. When I am with the kids, I think about work and feel guilty about what I am not accomplishing. It's quite the dilemma. I'm not sure I'll be able to figure out the answer, but I appreciate everyone's help in the process.

Snow Day

We woke up this morning to around 8-10 inches of fresh powder covering everything.  I don't remember anything like this growing up in Portland so we had to take advantage.  Fortunately I am not on call and did not need to make the trip into the hospital.  Sam enjoyed walking around in his dinosaur snow suit but did not appreciate the sledding aspect however Jake and I walked up the end of our road and found a perfect place for sledding.  We took multiple spills, hit a tree, gargbage can and even a big yellow labrador retreiver but Jake and I had a blast and will hopefully go out once more before dark.  Too bad the camera ran out of batteries before I could get a good video.

The Lodge

Jake was pretty brave and we must have made 10-15 runs down the hill.

Looking down suicide hill....

Allie Baby Book

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My little Sam

Sam is 18 months today. With Allie's birth, I don't want Sam to suffer from the middle child neglect that I hear so often about. He's also just really darn cute when he's not having a tantrum. Here he is on Christmas Eve sporting an adorable sweater.

Mr. Blue Eyes. Sam is so sweet and cuddly when he wants to be. Once we get past the toddler stage, I think he is going to be a great kid to get to know. He's beginning to talk with various words and signs. Exciting times! He says alot of words that are decipherable and signs thank you, please, and more. He has definitely reached the stage where you see in his eyes his understanding of language and commands even before he can respond with words. Amazing!

Here he is after his first haircut. He looks like a little boy rather than a baby. I must admit, I shed a few tears thinking about my little Sam growing up already. He does look handsome with his new look and monkey PJs, doesn' t he?

On the playground in warm gear. Like his cool hat? Christmas gift from Grammy Kris.

Sam, we love you. You may be the middle child but our love for you will be just as great as for your brother and sister.