Christmas 2010

A few Christmas pictures. It was so much fun to put together Christmas for kids who were actually old enough to be excited for it. Eva could hardly go to sleep on Christmas Eve and Adwen is excited over whatever Eva is excited over. It was good. We missed you all, especially on Christmas day, but it was still such a nice time. Now that the hubbub of preparation is over, it is hard to imagine that Christmas was just last week. That is what 70 degree weather will do for a transplanted northerner. December days at the park in t-shirts and no shoes are lovely, however.

Merry Christmas to you all and Happy New Year.

The Importance of Rear-Facing

About a month ago I decided to start the search for a new car seat for Adwen, as she was nearing 20 lbs and 1 year old. How excited I was to get her forward facing. Well, the result of my research did not end with a new car seat for Addie. Instead, Eva has a new car seat and she is again rear-facing. We actually bought a new car, one big enough for Eva to rear face in for at least another year- probably more, until she is four or five. And when Adwen grows out of her infant carrier, she'll get a seat just like Eva's and also face back for the next three or four years. Why? It came down to this for me, kids are 500% safer rear facing. In Sweden, they have almost 100% use of rear-facing car seats for kids until they are 4 and as a result their mortality rate for children under 4 in car accidents is nearly ZERO. Between 1992 and 1997 there were only 9 deaths in the whole country. I found most of my information on this Swedish website: http://www.carseat.se

Now, I am one to get on the bandwagon in my own head frequently, in conversation on occasion, but on my blog... well never. But this, well, watch the video. It speaks volumes.

And just so you know, Eva thinks it's cool to face backward again. She doesn't mind having her legs bent one little bit, even for long trips. That's only something old knees mind, it turns out.

Another note - we bought the Sunshine Kids Radian car seat for Eva. We bought this one because it has the longest back and the highest weight capacity - allowing for the longest time rear-facing of all American sold car seats. We chose this one for Eva because she is already three (and the base of her Britax was breaking). Because of the long back, it won't fit in most cars - fits great in a minivan, but wouldn't work in the Sub, by a long shot. However, a Britax seat would work. So I'm saying all this to let you know that buying a new car is not a part of the rear-facing package.

So, you can turn your kids around when they are 1 year old and 20lbs- OR you can keep them rear-facing. It's at least worth your consideration.

Aarrrrgh, Matey!

When deciding on a Halloween costume for Eva, we came across this adorable little pirate costume. Since Eva likes to take up pirate airs on a regular basis (just ask her to sing you the pirate song..), it seemed obvious this was the right choice. So we all joined in, and were a family of pirates... well, with one baby pumpkin in the lot. It was fun. Our night out was at a trunk-or-treat at the church and then she got to don her costume again at preschool.

Her pirate phrases were funny - though well said - with lots of good strong guttural exchanges. Things like, "swab the plank, matey", or "arrrgh, walk the deck!"

Addie was the cutest little pumpkin out there... now I know there were a lot of little pumpkins out there, but I stand by my own. Maybe I'm biased... but then again, maybe I'm not.

Eva is THREE!

What a year for our girl. She is now three. One of my favorite things about this last year is watching Eva learn the English language... not just to talk. She had a lot of words before she turned two.. but then she had to start putting them together. It's quite the process. Kids must process language in their sleep, because Eva would wake up some days with better grammar, or a new grasp on some abstract idea. Now her sentence structure can be quite complicated and her sentences quite long AND she has A LOT to say... to just about anybody.

My sweetest girl. Here's to you.

Five Years Toward Forever

Better late than never my Love. I've been planning this for a while... just took me a few extra months to get it put together. I love you.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

My girls, animoto style

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Thought I would just try out making a video using animoto... cool...

Sisters... wish they were always this happy together...

I think the title of this post says it all.

Play dough Snake

Eva spent quite a while out on the porch one day, just a playing with her play dough. When I went out to check on her, this is what I found. Pretty cool, I think.

Why Texans Love Texas

We went to Corpus Christi a week ago to enjoy the beach at 85 degrees and sunny. It was wonderful. I have a sister-in-law who dreams of getting back to the Texas beaches, and now I understand. I thought of her and my bro all weekend and there little tanned boys playing in the sand. Eva just loved it - the sand most of all. She was lost in her own little world of digging and dripping, every now and then wandering off into the surf or running off to chase the birds. Addie took her little buckin' bronco self onto the waves and just giggled and giggled as the waves carried her up and down. I wish I had picts of that... I'll just have to imprint it on memory - just like another image I have in my mind of Eva, puppy dog pig tails, running toward her Papa across the beach, calling out "Woody!"... Papa is "Woody" you see. She of course, is Jessie. I am Buzz Lightyear if your wondering.

This scene - Jessie, Woody, my Buckin' Bronco, and the waters of the Gulf Coast - is a keeper, one I'll come from time to time I'm sure.

Alpine Ibex

This is just too cool. Take a look.

These are the Alpine Ibex on a dam in Italy - the Diga del Cingino.

There are some cool videos too... I don't know how to add the link here - so here is the url.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO6NfNLSi_Q&feature=player_embedded

So cool.

Personality

When Adwen was still in womb, I secretly, or maybe not so secretly, thought I had her figured out. I thought she was going to be a mover and a shaker, but quiet. well... Active? YES! We call her "buckin' bronco" if that gives you an idea. But quiet? NO! "Every one up with a HOLLER" is her motto. These picts give a pretty good look into who she really is... at least so far. She is also a lover - a buckin', hollerin', lover. Oh my. Couldn't get any better.

Guess what!

Well, you might think you ought to be guessing about something that would be really big news... if you know me - well, it is - maybe not BIG news, but I feel good about it none the less. I ran a whole 5K today. Yep. I even felt great at the end (excluding the blaring Texas sun in my face). So I do wish I could run faster, but maybe if I actually keep running I will. Who knows. I'll let you know if I find out!

Sorry no picts. Just imagine it - imagine the glory!

Keeping a promise...

I told a friend a few days back that I would post a few pictures of my Addie Rose so she could get a good look see. Well, it may be a few days later than I had hoped for, but just a few, and for me, well, that's not too bad. I'm also including a few others that I like of Eva and cousins.