The "Good Girl Bep"

Since Vivian has been able to climb out of her crib for the last 6 months or so, and since my little sister is going to have a baby (Yeah for Rachel and Blake!) I decided to pass the crib along and Viv has been sleeping on her mattress on the floor. I have been watching Craigslist for a good, cheap, used toddler bed for her and haven't found just the right thing at just the right price (except for one that was all the way down in Puyallup, and Ali pointed out that the cost of hauling it home would make it into a not-so-great deal). So today I was browsing the 'net, and came across this one at Wal-Mart for $49. Plus, I didn't have to refinish it since it isn't used! So Viv and I hopped in the car and came home an hour later with our very own "big-girl bed." Vivi has confused her terms a little though, and that plus her cute little speech impediments coined the title "GOOD girl bep." Unfortunately, she wasn't actually a very good girl going to bed in it tonight. I guess she is still learning how to handle a little freedom and I get to play warden. She looks so darn sweet in it though, especially when she's asleep! Now I just hope she doesn't dream about getting in trouble for getting out of bed over and over. I guess being a "good girl" takes practice, even for the most precious of us. Sweet dreams, little Viv!

Happy Birthday Vivian Lula!

As you can see, I'm a couple of weeks late in posting this and I have no excuse to offer. But speaking of how time seems to slip away from me, I can't believe Vivian has been with us for two years now! I love that she is so independent now -- it is really fun to watch her learn and develop. At the same time, I have been looking through all my pictures of her and I miss her tiny self and her sweet baby phase.

Vivian November 29, 2005

Vivian November 29, 2006

Vivian November 29, 2007

As for the birthday party, she wasn't too impressed with the cake. In fact, she went from unimpressed...

to a little nervous...



to discovering that frosting is actually pretty good stuff.

For her birthday she got a baby stroller and new shoes to go on my old cabbage patch kid (we prefer designating it "vintage" to calling it a "hand-me-down"). She actually does have pants too -- they're just not in the picture.

She also got a Cozy Coupe, which is the official name for one of these:
She usually just calls it ""MYYYYYYYY Coupe! MYYYYYYYYY Coupe!" though-- especially if she suspects that someone else might be thinking of taking a spin in it.

At two, she is a comedian, a supervisor, an acrobat, and a do-it-yourself-er. I've always thought of her as a little pink bull-dozer. She knows where she wants to go, and always manages to pull together the resources to get herself there. She is strong-willed, loving, and charming all at the same time. I love you, darling Vivi! Happy Birthday!

Wild West Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Theron's brother and his family in California. The kids had fun playing with their cousins and Theron got to spend some time on Alex's drum set.


Jen worked night and day and turned out a perfect Thanksgiving dinner, complete with a barbequed turkey! I pretty much sat back and watched, although I did do a pretty artistic job of squirting the easy cheese into the celery sticks.
The next day we spent a few hours in Old Sacramento, which was really fun. There was a paddleboat hotel, as well as trains and a candy store that gave out free samples -- what could be better than that?



The kids got creative with their entertainment on the long drive home, and Vivian even slept a little!

All in all it was a great trip, and we loved spending time with Alex and Jen and their family. Thanks guys!

Vivian's New Look

I bet from the title of this post you thought she cut her bangs or something. Nope. That day is still coming and the new look I am talking about is the expression on her face when I am not holding her. Thus, every picture I have of her over the last few weeks features this new look. I think she's taken the move kind of hard and still feels a bit displaced. She has also had two colds in a row, so that might have something to do with it too. We are finally (mostly) settled in to our new house and all except Viv are loving it. Every time I use the microwave without blowing a fuse (it always tripped a breaker in our old apartment) I think -- I am loving this. Every time I load or unload the dishwasher instead of washing by hand I get excited. When I do laundry in my own basement and can leave stuff in the dryer overnight I think my life is awesome. The kids are in love with the backyard and I love the fact that they can have friends over without me having an anxiety attack that we'll get in trouble from the lady downstairs for all the noise. I even love that I have a real mailbox instead of trying to fit oversized envelopes (read: Netflix) into that little metal slot. Anyway, enough of me raving over that fact that I have appliances and normal wiring. Poor little Viv -- I guess she still doesn't know just what to do with herself.




She chose this outfit (worn commando, by the way) and put it on herself. Can't you just see her fashion sense emerging?

My Favorite Toys

I was talking about Christmas shopping with Crystal and Catherine last week and we are all motivated to get started (and hopefully finished!) early. We decided to compile lists of our favorite tried and true toys to help each other out. Here are a few of the toys our kids have loved. I hope you find some ideas here that you can use, and I hope you can suggest some ideas I can use! The Quadrilla marble run is one of those toys you imagine preserving for your grandchildren and they will all beg to come to your house so they can play with it. It's a little more expensive than other marble runs but the pieces are all wood and each color of block processes the marble a different way so the kids have a lot of fun experimenting with different set ups. I posted a picture of the basic set and there are tons of other sets and individual pieces you can add to your collection.


We also love geotrax. Again, you can buy a basic set and then add more and more pieces as you go. Our setup can fill up our whole living room now, and the kids (and dad) like making it wind around and under furniture. This train set is cheaper than the wooden ones (it's plastic). It's great because it's really sturdy, and pieces are easy for little hands to snap together. It has remote control engines and lots of little stations for loading things into the cars in various clever ways.

Board games are always good -- we like Stratego, Monopoly Jr. (the kids call it "Mini Monopoly") Carriboo (made by the same people who made Cranium), and the old classic, Sorry.


We don't actually have this, but look how cute it is! Vivian is always following me around with a squeege or a feather duster, so I'm thinking about getting her something like this and who knows -- I may end up with a slightly cleaner house! (I suppose I can also just recommend feather dusters and squeeges for Christmas fun).

Sports equipment and books are also big hits in our house. I'll post some of our favorite books soon. We will be moving (just a few blocks up the hill) starting tomorrow, so I won't be around much for a few days. Happy shopping, and please suggest your favorite toys!

Pucker Up!

I actually snatched this out of Suzanne's blog, but I just thought it was hilarious. It's a video of babies eating lemons.

Corndog Chaos

Today has been filled with little explosions of chaos, the most intense one being the dinnertime circus. Being "one of those days," plus the fact that Theron was working late, I decided to cop out and feed the kids corn dogs. So, the corndogs are heating in the toaster oven and suddenly I am accosted by a brilliant display of sound and motion. All at once Vivian (who is somehow mysteriously half naked and covered in green marker) is climbing up my leg and repeating a rhythmic "A see a whood? A see a whood! A see a whood? A see a whood!" (For those who don't speak her particular dialect, that's "I want to see the food," with her tone alternating between question and command). At the same time Seth launches into the ever popular "Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!" -- each "Mom!" punctuated with approximately three finger jabs to my arm. To complete the frenzy, Theron is giving an animated demonstration of the Pokemon scenario he and Calvin acted out at recess today. So, a little blaze of craziness and then the toaster oven dings, I put the cordogs on the plates, and peace is restored. Of course then the boys say "Hey! We had corndogs for lunch today!" Great. Well, you do have the bread group, the meat group, plus all the other groups that are probably represented in the "meat" that makes up a hotdog. They each had a glass of milk, no one wanted applesauce, and I am calling it good. Now I'm getting pajamas out and heading for the home stretch!

Look what I found!

After lunch today Vivi and I went to try some shoes on at Nordstrom (at one point we were actually fighting over the same pair of ankle boots) and then... I found these little beauties! I read a book once called The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty. There's a character named Faye, who's arguably the most unlikable character ever written. She's completely self-absorbed, immature, and oblivious. Anyway, she goes out shopping one day while her husband is dying in the hospital and brings home a pair of new shoes which she proudly displays on the mantle. Of course Theron isn't dying in the hospital or anything, but if I had a mantle I might be tempted to put these on it for a while. I know that's sort of shallow but they're purple suede!

Foxy Lady

This morning Vivian and I were getting ready to meet Theron for our weekly lunch date. In the amount of time it took me to rub the moisturizer into my face, this little darling managed to get up into the make-up cupboard and fix herself up for an afternoon on the town. She's a girl after my own heart, but with a slightly less steady hand.