Letters to the Future

Not much is going on in our household this week - thankfully! We are getting ready for our trip with mixed emotions - excitement about seeing more of the world, and sadness about leaving the boys! Zachary announced today that he was going on vacation with us! We'd love to have them with us, but don't believe that they'd enjoy the long hours of travel and time zone changes, nor long days of sight-seeing!

We'll leave for London Thursday evening of this week through Tuesday, and then will travel to Paris on Tuesday until we return home that next Sunday the 23rd. We're travelling with some wonderful friends of ours - Kent and Kelli Johnson.

Amy's mom will be staying with the boys, and is looking forward to her own adventure!
Kaleb is becoming a little braver with the whole walking endeavor - he has taken a few steps this week unaided, and has stood for a few seconds by himself - but nothing that can be reliably reproduced!

One of the executives that Amy works with is very wise and deeply spiritual, and will often spend a few moments sharing life lessons with Amy when he has a chance - and of the things that he shared has been sifting through her mind - he is a very devoted father and husband, and when discussing the effort and time that he spends investing in his children, he told her "My children are my gift to the future - I won't see much of the world, nor will I meet many of the people in this world, but I can possibly touch those unknown lives and make the world a little better place by the children that I leave behind, and the good that they can bring to those around them. My children are like a letter from me to those that I will never meet." To parent with intentionality and a vision for the future is something that is very inspiring - it is a blessing to have such folks in our lives to help give us wisdom!

Another blessing this week was the arrival of a new baby - our friends in Texas, Stephanie and Matthias welcomed Kaden Walter to this world! Congratulations!

Phrase of the week: "My legs are growing tall!" - Zachary is in fact growing like a little weed, and so is his vocabulary! It is amazing each week to see the sentences that he's putting together!

Showing Daddy that his legs were growing tall as he gets ready for bed

Showing off the crafts that he made with Miss Jennifer

Gigglebug

When Zachary was born, we seemed to immediately have multiple nicknames for him - some stuck, and some didn't of course. When Kaleb came along, we didn't immediately have a nickname that seemed to fit - but Amy has decided this week that her nickname for him is going to be Gigglebug. Kaleb has always been very laughy - and this week was no exception. We were eating supper early on in the week, and Amy started to tease Karis about something, and laughed - before we knew it, Kaleb had begun to laugh non-stop - and soon the whole family was joining in just laughing at Kaleb! :) Ah, if you could only capture the sound of their laughter in a bottle, we'd be rich!
Zachary's tongue continues to heal - he had quite a lisp the week that it happened, but that appears to have corrected itself thankfully. He finished his swimming lessons this week - we'll probably wait for a while before putting him back into swimming lessons - he refuses to get into the water unless Karis changes and gets into the water as well - even though Karis is only sitting on the stairs at the side of the pool.

We leave on our Europe vacation on August 13th, so we've got less than 2 weeks before we head out! We've been trying to get everything ready to go, and finalize our trip details. We're taking some Ambian with us this time to help get over the jet lag faster, so we'll hopefully have tons of energy! :) Amy's "milk factory" is also being shut down in anticipation of the trip as there will be no milk pump coming with us! She'll definitely miss the 500 extra calories that she can eat per day - now she'll have to start watching what she eats.

This week we went out to eat with our friends, Jennifer and Bruce along with their two boys, to Kobe Steakhouse. We don't venture out to eat out very often with the boys, as it becomes a "task" of keeping them quiet, and they're usually so hungry that it takes too long. However, we have to say that Kobe was a fabulous experience - there is a fish pond outside the restaurant, as well as inside in the lobby. The kids were totally entertained while we waited to be seated. Once you are seated, they cook in front of you, complete with a "show" where they throw their spatulas in the air etc. Our Japanese cook was very entertaining, and would "yell" out things that sounded very Japanese - well of course Zachary was just enthralled with the entire thing - he couldn't take his eyes off of it, and he kept yelling back at the cook - mimicking the sounds that he was making (and getting very close mind you!). Kaleb was in love with their broth soup - you'd get one spoonful into his mouth and it would fly open again - he looked like a little baby bird! :) We had a really fun time, and we'll definitely take the kids back!

Phrase of the week: I'm proud of me, Mommy! Zachary has been behaving very well at Sabbath School and last week, he informed Amy that he was very proud of himself! :)

Kaleb continues practicing his walking skills - although doesn't seem inclined to take off on his own yet!

Piercing Gone Awry

Karis' comment could perhaps sum up the highlight of this week - "That was an expensive tongue piercing gone awry!" - Zachary fell hard this week while playing with Blake and managed to severely bite his tongue. So much so, that we ended up going to the pediatrician to determine if he needed stitches (it was about halfway back on his tongue where his molars are). She ended up sending us to a plastic surgeon as she believed that it would need to be stitched. The plastic surgeon however said that he felt like there was a good chance that it would heal - and that while there might be a bump there, that he just didn't feel like it was a good idea to put a three-year-old through stitches in his tongue.

So now we wait and watch to see how it will heal. He is having a hard time not playing with his tongue now, and he has developed a lisp (like father like son!). We're hoping that it heals somewhat properly because at this point, his tongue is really messed up. Fingers crossed, he's had two naps this week without wearing a pull-up, and he's been dry both times! Yippee! It'll be a wonderful life once we get out of pull-ups for naps - so much money to be saved and better for the environment! Then, the only frontier left will be night-times! :)

Kaleb developed a high fever on Wednesday night, but it seemed to just last about a day and a half - but Thursday night he was really fighting it, so Amy and Kaleb ended up not going to sleep until about 1:00AM when the fever finally started to come down. Thank goodness for Fridays! He has also popped through two more teeth on the bottom, and looks like he may be working on a molar - no teeth forever and now fast and furious! :)

This was our first week with Zachary in swimming lessons at RDV - he might be a little young for the class that he's in, but he's advanced for the baby classes in terms of what he can do in the water, so we're in a bit of limbo-land.

The new stove was delivered this week - it is kind of funny how you get so used to your existing appliances that anything new seems strange. Our old appliances had green lights for the clock time and controls etc. The new stove has blue lights, so it is very strange when we look at it. We find it to be too bright, but we're hoping that it soon becomes "old hat" to us! We're just thankful that we have a stove again.

Phrase of the week: This week's phrase is really a song - every night Amy sings a song to the boys, and one morning this week Zachary told her to lay down and take a nap (oh, doesn't she just wish!!) - so when she laid down on the bed, he climbed up beside her and began to stroke her hair, singing the song "Night-night Zachary (yes, he kept his name instead of her name!), Night-night Zachary, Mommy loves you, Daddy loves you, Night-night Zachary, Night-night Zachary, Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you." It was so precious - it made Amy's totally messed up hair all worth it! You sing the song to the "Frere Jacques" song (Brother John, Are you Sleeping? song, for Americans!), so it's become a routine for nap-time and night-time to sing the song to each child.

Tupperware Cupboard is SO 2008, it's onto the Pots and Pans Cupboard now!

So this is what a bad hair day looks like!

A little chef in the making

Zachary is "swimming" with the instructor in the orange suit.

Local Economic Stimulus Plan

Well, we had no intention of launching our very own economic stimulus plan, but it appears that we're on the path of doing it anyway! As we've mentioned in the past few weeks, we've ventured out into the market to get new windows and new washer/dryer. We're loving both items, and believe that they both will help to reduce our "carbon footprint" on this earth. We had been planning and saving for these items for quite a while, so pulling the proverbial trigger was no big deal.

Life has a way of bringing unexpected surprises however - doesn't it? Last week, Karis was cooking beans on our stove when the doorbell rang - it was the gentleman coming to fix a small tear in the new screen of our window - and they began to chat about the windows etc. When Karis finally came back in, the beans had completely boiled over - to the point where they had boiled dry - and apparently the steam that was now being created all over the stovetop went into the "brains" of the stove and completely fried it. The stove is finito. We were debating about whether to just try and get a new control panel for the stove, or replace the stove completely. The stove was 13'ish years old, and of course there are some very cool new features out on stoves these days - so we took ourselves over to Sears to look and determine if this was something that we'd want to even pursue. Of course, who can resist looking at new stoves? The funny thing is, that Amy was the one originally convinced to get the new stove, but as Karis discussed the option of just fixing the old one, she began to move to the other side of the fence. However, when we got to the store, Karis was the one who became convinced that the new stove was the way to go - and as he does the majority of the cooking, that was that!

The stove should be here this coming week, so we'll post a picture of our newest household addition. It has two independent ovens, a small one on top and a larger one on bottom. That will be lovely - for the few times a year like holidays where you're cooking a ton of stuff and never have enough room! Hopefully this is the end of our money outflow - please no more unexpected surprises!

Kaleb is mastering the kiss - too sweet. Of course, sometimes kisses leave you completely wet and slobbered all over, and other times there is "tongue" involved (Amy could definitely do without that added feature!), but they are just so precious! He is also continuing to cruise along furniture and is walking further with you holding his hands, so we've got our fingers crossed that he'll walk before we leave in August.

Kaleb finished his swimming lessons this week - so now it'll just be refresher sessions until next year. Zachary is starting formal swimming lessons at RDV where Karis works on Monday - we're hoping that he'll enjoy learning how to truly swim now.

Karis received an annual evaluation in June, and just discovered that he was nominated as one of the "role models" within the therapy department across all of the 7 Florida Hospital campuses - congratulations to Karis - it is just awesome that he could be recognized as one of the stars for his hard work, fantastic skills and great attitude (Hey, a wife has to be proud and brag just a little bit!)

Phrase of the week: "You're cracking me up!" Zachary apparently found Daddy particularly funny one day and this was his response - sounds just like a little grown-up!

The next two photos show a new way to increase the resistance for sit-ups - try having your two boys on your stomach! Karis was quickly groaning with the strain on his muscles! :)

Kaleb cruising along the new washer/dryer to explore them

Zachary exhibiting the float - he is similar apparently to his father - he has difficulty getting all of his body to float - so we've been telling him to show us his toes - so you can see them poking out of the water here

Kaleb showing off his float in full clothes - you can see his hair is getting long as it floats around his head!

Car for two please!? Alas, they didn't really fit in together, but Zachary wanted his brother to ride in his car with him so badly that Amy walked behind holding the door closed enough to keep Kaleb from falling out as his brother gave him a ride.

Zachary playing with a birthday toy (thanks Gram-Z and Papa-Z!) that we recently brought out for his delight - he is now learning that we can't hit anything other than the ball with the bat, and how to hold his hands, swing and watch the ball fly!

Little Sponges

With little kids, it is just amazing to see how quickly they pick up information and learn about the world around them. Zachary's most recent "ah-ha" moments include figuring out how the traffic signals work. He is now very intent as we drive along, telling us what we are supposed to be doing as we approach the traffic signal! He is definitely showing signs of being extremely bossy - we wonder where he got that from?? (perhaps mom? :))

Kaleb is cruising along the couch and getting braver and braver - we're hoping that he'll start walking before we leave next month for Europe.

We're in the "thick of planning" right now with our Europe trip - we're intending to stay in apartments rather than hotels as there are four of us going - so it'll be nice to all be together in one space. There are so many to choose from - it is hard to know if you choose the charming, quaint apartment that might be a short metro right away from the tourist attractions, or whether you stay in an apartment right in the "action" - we'll see! :) We're excited about our trip - it should be very fun although we'll miss the boys a lot!

Phrase of the week: In honor of this week's little sponge moments - "Green means go! Yellow means slow down! Red means stop! I see RED, Mommy!!!" Life with a "traffic cop" in the backseat! :)

Kaleb kissing himself in the mirror (we have a similar one of Zachary at this age!)

Kaleb is getting the hang of sitting on these riding toys - although he hasn't figured out yet how to move around on them!

Happy Independence Day and Happy Canada Day!

Happy Independence Day to our American loved ones, and Happy Canada Day to our Canadian loved ones! Karis' clinic had everyone wear an American-related t-shirt to work yesterday - so he complied with a lovely navy American flag t-shirt, but underneath it he wore a true-blue Canadian flag t-shirt (gotta love Roots!). We are celebrating the fourth by listening to our three year-old declare his independence "NO, I do it! You don't do it!!" Gotta love that independent spirit - even if it takes 5 times as long to do anything! :)

In an effort to make our house more "hurricane-resistant" we ended up going on a journey that led to replacing some of our windows - we've now replaced the windows in the front of our house along with the windows on the side of the house that the boys sleep on. We still have the windows at the back of the house, but those will most likely wait until we save up some more money, as replacing windows is not a cheap endeavor! We've been very pleased so far - we ended up going with a company that sells really good windows - the glass is so strong that you can hit it with a bowling ball and it won't break! They also guarantee that if you replace all of the windows in your house with their windows, that you'll save 40% on your energy consumption - pretty impressive, so we'll see if that is in fact true!

Photo 1 is the original window and then the 2nd shot is the new window

New front window - thankfully everything looks very similar to the original windows - just so much better and more energy efficient!

We also broke down and decided to replace our washer and dryer - the ones that we have had reached the point where the washer leaked (and we couldn't get it fixed despite having a repairman come out and look at it) and the dryer was taking about 2 to 2.5 hours to dry a single load. Needless to say laundry was taking a very long time! So, we're hoping to be tinkled pink with our new appliances!

We're looking forward to getting together with friends on Sunday for a post-July 4th holiday. We hope that you all are having some fun as well!

Phrase of the week: "Bible gideos" - Zachary loves to watch DVDs, and so will request to watch one of his "gideos" - so cute!

Kaleb's first ride with Daddy on the lawnmower, and then Zachary enjoying his usual place with Daddy

First Flight for Kaleb!

We just got back from our vacation up on Stowe, Vermont yesterday. We had a very fun time, and it was Kaleb's first ever flight. With two kids, flying is a much more "engaged" experience than when you have two parents to only one child! But, we managed there and back without too many meltdowns on the plane - even on the way back when half of the plane was AHS colleagues of Amy's - a bit nerve-wracking but the kids did very well.

However, flight times and simply being on vacation did mean that naps were not taken at the usual times or quantity. So, there were various meltdowns throughout the week - of course most of the time in public - that did make for some "humbling" experiences that we're sure to remember. One cute moment was when we were at the AHS Service Awards Banquet and we wanted to stay until Amy's boss received his 25 year service award - right after he received it, Amy told Zachary that it was time to go to bed, to which he replied "I don't WANT to go to bed!!" - of course at that exact moment the room went silent and everyone heard and started to laugh.

Vermont is lovely - very nice weather and the landscape is a lovely green and moderate mountains. We did some sightseeing throughout the week - hitting Ben and Jerry's, the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, eating some fabulous pizza at Pie-Caso, the "bungee trampoline," the Apple Cider Mill and the Shelburne Museum. We tried to just do quick trips after naps had occurred to keep the crabbiness to a minimum. We enjoyed the cooler weather, and spent time outside on our deck looking at the beautiful scenery or reading.

Our good friend, Randy Grove, came out to Stowe with his Dad (who is an AHS Board member), so we had a great time catching up with him.

Phrase of the Week: There were a couple of cute phrases this week relating to the vacation. The first occurred right before we left when we were trying to drum up some excitement for Zachary and telling him that we were going to Vermont - to which he replied "'Mont is scary, I don't want to go!" - Poor kid, vacationing with parents seemed like a bit of a scary change! He seemed to catch on to the whole vacationing concept, but about halfway through the week he started to tell us that "I want to go to our house" - apparently living in the Stowe Resort grew old for Zachary.

The boys enjoying some reading time. Kaleb won't sit still to listen to us read, but he does enjoy looking at the books.

The view from the top of Mt. Mansfield - kind of a hazy day, so a bit hard to see very far, but it was beautiful what we could see!

The boys' first "motorcycle" ride! and enjoying a tame carousel ride at the Shelburne Museum

Vermont Teddy Bear (aka GIANT Teddy Bears!) and Zachary on the bungee trampoline

Karis enjoying some quiet time on the balcony reading

Lovely views from our balcony at the Stowe Mountain Lodge

A beautiful rainbow behind Kaleb's smiling face

Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour & Having Fun with Uncle Randy

Randy and Karis playing the traditional game of cribbage

The outgoing airport experience - Zachary with his fabulous Thomas Rolling Backpack and Kaleb enjoying his first plane experience!