I Need to Hold You!

Veda's favorite line. Or sometimes it's "I need your finger." Then she'll sit there and suck her thumb and rub your finger nails. The teachers at school got lots of loving from Veda this week. She was homesick and made drop-offs (and pick-ups) a real chore. Here she is eating school lunch... at home! She refused to eat lunch and just wanted to be held while she watched the other kids eat. Sigh. Hoping we will break her next week.

I'm Adele and I Love...

Avacado, Cheddar Cheese, Black Beans, Egg Plant, Avacado, Avacado, Cheerios and Avacado. Oh and I REFUSE to eat from a spoon so Mom has completely given up on baby food yet she has a full cupboard of it;) Sweet.

God is Great, God is Good

It has become apparent that Veda is learning table prayers at school. She has been instigating prayer at meal time and then again at bedtime. She always ends with, "Amen, All Done!"

Funny Veda

Todd shaved yesterday. Veda was sitting on his lap and asked him where his beard went? Without skipping a beat she patted his chest and said "Oh, here it is."

Cutest Hats Ever! Thanks Jill!!!

Jill made these ADORABLE hats for the girls. It's a miracle the girls kept them on their heads - they must really like them too;)

A Day at the Zoo

It was a beautiful weekend and we needed to get out of the house. We headed up the coast to the Santa Barbara zoo. I liked the elephants but I think Veda's favorite was the ride with the animals. She put her hand on the monkey and said "Oh Monkey, why are you so hot?" She was very concerned.

Improvising

We were on the way to the zoo in Santa Barbara when Veda decided she had to pee. She hasn't been trained long enough for her bladder muscles to stengthen. So when she has to go, she has to go. Todd pulled off on the first shoulder because there wasn't an exit in sight. I knew I couldn't trust her to squat so I held her... and she peed on my foot. Lovely.

Veda Rada

Well school started off well this week. I was going to ease her into it and had planned to pick her up before naptime each day so she could sleep in her own bed. She threw such a fit when I went to get her the first day that I let her stay all day the rest of the week. Now that the novelty of all the new toys and friends has warn off she's not so excited about going. She cried a lot yesterday and then had a potty accident which was probably related to the crying. Makes me sad but I know it's just a transition period.

I love her school. Each day she comes home and tells me the names of the books they read and the songs they sung. She must have really been paying attention if she remembers. She also brings home her art projects.

I'm struggling a little with lunch - I have to pack hers each day. She hasn't been eating much of it. She doesn't like sandwiches so she just gets a bunch of random things like string cheese, tomatoes, blueberries, etc... I need some lunch box ideas! Help!

Mailbox

Veda loves to "go to the mailbox". The trip has been extra exciting lately as Didi and Papi have been sending installment shipments of big girl undies and stickers. How did you know she LOVES ni-hao kai-lan?!!

First, First Day of School

Sob sob. I dropped Veda off at Good Shepherd Luthern Church for her first day of "school" today. It really is more like school than daycare. They have a schedule and activities all day long - V is the youngest child there. She was eager to show off her Tinkerbell lunch box and didn't even look up when I said I was leaving. She just mumbled - "ok". Adele has a new babysitter starting today as well. Pretty sure she's not going to handle it as well as Veda did. I'm looking forward to the new routine!

Pool Day!

It was HOT here today. Baby Dell got to play outside at her water table in her diaper. Tonight Todd took Veda to see Tangled. Here's a pic of her at the movie although I heard she spent most of the time on Todd's lap because she was scared of the witch;)

Little Miss Snot

We made this week's trip number 4 to the Dr. today. Dell was screaming for hours so I finally figured that something more than the obvious was wrong. She has a double ear infection caused by the cold - the fun never ends. Todd and I are both sick now too. I just want this week to be over. I have so much work to do and all the illness is really cramping my style. The good news is that Veda now knows the names of all the Drs and nurses at the office and she looks forward to the visit. She walks in and asks them for a lollipop and sticker before she even says hi.

10 Months

Adele had her 10 month appointment yesterday and weighed in at 18.6 lbs. She is 30% for weight and 35% for height (27.5 inches) and 75% for her head measurement! She is a Pea and she is a Nut - PEANUT!!! You can't tell by the video but she is SICK! She was up every hour last night screaming because she had a fever and couuldn't breath. I hope she doesn't get slammed as bad as Veda did - I'm over it.

On the Mend... Again

After a pretty miserable day on Monday, we are doing better. Veda's fever kept spiking on Monday so I brought her back in and the Dr. tested for RSV - she is positive. We went back yesterday and Adele is positive too. Veda still doesn't have an appetite. She had about two bites of yogurt and some strawberries and blueberries yesterday. I gave her pasta for dinner and thought she had eaten the entire bowl. I asked her if she wanted more and she said, "yes - for my pocket." Translation - "yes - so I can put them down my shirt with the rest of the pasta that you thought I ate."

I should also mention that we are now 100% potty trained! She had it down by last Friday and the illness didn't effect her at all. She's even asked to go potty in public places... she's a little fearful of falling in when she doesn't have her potty attachment but she's performed like a champ.

Happy Birthday Papi

Happy Birthday! We were going to sing you happy birthday but the star of the show has a sore throat and doesn't want to perform right now;) Hope you have a wonderful birthday week with Iowa State win.

Pneumonia!

Veda has been on a downward spiral all weekend. Yesterday I left at 5am for a work trip to Kansas City. It had been a rough night before but I figured it couldn't get any worse so I might as well go to work as she had to be better on Sunday. Wrong. She had a fever hovering around 104 all day. She was lathargic and wouldn't eat or drink anything. Finally Todd took her to Urgent Care - after scrambling to find a neighbor to take Adele. Diagnosis Pneumonia. She got two large shots of antibiotics. I couldn't bare to stay in KC with Veda so sick and Todd dealing with her AND crazy Dell. So I hoped on a flight home last night. I'm so glad I did.

She still had a very high fever through the night last night but by this morning she is doing relatively better. It will be another cartoon and popsicle day.

Love Her

I asked Veda is she wanted to go for a walk in the stroller so Mommy could get some coffee at the coffee shop. She said, "no let's just cuddle."

The Crew

I've taken some vacation this week since Veda's new daycare hasn't opened yet. It's been a pretty great week being home with the girls. Today we had a playdate with Veda's Besties (Collin, Ella, Morgan and Drew)! 

Veda miss Uncle Kiss

And Dell misses her buddy Owen...

Sweet Baby Dell

Funny little hats! Thanks Aunt Kathy;)

Game On!

Inspired by the progress a friend was having with her son, I decided to take the leap and start the serious potty training. We have been diaper free since Tuesday morning.

Day 1 we had lots of minor accidents but once she realized she was peeing and didn't have a diaper on she would stop and ask to go to the big girl potty. The Toy Story stickers were a big help - Thanks Didie! She made it through naptime and the night without incident.

Day 2 we went to Target to pick up big girl undies and in the excitement of the moment while we discussed the process of the big gril undies/potty she peed in the store. Thankfully we were in the carpeted area. She announced what she was doing as the puddle started to form and I scanned the area for witnesses. There wasn't much I could do since it was on the carpet so I tossed the undies in the cart and away we went. I decided to let her finish the shopping trip in her wet pants as a teaching moment. Not a stellar idea as the temper tantrum that resulted was insane. The rest of the night she went bare bottom and several times we went to the bathroom and found her training potty full of pee - she didn't even tell us - success!

Day 3 she had yet to poop. I know she has been holding it back since she hasn't had a diaper on. I noticed that she had gotten up from breakfast and was eating while standing. Sure enough she went in her undies. That was the only accident of the day and she is now celebrating her accomplishments and telling us when she has to go. So if we can get #2 in the hole we will be all set!

Correct Grammar

So we have been in the process of correcting Veda's grammar (so she talk real nice like mom and dad)....Here are some of the common mistakes made:

Instead of "I", she says "my".....for example, "My wanna go outside" or "My want a Popsicle."  Everything is "up"....for example, in the morning, she says "my wanna go upstairs", when in fact she wants to go downstairs.   The other is "my wanna hold you", instead of "will you hold me".

Tonight everyone wanted to be "held" by mom.  Adele was screaming to be held (by mom only) and of course, Veda wanted to be held too.  Instead, she got me holding her "upstairs" watching football (which I convinced her was better than Wonder Pets).   As Kathy came downstairs, she says "yippeee, hi mommy, my wanna hold you"....I said, no, Veda, it's "WILL YOU hold me".....she said..."no, dat's not Will, it's Mommy and my is going to hold her".  I think we still have some work to do....

Ringing in the New Year

Yes we were in bed by 10pm but it doesn't mean we didn't celebrate - we just started early. Kel, Chris and Owen were in town for the Rose Bowl so we decided we should feast in celebration. The theme was blue cheese... and chocolate!!

We started off with dirty martinis with blue cheese stuffed olives that Todd stuffed himself. Todd grilled new york strip and topped it with gorgonzola. He made fresh blue cheese dressing for our wedge salads complete with fresh bacon and tomatoes. We baked baguettes and smothered them with butter too. Yummmm I'm hungry again! Then Kel and I made molten chocolate cakes.

They were sooooooo easy and sooooooo amazing. If you want to impress guests I highly recommend this dessert. Our homemade version was just as good as any I've had in a resturant... actually much better. Kel found this recipe on the Pioneer Women's blog site and I copied it from Tastykitchen.com (credit where it's due;). Enjoy!!

4 pieces (squares) Semi-sweet Baking Chocolate
½ cups Butter
1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 whole Egg Yolks
6 Tablespoons Flour
2 cups Real Whipping Cream (seriously It's So Much Better!)
2 Tablespoons Sugar
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Spray 4 custard cups with Pam and place on cookie sheet.
Microwave chocolate and butter in large bowl on high for about 1 minute, until butter is melted. whisk until chocolate is also melted.
Stir in sugar until well blended. Whisk in eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour.
Divide between cups.
Bake 13-14 minutes until sides are firm and center is soft. Let stand 1 minute.
Combine sugar and heavy cream and whip until stiff.
Invert cakes on dishes and top with whipped cream.

Fabio is Fabulous ; )

Oo la la! We met our good friends Jon and Christina for dinner last week at one of our favorite resturants. A perfect night all around. Cafe Firenze is owned by Fabio (one of the stars of Bravo's Top Chef). Man was I surprised when I literally bumped into him on my way to the restroom.