Happy Birthday Jamisen

Happy 3 Year Old Birthday Jamisen! It's hard to believe that you're really 3 years old but it's happened.

 Your birthday was tractor themed because right now, between trains and tractors are your entire life. You are obsessed with anything that has wheels. On the morning of your birthday, you were surprised with a brand new John Deere Tractor shirt and tractor decals decorating your wall.

You were very excited about them and shared the overnight miracle with your Grandpa Faiola and Daddy first thing. The tractor cut-out pretty much blew your mind. You were a little less excited to share the tractor cut out when kids arrived. We're still working on this whole sharing thing.

Lily was dressed up in her birthday finest for you. She has started pulling herself up on things and crawls with wild abandon. She isn't sure if she likes you all the time because you're not as gentle as you can be with her. One of your most common questions to me right now is, "Mommy, why is she crawling towards you??" as she flees in terror of your not so gentle hugs, pinches and love taps. 

Why yes, Lily was in another outfit to start your special day. But, when she was introduced to cake for the first time, things got a little messy.

It was so cute that we didn't mind sacrificing a shirt for the cause.

The gift giving was generous, fast and furious. Unlike last year when you weren't quite sure what to do with the gifts and wrapping paper, this year, you really knew what to do. If we had given you the scissors, you would have been even more delighted.

Your favorite gift varies based on the minute but the enduring favorite gift that you drag everywhere is your cleaning set, complete with a mop, a broom and a vacuum. You love to wash the windows. The adults don't love it as much. You are very protective of your cleaning kit and scream if Lily tries to touch it. The arrival of the cleaning kit has pushed all of your other toys to less importance in value so now you let Lily play with your prized toys, like your kitchen, much more easily. This is a positive for us all.

Sharing with others easily hasn't quite happened. You were quite sad that you had to share this lawn mower with other people, holding onto the handle, and SCREAMING if we tried to pry your hands off it. I should clarify that you were sort of okay sharing it with Ava ... but not any of the guys. We did force you to share, of course. 

This was another hit for a gift. Your Daddy found it for you and you love getting pushed around in it. Your parents backs? Not so much. 

Even with the sore backs, we love you more than we can possibly express. Which is why we made the choice to let you have a cake that turned your poop blue. But more about that on the next blog post. Your birthday weekend extravaganza has so many photos that just one blog post won't cover it all. To be continued ...

Playing Catch Up ... again

We have been so happy about the sun that's been peeking out lately! Yay for sunshine and a place for the kiddos to let off their energy. Jamisen loves his green tractor and drives it everywhere!

Jamisen's drawing and color skills are improving daily. It is impressive to see him try to color in the lines ... though, the example above is not one of his best examples. He also has this interesting nose picking habit (exhibited above). It's weird ... he loves to pick his nose. I'm hoping he grows out of it.

Jamisen loves eggs, loves cupcakes and loves cheese so I made him egg cupcakes with a ton of very finely chopped and steamed veggies. He loved them - as did his adorable and perfect sister.

 

Lily remains happy, crawling,  scooting and eating solids. She is still our early riser, getting up at 5ish every day, but she is so good natured that it's hard to be upset about seeing her for extra hours in the day.

As you can see, potty training is going well. Jamisen now just wanders off on his own to use the toilet and even wipes himself down ... which has led to a diaper rash on him so we need to work on that a bit.

Little bums are the cutest, aren't they!?

 

With the improving weather comes more opportunities to hike, play outdoors and get more friend time in. I went to my friend Jody's for a hike, only to find that an entire truck of hay had shown up and we had to unload bales of hay instead of hiking. It was a great opportunity to get some bicep work in!

My Mastermind Women's Business group is going strong and is on its 7th year together now. We just finished the book "The Desire Map" (all about figuring out your core desires and working towards how you want to feel in a day, rather than just straight goals) and "Jab Jab Jab Right Hook" about how to best capitalize on business social media. I treasure the group (there's 7 of us - we're not all pictured above) and feel thankful to have such a support group in my life. =)

Happy Easter

"Life is more fun if you play games.” ― Roald Dahl

Happy Easter Weekend =) We did an Easter Egg hunt with Jamisen. He was beyond euphoric about the whole concept of sugar. Trying to explain to him why Easter happens was a little tricky. The internet was no help either. I stumbled over an explanation to him but had vastly underestimated the need for an actual explanation. Jamisen didn't ask one single question about why he was made to get dressed up, carry a pink basket and go find plastic eggs filled with candy. Ah, so sweet: childhood innocence.

Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Faiola for sending amazing GIANT Easter Eggs filled with goodies. Jamisen loved the card, the book + all the fun bunny rabbits. I would like to say that all the adorable bunnies made it out of the day alive but that would be a lie. One of them met its untimely end, shattering on the floor but on the way down, I swear we heard the bunny peeping "Ah, it's so beautiful! So beautiful." So we feel certain that no bunnies were all that harmed during the process of the clumsy-toddler day.

The whole "candy candy candy" thing worked so well that we told Jamisen that the Easter Bunny had left some more eggs out along the road. This convinced him to go on a very long family walk. It worked like a charm.

I think that the Easter Bunny might be leaving little happy sugar eggs along the road for many more months. I am not above light bribery to get more fun family outdoor activities happening.

Lily gamely played along with her rabbit outfit though did not get any candy because I failed to get any candy for "only has 2 teensy teeth" babies. I will make it up to her by mainlining sugar into her morning meal. (Joke. That's a joke. Just in case anyone thinks I feed her anything besides delicious green smoothies in the morning). Lily also has been getting over a sinus infection that was bad enough that we did antibiotics (against my strong desire not to) so sugar wouldn't be great for her anyways. She also has been told by her Doctor to stay away from other kids until after her full vaccines are done. We have a measles outbreak right now in Bellingham and her last vaccine for that isn't for another month so when Jamisen goes to the Perch 'n' Play (indoor, germ-filled playground), Lily needs to stay home. And if there are any coughing or snotty kids that want to do play dates with Jamisen, we say "No," just to be on the safe side.

I managed to get some of our garden planted today while Chris was out running 10 miles, training for a marathon. Jamisen did NOT make it easy. He didn't want to stay in the backyard - wanted to go to the front yard, inside, anywhere EXCEPT where I could keep an eye on him. I planted kale, chard, spinach, and broccoli separated by rows of marigolds for their anti-slug properties. I'm hoping to plant blueberries, potatoes, corn, cucumbers, zucchini, garlic, tomatoes and peppers later in the season. Overall, a very successful weekend - workouts, planting the garden, and a visit from the Easter Bunny. Win, win, win.

Gender Reveal Party

This time, it was Erik and Cherris's big day. We were honored to host their special event. There was a food spread fit for a king ... or queen (!) with three kinds of quiches, phyllo wrapped cheese puffs, strawberry rhubarb phyllo tarts, orange muffins and crazy asparagus cheddar wraps. Basically, it was carb-tastic!

The overwhelming vote was for GIRL! I think Erik was the only one voting that he thought Cheriss was carrying a Baby Boy Faiola. The cutting of the cake seemed to take sooooo long. We had Grandpa Bosseant on the phone, anxiously awaiting the news with us. Thank you FaceTime!

Annnnnd, it's a girl!!!! Looks like everyone is pretty happy about that fact. We can wait to meet Baby Girl Faiola in August.

Brother Justin came up for the party and Jamisen loved to spend time with him too.

Baby Lily wore a dress for the occasion. Thank you Grandma Kelly for buying the dress over 4 years ago when I was newly pregnant with Jamisen, thinking I was having a girl. She saw me admiring the dress, snuck back to the store and purchased it ... only to have to hold on to it for almost several years until we really did have that girl.

With the whole family up, there were lots of walks in the neighborhood - including in Jamisen's rad car stroller. Jamisen and Uncle Erik are developing such a sweet relationship based on fun and physical activity. It's a ridiculously sappy joy to behold.

Lily is starting to hold her own with Jamisen. She has gotten quite good at dodging his playful pokes and crawls away quickly if he gets too rough. She also isn't shy about squealing loudly to let anyone above 4 feet tall in the vicinity know that she is under attack. Jamisen isn't quite potty trained but we're getting there. We are trying a lot of bribing and cajoling but so far, it hasn't worked. We have told him that once he turns 3, they don't make diapers for 3 year olds. Score one for lying ...

Meanwhile, Back in the 'Ham

Spring is here. Spring is here! We've seen multiple days of sun (Jamisen would help expound on this point by saying, "Are you kidding me?!"). Though it's cold, outdoor activities have been our friend.

Little Lily has two beautiful bottom teeth. They are fully out and she loves to smile her gummy grin and bite on everything and anything. She has been a little more sad now that she's been teething and some more difficult nights but overall, remains easy going and cheerful.

We were so happy that our friend Allison visited from Spokane. We took a trip to the newly renovated Boulevard Park and met Aunty Cheriss there. She is five months pregnant and though she claims she is showing, her fitness levels put my non-pregnant self to shame.  We find out if we're getting a niece or nephew soon (niece niece niece!) and can't wait. Either way, Uncle Erik and Aunty Cheriss get all of the hand-me-downs for both children b/c of course, they'll need those for the second child.

Mr. Bugaboo is loving his shower time lately. We've set up a mini shower for him so he can just shower off, stand there and wash h is hair and control the water flow. He still does love the occasional bath still, happily exclaiming, "I'm swimming Mommy! I'm swimming!"

Lily LOVES her solid food now. She is a control girl, and is much happier with solid food than she is with spoon fed pablum. She is transitioning from baby to toddler.

Grandma visited last week while Chris was in Saudi Arabia. Thanks Grandma! We went walking daily, even in the rain. Jamisen loved being outside. Lily tolerated it. Notice his superhero raincoat? It's hilarious since he's never seen a superhero comic book or video before.

Grandma has boundless energy and kept up with two kids with ease. It's amazing to see how much Jamisen just adores hanging out with her and runs to her whenever he sees her. It warms my heart.

Chris is the more permissive parent when it comes to food choices and this morning was particularly bad. He took Jamisen out in pajamas to buy a chocolate donut for breakfast. Jamisen is clearly on board with this decision and so happy about it. As for me, if my face freezes in this frown of disapproval, it would be a very bad thing.

Bramble Berry expanded its business a bit last week, acquiring a website and software design company. It's a new phase in our growth plan and we're excited to have a new business to sink our teeth into.

Lily is a little motoring baby, crawling everywhere now and climbing up on things. She is not happy to sit still any longer. Ah, our little baby no longer .... it's bittersweet.

Dreaming of Beaches

I would be remiss if I didn't give a huge shout out to Grandma and Grandpa Faiola for all of their overwhelmingly awesome help, support and love on the Hawaii trip. There is absolutely no way (ever, ever, ever) that we would have attempted this without them. If you had only viewed the last two blog posts on Hawaii, you wouldn't have realized what a big part of our vacation success that they were. Parents ... the unsung heroes each and every time, right?!

Grandma and Grandpa shared the room next to us - and blessings all around - kept Lily in their room EVERY single night. Since Lily got up daily between 4 and 5 a.m., that was such a gift. Really, there is no repaying them for that gift.

Grandma Faiola took Lily every morning, while Grandpa Faiola was in medical classes. They enjoyed swimming, walking and bonding. Lily loved the warm pool, and the safe embrace of Grandma.

Meanwhile, Jamisen was left literally and figuratively in the cold since he had to brave the elements with only his two capable parents to keep him safe. Even with that, he still got good and wet many times in the surf.

Jamisen has asked so many times to go back to the beach since we returned home to Bellingham. With the kind of fortresses and castles he and his Daddy were building, I'm not surprised he wants to go back to the beach. That makes two of us!

 Lily would most likely like to go back to Maui but not for the beach. She would go back in a heartbeat for the froyo (!). She was so happy to make frozen yogurt as one of her daily treats. We contented ourselves with knowing she wasn't getting shorted on her calcium doses for the week.

Hawaii Chronicle Three

Though it seems like years ago that we were in Hawaii, we really were there! And, I don't want to miss out telling you all about the awesome things that we did. First things first, Jamisen learned how to use the sand shower. This was momentous for many reasons, not only because he hates having sand on his feet and wanted to wash frequently. It gave us the best set up for laughter when he pushed the 'top' shower head button instead of the bottom one and got a good water dousing. He was a good sport but man, was he ever surprised!

We spent our mornings, after the rain dried up, on the beach, building sand castles and dipping our toes in the water. Jamisen loved building forts ... well, really, he loved his Daddy building him forts ... and was an enthusiastic supporter of all things water related. Oh wait, I forgot to tell you about the rain? Yes, it rained for a full two straight days when we got to Maui but thankfully, the rest of the trip was blissfully sunny.

We took a trip into Laihana one evening for dinner. It was wonderful to watch the turtles frolicking from our vantage point at the restaurant and the entire family enjoyed walking around afterwards and eating frozen yogurt.

Lily was a big fan of frozen yogurt and opened her mouth way more wide than she does when she's eating her typical spinach/blueberry concoction for breakfast. 

Lily loves shower time (and bathtime). She definitely seems to be a water baby.

Of course, when the kids were outside, they had hats or were sunscreened up to the max. None of us came back with really any color which is either a testament to the excellent sunscreen application ability of the people in our family above three feet tall or a testament to how overcast the weather was. 

Jamisen loves running around saying, "Daddy is an engineer. I am an engineer!" It's probably a little soon to tell but it would sure be amusing if he took after the Renoud family trait of engineering.

Yes, her eyelashes really are that long.