Shots!

We recently had to go to the doctor to get flu shots. Sadie was ready to be brave, but she sort of chickened out at the end. Dallin did great probably because he didn't know what was coming (it's also a lot better than the last appointment where he had to have SIX shots)

Christmas at the Merinos!

As our children get older, we are starting more and more traditions in our home. Making and decorating sugar cookies is a keeper. This was the first year that Sadie really got into it. She rolled them out and cut the shapes (with the help of Dad) and she decorated them. We asked her if she was having fun and she said, "Yeah, it's like an activity." I must say that I was impressed with her skills at decorating. I think that we have a little artist in our
hands.

Another tradition that we have continued is from Steve's family. That is the tradition of a Mexican meal on Christmas eve. Previous Christmas's usually included tamales that we bought from wherever they are available. But as many of you know, there is a sorry lack of Mexican food in State College. So, this year we decided to make it ourselves. I made the tortillas and Steve made the refried beans, red chili sauce and Mexican rice. We worked together to achieve the impossible . . . TAMALES!
It was really yummy and worth all the work because we had leftovers for about 3 days!

Another silly tradition is matching pajamas. My mom started it last year when she sent them some matching Christmas pajamas. I decided to do it again. I just think it's really cute. Don't you agree?



Thanks to everyone who sent us gifts and sent their love. We had a wonderful Christmas! Here are some pictures of Christmas morning.










(As you can see, it's mostly Sadie opening presents!)

He Walks!

I'll let the video speak for itself!

Dallin's first word?

The other day we were all sitting around in the family room. Dallin was messing with the DVD player or TV or something, and as I sometimes do when he gets into something he shouldn't, I said "Älä!" "Älä" means "don't" in Finnish (and the "ä" is pronounced like the vowel in the word "black"). Anyway, we all swear that right after I said it, he said it, too. It really sounded like it. We laughed long and hard. He felt pretty cool after that. Anyway, he's getting old enough to mimic us when we make sounds, so he really could have.

Was "Älä!" Dallin's first word? Hmm. Looks like we've got a budding polyglot on our hands.

Dallin

As I was snuggling Dallin (he is quite the snuggler) The thought occurred to me that he is going to grow up. Just a few months ago, he was a teeny-tiny baby. He is getting so big. If he was walking I would be calling him a toddler. I love this age. His little personality is really starting to show itself. He loves going up and down the stairs. He loves to be chased. He likes to snuggle everyone in the family. Today, Sadie was crying and he came over and wanted to be picked up. I thought he was just getting jealous but after I picked him up he just leaned over and snuggled and kissed (or slimed) her. It helped her feel better. His curly hair and his cute mischievous look on his face is enough to melt any mother's heart. I am so lucky to be the mother of these two extraordinary children.

Losing Weight

Well, I finally have reached a point where I am willing to do the hard work required to lose all that baby weight (I gained 40 lbs). So the 40 lbs plus my basic overweightness means that I am needing to do a LOT of hard work. I was discussing this with Steve the other day when Sadie joined us in our room. She seemed curious, so we included her in the conversation. We told her that mommy and daddy were going to start working hard to lose weight and being healthier. We then asked her how she felt about it. She got really excited and started dancing a little (she's always dancing or jumping or running) Then she said, "oh, goody, then you'll be like a mermaid." (Maybe she thinks I look like Ursula . . .you know, the really fat octopus) We informed her of the tragic truth -- mommy will NEVER look like Ariel.

Then on Monday, my first day of excercise, we were coming out of the YMCA and Sadie stated, "I thought you were going to lose weight." Yes, Sadie, so did I. I wish it were that easy. So far my efforts have been going well. I'll definitely need everyone's support, but I am feeling really good.

Dallin's First Year

I made this slideshow of Dallin's first year and am finally getting to posting it.

O Christmas Tree

We got our Christmas tree on Saturday! Sadie really loved decorating it. For those who have visited our apartment, the need for a small tree is very apparent. This year, we opted to place it up in our window seat to keep it away from Dallin. It is a cute tree, but people were laughing at us as we bought the tree. We were surrounded by people buying trees at least 6 feet tall. They had to be bound up and tied to the top of their cars. Ours slid right through the binder and it fit in our trunk. I still like it though. Sadie has taken to turning off all the lights and singing in front of the tree.

Dallin's Birthday!

Well, Dallin turned the big 0-1! (Happy Birthday to Dave too!) For those who don't know, Dallin shares a birthday with his uncle. We decided to celebrate with a few friends. We reserved a room in our community center because our apartment is much too small even to have a couple of people come. I made soup, bread and cake. We invited our neighbors the Lees and the Halversons. We had fun. Dallin liked his cake. He really liked having so many people to play with.

Mary Poppins

Last night, in an effort to get Sadie excited about cleaning her room, I suggested that we pretend we were cleaning her room by magic like in Mary Poppins. One minute she was grumpy and refusing to do anything, the next she was a perfectly behaved and willing participant. We proceeded to snap our fingers and "magically" clean her room. She was Jane; I was Mary Poppins; Dallin was Micheal; Steve was Bert. Steve thought we were nutty as I sang "Spoonful of Sugar" and tried to stay in character. Sadie loved it. We had the room clean in about 5 minutes, but she stayed in character the rest of the night. Anytime we called her Sadie she quickly corrected us with, "No, I'm Jane." It was really cute until 5 am I was awakened with a poke on the head . . . "Mary Poppins, I can't sleep."

Jane eventually went to sleep and now she is back to being Sadie. I am just amazed at how well a little play works to achieve some quick work.

Who is who?

There are some clues that can tell you which child is which, but you can definitely tell that they are related! When people ask me who Dallin looks like, I tell them, "His sister!" I know that's not what they are looking for, but it's the truth. I guess that Steve and I just have a good mix of genes.

Puppy Dog!

We did it.
We broke the rules.
We got a puppy, and he is cute.

Dallin has discovered the easiest way to carry things around. He uses his mouth. He carries just about anything this new way. But this is his favorite. He makes us laugh every single day.
We will have to get some videos of his new tricks, but just so you know, he loves to do "Patty-cake" and "Open Shut Them". He also knows how to shake his head "no" (he does it a lot when he is tired).

Halloween on the 30th?

As you may know, we live in Penn State's family housing. And, apparently, they decide when Halloween is. For some strange reason, housing decided to celebrate Halloween today, the 30th, and not tomorrow. I emailed some staff members about it and they told me it was to avoid schedule conflicts for some of the staff members and to allow residents to participate in other local events tomorrow on Halloween. Weird. Anyway, there was a little parade around family housing for the kiddies, some games and food at the community center, and trick-or-treating. Below are some pictures.

Carrie made Sadie's dress. It's absolutely beautiful. Carrie did an awesome job. Sadie loves the dress. Dallin wore the Tigger costume that Sadie wore when she was younger. Cute.

Yes, I'm wearing a kilt! Isn't it awesome? I've been reading a lot about kilts and traditional Scottish dress. It's really interesting. Apparently, the pattern on my kilt is not a real tartan. Tartans are official patterns that represent families, regions, organizations, and so on. There are even tartans for U.S. states and branches of our military. Most tartans have some combination of red, green, and blue. Not all, but most. So mine is neither an official tartan nor a particularly traditional color scheme. The closest thing I could find is the Fort William District Tartan. I don't know why I'm so into this stuff. I love traditional Scottish music, and, of course, the bagpipes. I will always have a special place in my heart for Mexican music, food, and culture because of my dad. It's important to me and will be part of my life. But maybe because I'm adopted I feel like I have the ability to choose a bit of my own culture and traditions. And for me I think it's Scotland.

Renaissance Faire 2

This last weekend I took Sadie to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire again. A while back I talked about our first trip to the Faire. We planned to go as a family but Dallin was sick so I just took Sadie and Carrie stayed home with the sickie. I tried to sell our remaining ticket but had no luck, so we had another go at it. Interestingly, Dallin was sick again, so there was no chance of taking them again. Plus, next weekend is the last weekend and I didn't want to miss the Penn State-Ohio State game.

If you're wondering about the fairness of Carrie staying home both times while I took Sadie, you'd certainly have a valid point. Part of it must be that Carrie is about 10 times better than me at taking care of sick babies, and the other part would probably be that I am a much bigger fan of Renaissance festivals in general than Carrie is. I went often as a kid and they definitely have a special place in my heart.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun. Sadie was very excited to see the same comedy-acrobat act we saw last time. Their name is Barely Balanced. Sadie was particularly fond of the woman in the act. We saw her a while after their show and had the chance to talk to her and take a picture with her.

All Sadie wanted to do was go on rides, but they were all really short and cost extra money, so it was a constant battle. I let her go on a few, but that wasn't enough for her. I did her to go to a couple shows aimed at kids, which she really did enjoy. We saw a music-comedy group called the Tartan Terrors. It's a Celtic music/comedy act from Canada. They were incredible. I bought a CD.

But the most exciting thing about the day was my purchase of a kilt. Yes, a kilt. I don't expect anyone to understand. It's just how it is. I have wanted a kilt for several years. I'm a lover of all things Scottish (or Irish for that matter). I've made a sacred promise to myself that I will learn to play the bagpipe at some point, and that we will visit Scotland. I thought a kilt would make an awesome Halloween costume, Renaissance festival costume, and something incredibly awesome to have. I promise to get pictures up on our blog of me in the kilt. Just promise to respect the kilt. That's all the inner Scotsman in me asks.

We did think of momma, though, in case you were wondering. We brought her home some wonderful-smelling hand-made soaps. She thought that was cool. Here are a couple pictures from the day.

We've been busy!

I thought Julie would like this picture. It's the Red Cross Headquarters in Washington DC. Dallin and I took Jessica (my best friend) to DC for her conference. She flew into Harrisburg a few days early so that we could spend a few days together. We didn't do a whole lot in State College, but it was nice to have her here. There's always something good about having someone who has stuck with you through everything. It was almost like having another member of the family. She was great with my kids (Aunt Jess). She even pitched in with bedtime and when we had to babysit. She helped me with dinner and with the dishes. I wonder if she will ever come back because I really put her to work. Thanks for everything Jess!

This is me and Dallin. We didn't get any good pictures of the whole group, but we met up with Jon and Lauren Funk. They took us all out to lunch. I can't remember where it was. But it was really nice if somewhat slow. We visited a bunch of memorials. There was A LOT of walking. We were all tired by the end of the day. I can't believe I did all that when I was 8 months pregnant. (We spend 2 days in DC last October). Dallin was great the entire day. I think he only cried when I changed his diaper. He never really took a nap but he was still a very happy baby. It was nice to have 3 other people take care of him for the day.

Like the title says, we have been busy. Here is a picture of us at the Apple Festival. The cool thing about this picture is that we are standing by my own booth! There is a local fruit farm (Way Fruit Farm) that has a little festival every year. I decided about three months ago that I could try to sell some of the stuff that I make. The first week I was in DC and not much of my stuff sold. But the second week I sold a lot of stuff. It was a lot of fun. I broke even on all my supplies and paying for the booth, but it was still worth it because I had fun making the stuff and being there. Here are some close ups of my favorites:


I also made hats and scarves, baby blankets, washclothes, snowflake ornaments. If anyone wants to commission some of this stuff . . .I'm willing and able.

Now, Dallin is sick and demanding attention. Steve took Sadie to the Renaissance Festival this last weekend but he wants to blog about that.

"I won't! I'm four!"

Carrie went to DC today to take her friend Jessica there for a conference. She took Dallin, too. I spent the whole day at home with Sadie. We watched a lot of college football, ordered pizza, played with Legos, and went to the playground a couple times. It was great. I really love spending time with her. I absolutely adore Sadie.

When we were at the playground, at one point she called out to me to look at what she was doing, hoping that I'd be proud of her. I had a different assessment of the situation. I thought that her climbing on top of a metal railing on the play structure had the potential to lead to physical harm. At any rate, I said "Sadie, don't do that. You'll get hurt" to which she promptly replied "I won't! I'm four!" as if just by virtue of being four years old she was suddenly immune to injury and accident.

I then had an image of us having a conservation late some night in about twelve years. I'll offer some warning or express some concern over her teenage behavior and she'll say "I won't! I'm sixteen!" Great.

"I'm not your stuffed animal"

Sadie is generally very affectionate with me, and doesn't mind me swooping her up in a big hug or giving her a barrage of kisses. She's generally attached to me at the hip for a good twenty minutes when I get home every day (unless, of course, she's busy playing outside with friends - then I just get a token "hi"). That's why something she said the other day was just hilarious.

We were sitting around in our bedroom and I grabbed her to hug her and she said "Daddy, I'm not your stuffed animal!" Carrie and I just laughed and laughed. Actually, I thought it was pretty cool. Sadie is a bit of a feminist, I suppose. Anyway, there were no lasting effects on our relationship. She's just as loving and affectionate as ever. But it was cool to see her stand her ground. She'll need it when she's a bit older, eh?

Tic-Tac-Toe

Today I was watching Sadie play outside with some neighborhood kids. They were playing with sidewalk chalk. And I think at some point Sadie learned to play tic-tac-toe. Some of the kids left, so it was down to Sadie and one other girl who is 5. Sadie drew a tic-tac-toe game and asked her if she would play with her. The girl ignored her. Sadie asked again. More ignoring. I was getting a little annoyed with the girl, but decided not to intervene . . . maybe she just doesn't want to play. I think Sadie kind of gave up at this point, but then a little boy was riding by on his bike and the little girl asked him, "Do you want to play with me?" He did. Then this girl asked, "Do you want to play tic-tac-toe?" I couldn't believe it. Here she was ignoring my sweet little girl, but she will play with someone else.

These kids began to play and Sadie tried to join. Here's what I could hear:
"Could I play?"
No response.
"Hey, can I play?"
Still no response.
"Your not letting me play" (she had been waiting her turn)
"This for two people"
"I really want to play"
The kids run off.

I offered to play with Sadie, but the damage had been done. I don't understand how kids who are this young can me so mean. This is the weird thing: Sadie and this girl had a lot of fun together at the beginning of the summer, so I don't understand why she is just totally being mean now. I wanted to go and MAKE that girl play with my daughter and like it. She has no right to ignore my sweet angel, especially when she was being so mature about asking to play.

Anyway, Sadie and I played for awhile, but it ended up as an enormous fit with pee all over our carpet. Why are girls so emotional?

Bike Rider Extraordinaire

One of the great things about living in family housing here at Penn State is that we have a court yard where kids can play. We happen to have a little bicycle gang that rides around. Two days ago Sadie asked me to take off her training wheels. I wasn't really sure that she was ready, but she was insistent. So, I took them off. After only about 5 minutes, she was riding short distances on her own. After 10-15 minutes, she was riding all the way around the court yard. After about 30 minutes, she was even getting started by herself. She never ceases to amaze me! She tends to know when she is ready for something. She is usually right.

4

Sadie is four now! She is actually 4 years, 2 weeks, 1 day old! We were a little slacking on posting a blog. We weren't planning on having a party, but after Sadie invited her entire primary class to her party, we decided to throw her a small party with a few family friends. Sadie wanted a "World" cake, so I did my best. It wasn't the best cake that I had made, but it still tasted really yummy! Here is a close up!

All in all, Sadie had a lot of fun with people giving her some really thoughtful and homemade gifts. Her friend Grace, gave her a beaded necklace that she made. My friend, Mary, made her a knitted hair kerchief and a homemade wand. She also received a tiara (I think people are getting the message that she likes princesses) and a princess doll. We gave her a stuffed cat and the game Hullaballoo. She loves all the presents and she is still very excited that she is 4.

Potty Pooper

Yeah!!! Sadie is finally a potty pooper. Nope, not a "party-pooper" She is a potty-pooper. The Merino household is very happy. For those of you who don't know our long saga of pooping on the potty, it's probably better that I don't get into it. Let me just say that it has been a year and a half of struggle and frustration. Our cutie pie just refused to poop on the toilet. She was completely trained and would ask for a diaper when she needed to poop. So that was ok, but we were getting really tired of it. Sometimes we would try the "take-away-the-diaper" approach. She would hold it for 3-4 days and be in agony. So, how did we do it?

First, we have been counting down to Sadie's 4th birthday (it was on the 14th) We told her that she would have to start cleaning her diapers -- we have cloth diapers. She would insist that she wouldn't have to because she would go on the potty when she was 4. We definitely had our doubts, but we tried to remain positive. So, on her birthday she asked for a diaper. I reminded her of our deal. I told her that she still had a choice. I was willing to put a diaper on her, but she would have to clean it up. Her choice was to go on the potty or in a diaper, but she would have to clean the diaper. She really didn't want to do that. So she tried the potty. It didn't work. That night she pooped in her pull-up right before she fell asleep and I had to wake her up to change the diaper. Here we go again. Our hopes of peaceful conversion were dashed. I stuck to my guns though. I reminded her of her choice. She usually chose to hold it.

A couple of days went by and I realized that we needed some more powerful incentive. We went to Wal-mart and she got to choose a doll that she would get once she pooped on the potty 5 times. (We tried the incentive before but never actually bought the toy) She chose an Ariel doll. We bought it and we took it home. We also bought some Yo-gos for a treat after every time she went poop. (She has been asking for yo-gos ever since Jon and Lauren Funk introduced them to her last October).

Now we are at home she tried once but it didn't work. A little while later she really wanted to open the Ariel doll. I told her that she could hold the box while she pooped. She said ok and did it. I think actually having the doll and holding it made it possible for her to do this thing that was really hard for her. She was very proud of herself and told everyone in the courtyard that she pooped on the potty.

So to end the story, Sadie continued to poop on the potty and earned her doll. She has gained a new sense of confidence since this success. She used to always need me to be with her when she did anything potty related, but now she does everything herself. She acts like a big girl now in other situations too. She is proud of herself and she sees how proud we are of her. You know . . . I'm really happy that I don't have to clean up poop anymore, but I'm more happy about her success in working toward a goal. I see something new in her eyes and it really makes me happy.

I hope you enjoyed my play by play account of our bathroom adventures. If you would like to know more about all the things we tried, let me know. If not, I hope you were amused and maybe appalled. I never thought I could be so proud of someone pooping, but I have the proud parent syndrome really bad. We have awesome kids!

Loopty-Loop

While my brother, George, was visiting, he broke his arm. I had to take him to the emergency room. He wanted me to document the occasion . . . I finally got the movie done. Enjoy.

I love the Future

Yesterday, I walked with the kids to the library. On the way, Sadie asked why God made trees. I started off with the easy answer, "Because they are so beautiful" then I remembered . . . I have a degree in biology, I can give her a real answer. So we talked for a few minutes about all the things that trees do for our world. Then, because she was wearing a shirt that said "Hug a tree" she decided that she wanted to hug a tree (but it had to be big enough) I really wish that I had a camera with me, but alas. I'm quite proud of my little tree hugger. Who knows, maybe she will be a world famous (or perhaps infamous) environmentalist.

Five minutes after hugging the tree, she said to me, "Mommy, I love the future." There are so many times when she just pulls something out of nowhere. As I was trying to figure out where she got that statement, I realized that she meant nature. So we had a discussion about the difference between nature and future. The rest of the walk she would ask, "Mommy, why do you love the nature?" Or she would say, "I love the nature."

I really hope that she loves nature as much as I do. She certainly loves exploring and loves hikes. She even asked if we could go camping one more time.

Washington DC

One of the things that I really wanted to do with George, was to visit DC. Dad sent some money so we could take him and we had some fun. First of all, it was super hot, second, we didn't get to do about half the things that George wanted to do. Hence, the grumpy face. We did get to walk past the White House and the Washington Monument. We went to the Natural History Museum (lunch cost almost $50!) where Sadie got to hold a 150 million-year-old fossil of a Stegosaurus. It had just been cut out of sandstone so she was one of the first people to touch and hold it. I don't think she understood the significance of it, but she thought it was neat. We went to the National Archives where we saw the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. (the pictures weren't very good because flashes weren't allowed.) Then we tried to go to the Art Museum but it was closed so we walked to the Capital.

I don't recommend going when it is so hot, but we did have fun despite the heat stroke. j/k I put together a slide show because there were so many pictures. Let me know what you think of it.

Oh, Brother

For the past 10 days we have been thrown into the world of early teenage boyhood. My brother, George was visiting us here in Pennsylvania. After 10 days, we figured a few things out, but I think we have a long way to go. Here are a few of the mysteries:

1. How does he grow so much when all he eats is junk food? When he first arrived we asked him what he would like for dinners throughout the week. His reply, "Anything but Mexican." What did we have planned? Tacos, carnitas, refried beans, burritos. . . we eat a lot of Mexican food. We also learned that the anything but mexican also referred to anything healthy. He ate a lot of peanut butter/marshmallow or honey sandwiches. He was funny because he liked the carnitas, but he didn't like tacos, he liked waffles and french toast, he liked seafood (at a buffet) but he didn't like anything with sour cream, cream cheese, or cottage cheese. He liked lettuce with cheese on top (no dressing) He liked icecream (only vanilla). He liked candy. Can I emphasize the candy?

2. How can someone be bored but not want to do anything? Well, he did want to play video games.

3. How can he get so little sleep, yet have so much energy? Along the same lines, how can someone fall asleep with all the lights and the television on?

4. He was excited about breaking his arm!

5. Why does he have to go home?

We had a lot of fun with George. I moved out when he was 3 and so it has been awhile since I have spent a significant amount of time with him. I think he had the most fun when he was out with Steve. I also think he was expecting our lives to be a little more exciting than they were. My next few posts will talk more about what we did with him along with a few pictures.

A daddy-daughter trip to the PA Renaissance Festival

A couple weekends ago I took Sadie to the Renaissance Faire. It was supposed to be a whole family thing, but Dallin was sick and I was very determined to go. So we decided Sadie and I would just go and we could all go together next month if we wanted. The Faire is a little east of Harrisburg, PA, so just about 2 hours from us.

I think Sadie really enjoyed it. We found her some wings in one of the first shops we visited. They were a bit on the pricey side but very, very cute and much nicer than the wings she already had. So, I asked her if she was sure she wanted to get them because we wouldn't be able to get anything else while we were there. And she said yes!


Her favorite thing by far at the Faire was a performing act with acrobats. It was a part comedy part acrobat act with two guys and a girl, all about my age or a bit younger. She was very, very impressed with the girl (and thought she was really pretty) and talked about her the rest of the day. She even wanted to go back to see their second show of the day. So we did! She also wanted to go up after the show and meet her. So we did that, too.

Sadie also got to be in a magic show. The magician pulled coin after coin out of her ears and nose. It was funny and I think she liked it.


For me, going to the Renaissance Faire brings back a lot of memories. I guess it takes me back to my adolescent years, when I went almost every year. I have one friend in particular, Brian Taylor, that I almost always went with. We had a blast. They're just a goofy, fun time.

I also have a thing for kilts, and I almost gave in and bought a kilt, belt, and tunic. It would be totally dumb given how poor we are, but one of these days I'm just going to do it. Think of how cool of a Halloween costume I'd have every year, not to mention an appropriate outfit for the Renaissance Faire every year. Oh, I plan to get a sword, too. Really, I'm still a kid when it comes to swords, shields, and all that stuff.

Steve

Our little family has had a lot of changes in the past year. Steve changed his field of study, we moved to PA, Dallin was born. The biggest and most challenging change occurred at the beginning of this year when Steve stopped attending church with us. He started attending a Unitarian Universalist congregation and has started a blog which talks about his thoughts and feelings about religion and life in general. You can visit his blog.

Although it has been hard for me (and for Steve) we are actually doing quite well. I have had to rethink my idea about what I want our family to be. There have been some positive consequences to this huge change. For one, Steve is much more open about his thoughts on religion, and so we talk a lot more. We also talk about gospel topics more . . .this was a bit of surprise for me. After I was forced to reexamine my feelings about the gospel, I came out of it with a stronger testimony. There are things that we don't agree on, but what marriage doesn't have that? We look forward to teaching Sadie and Dallin the value of both of our beliefs. They continue to go to church with me, but occasionally will go with Dad.

I have sensed a deeper conviction from Steve. He isn't doing all of this out of laziness or a desire to sin -- he is doing what he thinks is right. He is more committed to me and to our children. He is always trying to be a better person . . . I'm actually quite proud of him.

Issues

Two days ago, Sadie was at my neighbors playing with her friends Duncan who is 3 1/2 and Jasper who is 2. At one point both of the boys were crying or carrying on about something and Sadie had to go pee. So Mary (my neighbor) ran her upstairs to help her while her boys were crying. Sadie then said to her, "I think you have issues!" Mary responded with a laugh and agreeing with her.

I respond with, "We all have issues . . . especially when we are taking care of you little monkeydoodles."

New York City

We recently took a trip to New York City as a family while so Steve could attend a sociology conference. This was one of our first glimpses of the city. . .yes, we drove. Yes, we even drove in Midtown. Our hotel was just a couple of blocks away from Times Square. It was crazy -- we were crazy!


This is us in Times Square! We had a lot of fun. Sadie and Dallin both enjoyed all the sights and sounds.



The kids and I spent the day in Central Park while Steve was at the conference. We visited the zoo, sat on the lawns (to give Dallin a chance to get out of the stroller), and Sadie rode the carousel.

We rode the Staten Island Ferry. But only after getting lost on the subway. Then we missed a ferry back to Manhattan and had to wait for an hour. We didn't get back to the hotel until after 10. Our kids were real troopers though. I knew Sadie was tired when she told me, "Mommy, I need to get a bed because I need to go to sleep" We only had one major meltdown that night. The next day was the hard day.

Even though we had a number of meltdowns from monkeydoodle 1, I got this great picture of Dallin and Steve at Bryant Park. We visited St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Rockefeller Center. After that we went to the park to regroup before we left the city. We met Aaron (Steve's brother) on the Jersey side of the Hudson for an awesome dinner. We had fun with him and Noah, though we did miss Nicolette and Britney. We drove home that night and it took two days to recuperate.

Poopy Pants

Ok, I started doing cloth diapers about 3 months ago with Dallin. At that point he only pooped once every day or every two days. It seemed like almost instantly, he started pooping like three times a day. It's almost like he knew it was more work for me. At least we don't ever have any blow outs. I actually don't mind the poop of a 9 month old --

Sadie is another story. She will be 4 in about a month and still refuses to go poop on the toilet. We have tried just about everything. She is completely potty trained (she will ask for a diaper) but for some reason or another, she just won't go on the toilet. We have even taken the diaper away a couple of times, but she held it for 4 days once and 3 days another time. We decided to just let her take control . . . it's been over a year now . . . how much control does she need? Will I ever be poop free? I guess I just have to look at the positive: she waits for a diaper, she's regular, she has a strong will (I'm hoping this pays off later in life) Any other ideas?

Sibling Differences

Since we haven't done anything extremely exciting, I thought I would write about the personality differences of our children. Sadie, who is almost 4, is a walking -- no, running -- ball of energy. They say the sun is the source of most of the energy in this world . . . well, I think Sadie runs a close second. She doesn't stop moving from the time she wakes up until the time she passes out at night. We love her enthusiasm for life and her love of just doing things. She is also full of questions right now. We usually try to answer all of them, but sometimes I just have to tell her that I am done answering questions for awhile. She is quite the deep thinker too. Last night she told Steve after we had bought some new pull-ups, "When people like these pull-ups, they buy them."

Dallin is a lot different. We knew the difference the day he was born. He slept the entire first day and ever since then, he has been super mellow. Even when he is fussy because of teething, he is still a really good baby. I think Dallin will be the emotional rock that this family needs. That's a lot of responsiblity for an 8-month-old. I don't know if the differences are due to gender or just their personalities. I am glad to have a mellow baby though. I don't think I would have survived without it.

Why Monkeydoodle?

When Sadie was a baby, her grandma referred to her as a monkeydoodle. The little nickname has stuck. We now call our kids Monkeydoodle 1 and Monkeydoodle 2. It's funny how many nicknames get assigned to each child. We call Sadie many things including: baby, babe, Sadiebabie, munchkin, munch, babycakes, Thing 1. The list is larger, but I don't have other members of the family to help me out. We call Dallin lots of things too! Dally, Dallywally, poopmonster, bubba, superbaby, Thing 2. It's fun to hand out nicknames, but my favorite has always been the one assigned by grandma. . . and our monkeydoodles have definitely created a sort of madness!!