Houses Come in Pairs

We are SO excited; Erik and Cheriss have found their dream house and their dream property. They move in just a few weeks and we can't wait to be there to celebrate with them. The photo above is us touring their full five acres. They have TWO ponds, a hot tub, a sauna and a beautiful idyllic property very close to Grandma and Grandpa Faiola's dream house property. They deserve the amazing space to raise their perfect toddler girl, Alise =)  Congratulations to amazing Uncle Erik and Aunty Cheriss.

Lily loves her Grandpa Faiola and his endless patience for reading. Grandpa and Jamisen are also starting to get their science on and do experiments together. It makes me happy to see this relationship building with both kiddos. Grandma Faiola's waffle tradition is what the kids most closely identify their Grandma with right now.

  Isn't Jamisen the epitome of 'cool' in this photo? =) Lily has started growing attached to 'things' now. It's really surprising since Jamisen didn't find a baby blanket he loved but Lily has two very specific blankets she adores. They are from our good friend Monique and she originally sent a pink one when Lily was born. But, when the house blew up, we thought her pink blanket was a goner so Monique sent the kids brand new blankets. It turns out Lily's blanket could be saved (albeit, not quite as fuzzy as before). Lily's new blanket is gray and she loves both of the colors equally. She insists of having them when she sleeps and will cry and ask for them until she gets them. I'm not sure how I feel about this but for now, we've got the blankets and they're a 'thing' in her life. 

Nanny McKenna is still the main nanny for our household. She has turned into a house manager in her almost five years with our family. We are so thankful that she has stayed with us as the kids have grown up and has continued to take more of a leadership role with keeping the household running smoothly. She is excited about adding piano lessons to Jamisen's life as he gets older because she is a concert-level piano player and loves to teach classes. We are all excited about that!

Jason rarely gets pictures on the family blog and he is an important part of our lives. He takes care of the kids on Wednesdays and Thursdays. He's a circus performer, has his Masters Degree in Family Systems Therapy and also taught preschool for five years. He has a lot of creative ideas that he loves to do with the kids from art to dress-up to hide and go seek and more. The kids love him and are always thrilled when they know his days are coming.

Our friend Esther visited and brought the kids candy (yay for Minions banana gross sugary things) and books. She loves reading to them and is so thoughtful in how she interacts with them. We're lucky to have a huge group of friends in our lives that care about our kiddos.

We have a great Children's Museum in town and the kids spent over 3 hours there last weekend. Jamisen loved the dress up corner and transformed himself into a Wizard.

The other day, Chris came home with a quickly passing idea of buying a home he saw for a rental home. As we were discussing it, Jamisen, who was reading quietly close by, piped up, "That is a good idea. That way, if our house explodes again, we can move into that other house!" My heart alternatively broke and leapt at the same time; broke because 4 year olds shouldn't have to think of that kind of thing but leapt because he is such a logical, smart little thinker that is planning for the future.  We'll see how this home explosion affects him in a couple decades; will he always believe that houses need to come in pairs?

We STILL have the kiddo's Gingerbread Houses, taking up space in our pantry. Lily actually  managed to bite a piece off of her wall the other day but it was so hard that I was worried she would crack a tooth. Tooth is intact; hypoglycemic index spiked. That's what we call a success.

Chris got the kids Valentine's Day cards. They were SO excited. They jumped up and down and squeaked as they opened their cards. It was adorable.  Jamisen is starting to recognize letters (and draw them) and asked what each word said with a magnitude of joie de vivre that belied how much he was actually trying to read.

Lily is our happy little monkey-see, monkey-do. She saw her Daddy stretching his quads and glutes and wanted in on the action. She is the most sweet, cute and happy second child we could have ever hoped to have. She makes us laugh daily with her antics and her sass.

Jamisen really got into this art project; we made dyed shaving cream and let the kids paint the shower and tub. The water was black when the kiddos got out of the tub and they both needed a serious rinsing but it was a hit for an art project and great for a variety of lessons (color blending, fine motor skills, counting).