So this is what it's like to have a child who crawls...

Ah, but they are so much happier making all that mischief!

This is her favorite spot in the house.

Bet you can't guess whose chair that is.  She knows where the goods are!

My 3 Year Old

My little boy turned 3 on Tuesday!!!  We were having a gathering at our house for a bunch of our friends that were leaving Saginaw last weekend and so we just did cake for him there where he had lots of people to sing to him.

It was a pretty low key birthday- McDonalds for lunch, he watched Cars 2, had one of his favorite dinners (barbecue chicken enchiladas), and more cake.  But the magic for him was opening his presents and finding that my mom and Josh's grandma had gotten him some cars from Cars 2 that he didn't have and he was VERY excited about them.  He got a few other presents that I'm sure he'll play with next week but for now it is all about these cars.

They all have foreign names and he loves saying them.  (He knew them already from watching these little 20 second turntable clips on Youtube)

And he pretty much thinks that everything in our house is an accessory for them. 

I'm not complaining because they get him to do all sorts of things (Shane, I think Miguel Camino wants a bite of apple...)

The fun continued today with Grandma Dettinger's package

And he is loving the card that Heather gave him that I am pretty sure was designed especially for him.

I love my little buddy and am so glad I get to be his mom!

First Snow

Our first snow came on Wednesday, just one day shy of December.   The kids both loved it- good thing since we live in Michigan!  It has since melted, just in time for the fresh batch in the forecast tomorrow.  I do enjoy it a lot more during the holiday season, and when I look through the eyes of these cute snow bunnies.

P.S. don't worry, I let her touch for a minute, and she now has gloves:)

Thankful

This year we are thankful for:

-Each other
-Loving families
-A cute little house to live in
-The opportunity for Josh to pursue his education and become a doctor
-The ability I have to stay home and raise my kids
-A knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the ability to have a personal relationship with him
-The chance to experience so many different things on this crazy med school journey
-Great friends who make our life more fun
and much much more. 

We are also grateful to live so close to my aunt and uncle and that we were able to have a real Thanksgiving dinner with them!  And that Josh's obgyn rotation finished the day before Thanksgiving so he got the whole weekend off.  We drove to Fremont on Wednesday afternoon, spent the night there, woke up and ran the Turkey Trot (I was so excited they had one!), and enjoyed this delicious spread.  

 We stuffed ourselves full, played a few games of Scrabble, and Pat got Shane a Discovery Toys game for his birthday.  They sure spoil us!

 And Shane LOVED it!!

 We drove back that night so I could go shopping with the crazies at midnight, and we've had a nice weekend at home, getting our house ready for Christmas!

And, Marissa figured out the whole crawling thing last week.  This video isn't the greatest of her crawling, I think she was a little tripped up by the dress, but it makes me laugh because I was trying to entice her with toys and you can see what she was really after (and is most of the time).  So, Santa, if you're watching, this is what she wants for Christmas.  And for you to leave her some crumbs on the floor. 

Two Truths and a Lie

 Let's play a little game.  Two of these things really happened this week and one did not.  Can you guess which ones?

1) I went to the park with my kids.  In the evening.  In the middle of November in Michigan.  Without a jacket on.
2) I went to the midnight premiere of Twilight with all the teenaged crazies.
3) Shane sat on Santa's lap and told him what he wanted for Christmas. 

I know, they all seem like a little bit of a stretch.  Good thing I have photographic evidence or you may not believe me.  I could hardly believe #1 myself, that's why I had to take a picture with my phone. And pinch myself repeatedly.  The weather is definitely getting colder, but we have had some downright beautiful days too and I was just not expecting that this late here.  I take full advantage when I can, because I know what's coming! 

 

Here's proof of #2.  I'm not sure any of us are die hard Twilight fans, just a bunch of mamas so desperate for a girls night out that we did it at midnight!  We went to Applebee's for half-prize appetizers before and had a lot of fun.  And I even stayed awake (mostly) ;)

 

And this weekend while our husbands were studying my friend Jacki and I headed out to Holidays in the Heart of the City in downtown.  It took us probably 10 minutes to get all the kids (4 under 3) bundled and situated when we got out of the car so I had to laugh and take a picture.

 They had a lot of fun stuff like free pony rides and Santa Claus, but notice there is no picture of Shane on the jolly old man's lap.  He had a lot of fun just being there but wanted no part in that. 

  Truth be told, I think he is a little weirded out by the idea of some big old bearded guy coming in our house while we are asleep, and you know, when you think of it that way, I guess I can't blame him!  But he's been a pretty good boy this year so I'm sure the presents will end up under the tree somehow :)

Stretching

So if you've read this blog for any length of time you should know by now that cheesy themed posts are the standard, so I'll just skip the apologies and get on with the good stuff :)  I've been thinking for the last little while about what to write, and this little pose of Marissa's summed it up for me. 

Seriously?  Is it possible that someone with the genetic makeup of Josh and I could be a dancer some day?  This girl is in full on splits a good part of the day and doesn't seem bothered by it in the least.  She is pretty good at contorting her body to get what she wants,   

It appears that she is close to crawling, but who knows with babies. 

While the rest of us are embarrassingly incapable of such feats, we have all been stretched around here in various ways.  Josh is learning how to live on less sleep, in fact he is at the hospital as we speak for his noon to noon Sunday/Monday shift.  He is liking obgyn but not enough to do it for life, and I can't say that I mind. 

The combination of the crazy schedule/lack of a husband right now and the above mentioned little girl who has decided this week that she hates to be set down has left me feeling a little ragged.  Thank goodness for good friends to pass the time with and who call you cause they can tell you've had one of those days.


And this little man is slowly but surely stretching out of his comfort zone, doing more and more things for himself and interacting more and more with unfamiliar people.  Sometimes I feel like I have to constantly push him to get him to do things, but I am trying to find the balance between encouraging him to do things he probably should have long been doing (like eating fruit), and remembering with others that he is not even 3 and to give him a break.  He helps me keeps my life fun and simple, just the way I like it.  Tonight all it took was throwing leaves at him repeatedly.    

Speaking of which, I love fall.  And I love having a yard.  I took this picture in it, and I think it turned out pretty good  if I do say so :)

Happy Halloween!

Shane is almost 3 but this is the first year he has been in the states for Halloween so I was so excited to dress him (and Marissa) up in one of those warm fuzzy costumes that makes you want to just squeeze them.  (I think he would have melted in one of these in Dominica!)

Last week was Josh's week on the night shift so it worked out good that there were so many fun things to do so the kids and I could get out of the house while he tried to catch a few z's (although really after working 14 hours each night I don't think he had too much trouble falling asleep!) 

Shane picked out his costume and I was glad that he was happy to put it on for all our festivities- playgroup Halloween party, storytime at the library, Halloween party with friends, Barnes and Noble, and trunk or treating at the church. 

Shane wouldn't say trick or treat to anyone there and proclaimed to me afterwards "Mommy I CAN'T say trick or treat!" but he did say thank you every time.  We made it through all the cars just in time before it started to hail, and of course mom had to try to snag a picture right then. 

Then last night Shane's friends Keira, baby Marc, and Kate came over to trick or treat with us. It worked out great that my friend Heather wanted a place to pass out candy so she manned the house while we went out with Shane.  Thanks Heather!!

The peer pressure was good for them and he actually performed.  They were so darn cute!

We stayed out just long enough for them to have fun and us to not have to carry him- you can tell we were giving him some M and M's along the way to keep him going ha ha. 

Mr. OCD has been fun organizing his candy and asking me what all of them are (and of course eating them),

And Marissa has been happy to chew on whatever wrappers she can get her hands on (and she doesn't even know what's inside there yet!)