Grandpa Les

Leslie Kenneth Arthur, Grandpa Les, passed away on Friday, March 23rd, 2012. I remember Chad telling me about his grandparents on our first or second date. Chad spent summers growing up on their farm, and learned so much about life from Barbara and Les.
I remember him telling me how his grandpa served in WWII and was at the landing in Normandy on D-Day and fought at the Battle of the Bulge. Grandpa Les went on to retire at an early age due to health issues. He then went on to live to the ripe old age of 92. I think that orneriness and stubbornness may have some hidden health benefits :)
I also remember Chad telling me it was Grandpa Les that told him he'd better hurry up and propose to me. Thanks Les!
Grandpa Les wasn't sick for very long and Chad was holding his hand when he passed. Les, you will be greatly missed by many, but maybe none as much as Chad.

Blake + Ella

Blake attended his first drop off party today! Ella got to invite two friends from school to her birthday party and she picked Blake and their friend Lily. Blake was so excited to go to this all girl affair.
Earlier this week I had Blake's parent/teacher conference. And, in addition to his rave review, his teacher mentioned how sweet Blake and Ella are together. He puts his arm around her at circle time, they hold hands and hug frequently.
The other week, Chad let Blake know he would need to make a different choice or take a time out. Blake turned around and in a matter of fact voice said "Ella is the only one who really loves me". Pretty dramatic for my even tempered boy! :)
Here are a few pictures of Blake before he headed out to Ella's birthday party.

Pretty Girl

Here are a few pics of Lauren. I managed to get her hair into a ponytail the other day and today.. a braid! I'm getting better at this girly mommy business. ponytail dance :)

You can't see the braid at all, but she was so into posing I had to post these.

The Big Stuff

Last week was a really stressful one. Georgia's MRI didn't go as we had planned and there is a spot on her heel that needs to be looked at again. We have every reason to believe it's a benign bone cyst. Georgia is growing and happy, and her labs look excellent. She will have a xray on Friday and another MRI in six weeks. Please keep Georgia, Alison and Brian in your thoughts and prayers this week. They are ready to move forward.

Also, Grandpa Les is in the hospital. Barbara and Les are one of the main reasons I do this blog. Chad's grandparents have always been so special to him, and I wanted them to be able to see their great grandchildren more often than we are able to get to Roseburg. Les we are sending you lots of love and comfort. All the best.

The Little Stuff

Here are a few pictures from this past week.



I think I need to start potty training Lauren, these two are "nay nay" most of the time anyway!



Bruiser - Lauren pulled one of the shelves in the pantry down the other day. It's almost healed now, but she was pretty banged up for a couple of days. The strange thing is, Blake had almost the same injury (due to a door stopper) at almost the exact same age.


Really? I guess I won't leave the britta any where near the art supplies again...

She does this every day. And, B & L thought it would be super fun to throw lots of clean clothes down the (baby proofed) laundry chute too. I can't wait till these two can FOLD!

In other news, Blake, you have grown over an inch in the last 6 weeks or so. You are eating a ton, tonight at dinner you polished off SEVEN pieces of pizza! Your pants seem to turn into capris overnight.

And Lauren, you are getting really good at expressing your opinion. Georgia left one of her Kirkland brand diapers here a few weeks ago. You thought it would be great to wear the "GG diaper" and now that is all you will wear. We still have a large box of Pampers, but I cant' even sneak one on you. The other day you cried for twenty five minutes until I finally caved and put you in your beloved "GG diaper". So for now, you are saving us about $20/month in diapers. However, with such strong "fashion" opinions at 22 months old, I'm guessing you won't be saving us much money for long!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Blake had a great St. Patrick's Day celebration at school on Friday. They made hats, his said "O'Blake Fitzpittman" on the inside. The water in the toilet was green and there were leprechaun foot prints all over. Blake even came home with a chunk of gold. I'm wondering if they'll take it for next month's tuition??

New Driver

I took this video the other week when it was sunny out. Lauren is in all of her favorites, jammies and B's frog boots. (I'm ready to burn the snowman jammies.) This is the first time she's driven Blake's tractor, she's pretty good at it - better than some big kids that went straight into my fence!

B & L

I was trying to take a picture of Lauren this morning and Blake wanted to get in on the action too. Most of the time Blake yells "don't take any pictures of me", so I took full advantage this morning

As with most things at our house, it's not fun until it's dangerous. My little photoshoot turned into a jumping party.

22 Months

Lauren,

You are really coming into your own now. You understand just about everything we say and your vocabulary grows every day. You love to identify what belongs to who; keys, coffee mugs and cocktail glasses = Daddy! Credit card = Mommy! (not fair, I'm not one of those crazy shoppers). You prefer to do everything on your own and are always proud of your accomplishments. I love how expressive you are, when you shake your head "yes", you do it with your whole body. You are enjoying girly things more and more, however, the other day I think you were attempting to "shoot" me with a Lego. I wonder where you're getting that from....You love to eat blueberries, most veggies and meat. You are not a carbs girl, you'll take a bite or two of a treat and leave the rest. I'm usually happy to help you finish :) You sleep through the night, usually 12 - 13 hours and nap maybe once a week. I wanted to make sure to include that part so someday when you are a mommy, you can look back at your blog book and know just how ridiculous this is!

I love you very much my girl!

Love, Mom

Spring!

Tuesday we had snow, today it was 60 degrees! We took full advantage of the warm weather and spent most of the afternoon outside.

The other day we were at Home Depot when Blake asked if we could buy some seeds to grow vegetables. I have a planter where I grow some herbs, but I don't have a vegetable garden. I told him he could pick one. Blake couldn't decide, pumpkins, cantaloupe (I've never heard of anyone in the NW growing cantaloupe, but HD has seeds!) or cucumbers. He finally settled on cucumbers, now we need to find a spot to plant them. (Blake dropped half the seeds in our lawn today...could be interesting.)

Just trouble :)

Blue Belt

Blake earned his blue belt in karate last week. He was really proud of himself. Chad came to watch their demonstration and to see him get his belt. Afterward we went out for pizza and ice cream. After the stress and heartache over the last year+, I find myself really soaking in the everyday, regular, happy moments in life. Blake and Lauren giggled as they threw napkins and straws at each other across the table at the pizza place. I was so happy. Mom, Dad, Blake & Lauren, karate, pizza and a straw fight - perfect.

March Snow

This morning Blake came running into our room, so excited saying "it snowed". It had snowed just enough to cover our grass. We threw on our snow gear and played for awhile...all of it was gone by noon. It was fun while it lasted!