We Like to Label Our Kids

Zane's newest obsession is gaulk. To the rest of the world, that is "chalk". He is getting pretty good at coloring with it, too. Here he is trapped in his stroller so we could relax a little without him running around the driveway and into the street and all that. We are trying to teach him colors, with the help of Signing Time, but to no avail yet. According to him, everything is "blue". He signs and says "blue" very well.

Kevin has been hard at work on the kitchen FOREVER and it finally is getting there. We have a dishwasher, oh joy of joys. It is so nice to have a dishwasher, FINALLY. It only took about 6 weeks to get it properly installed and working. But who's counting? Oh, I think my mother may have been. We have done a lot of eating out for lunch. We take walks to see a few llamas and an alpaca almost every night. It's a short jaunt. Zane calls them "the pacas". Caspian will be back in a few weeks and then school. Where has the summer gone? Well, it's still here, so I'm going to go enjoy it!

~t

Zane Valerian, for Ralph Lauren Polo

I like to play stylist to my boys. Like Stacey and Clinton of What Not to Wear fame, I try to go with who they really are, and just make them look their best. (which is usually pretty good, because they are some cute, cute boys.) I was surprised to find out that Zane can do preppy. He does it well. He also likes playing with balls. He might be a sporto jocko. Well, he's a Pisces, so maybe not. But anyway, here he is letting his inner preppy shine through. I REALLY don't know where he gets it. But it sure is cute.

~t

SMILEstone

Today, I told Zane to smile for the camera, and this is what he did! (First time.)

He's also been talking a lot more and signing, too. Basically, just being a lot of fun!

~t

Heather and Matthew Visit!

We've had a busy and fun few days with our dear friends Heather and Matthew. I met Heather online while we were both pregnant and in an online mommies-to-be group. We have been IMing each other for well over a year now and I was so excited to finally get to meet her in person. Zane and I drove to Seatac to pick them both up. Zane decided the ride home would be a great time to be very unhappy in the car. It seems he didn't feel like sharing.

Mostly, we hung out around the house, on the porch, and I showed them Olympia (what I know, which isn't much yet!) Matthew is good at sharing and showed ZV a thing or two about that. And, even though he is about a head shorter than ZV, he also showed him how brawny and loud he can be, which freaked ZV right out. However, it was great to see them together and to expose our little man to another one his age. We haven't had the opportunity to do much of that yet.

Here are the boys being suspicious of Kevin, who is trying to make them laugh:




Apparently, sightseeing is boring for babies...

Indian food, however, not so boring:

Group shot. Kevin even got in on the late night chats in the living room. It was so great to finally meet Heather and Matthew in person! You'll have to come see us again and bring the whole family!!! (now, wouldn't that be crazy? FIVE boys!!!)

~t

Majestic Rainier and Kevin's New Office Makes ZV Sleepy

This is the picture you can take from our balcony. Well, YOU can't take it, but Kevin can. Look at that view!!! Can you believe it? Ours, all ours.


Doesn't he look cool in his new office? Sahara sand or whatever they called it. I cannot remember.

Sweet sweet napping baby.

Bland Dinner

We thought it was going to ber great. We thought it was going to be tasty. Somehow, by the grace of God above, we both wanted to eat the same thing. It was a miracle. Until we tried it. What is this rubbish? Dressing so bland even a baby will eat it. At least there was wine. Is there any garlic in this garlic naan? I don't think so.

Officially Residents

At least our cars are! Here we are with our new license plates. It's so cool. All we had to do was walk down to the GROCERY STORE like 4 blocks from our house and apply. Funny that we walked, b/c I had to tell them things like mileage and we didn't have the cars with us!!! We love that so many things are so close to us around here. And I figured I'd fill out paperwork and then we'd be waiting 3 weeks or something for our new plates. Nuh-uh...the lady just opened a drawer, and voila! Here they are.

Now we just have to put them on the CARS. LOL. Well, Kevin is pretty against looking like a tourist around town, so I imagine it will happen soon. Wish me luck.

~t

Babies having Babies
with binkies

Zane mentors Baby Stella on binkies.

~t

Hangin' on the PORCH!

Allright, you will now see why I fell in love with my porch. Check it out:

It is sooooooooooooooo gorgeous here. And look how cute my kid looks in the pretty chair on the porch. We were going to make my mom get rid of this furniture until we met our porch. I said, "If that furniture belongs anywhere, it's on that porch." And golly gee willikers if I wasn't right.

The weather has been gorgeous. They say it rains here a lot, but we sure haven't seen it. It's almost been a little too sunny for us. Sheesh, we are trying to escape that!

The neighbors have been so friendly and have given us all sorts of treats. Lots to do on the house, but it's been fun and Zane is having a blast. I think my mom even likes our new spicy pumpkin living room. She never thought she'd be living like this in "her old age" as she says.

And theeee coolest thing happened today. A friend of ours that we know through someone in Milwaukee who just happens to live here now, just walked RIGHT PAST OUR HOUSE! I had been meaning to get in touch with her and had just been too busy to track her down. She just walked her dog, RIGHT PAST OUR HOUSE. Turns out, her girlfriend lives 3 houses down and she is like 5 blocks away. HOW cool is that? And they also turned us on to the most awesome brunch place. Olympia ROCKS!

~t

I am NOT in Wisconsin

Wow, what a time it's been. We are now offical residents of Olympia, WA.

The move was, well, what could you expect? Taking your smoker husband, somewhat infirm mother, and your 15 month old across the country? It was ok, considering. Here is Zane at the Milwaukee airport the day of our departure...

Yes, he's in his jammies.

We have been working hard on our new house. We LOVE it. We love our neighborhood. We love our city. We love our yard. It's been great. We have no jobs yet, but that will come. Well, not for me. My job is currently homemaker and I'm liking it. Ha ha ha, just got a message from the Monster Job Agent. Gotta love universal timing.

I will try to do more on this later. It is not working now. Grrrr.

~t

Getting the HOUSE!

Well, it's been a few days of living at the Red Lion, Olympia. We looooooooove the Red Lion, Olympia, but we are looking forward to moving into our new digs. Here we are on the way to our first visit after officially getting the house!!!


It was a beautiful June night and we were all in good spirits and so happy to be HOME!

Here's the moon over our new home:



I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say about our adventures in Oly. Stay tuned. :)

Clearly not the Post Man's Kid

Ok, I couldn't find a good picture of Kevin at 15 months, so this comparison of Kevin at 23 months and Zane at 15 months will have to do. I love comparison pics, don't you? Technology has changed just a bit. (Kevin just got a new phone and it doesn't really look like the one in the picture. Oh, and photo quality has changed just a bit, too.)

~t

Every Kid Gets a Robot. And a Haircut.

I had my first rummage/moving sale yesterday. We made $100 after pizza. It was even kind of fun. The neighbors hung out all day and helped us. And then they took the leftover items (which was a LOT) to some Vet goodwill place. Yay. So, we got rid of EVERYTHING. The picture below shows the marketing scheme we used once we realized we had waaaaaayyy too many robots.

Here is the neighbor kid enjoying our outdoor living room.

Here is my kid, not at all enjoying his third haircut this past Thursday.

Awwww...that is so darn sad. It didn't last long. To make us all feel better, here he is yesterday, on his 15-month birthday, looking so darn cute, I tend to believe the agony of having his haircut was worth it. He had his 15 month doctor's appt on Tuesday, and doc said he is doing great--31 3/4 inches and 23.8 lbs. So, without further ado, here is what 23.8 lbs looks like (looks like his daddy...need to find those pics).

~t

House...Found, Work...DONE!

Well, things have been insane around here in the past month. But we DID find a house in Olympia!!! Not at ALL what we thought we would get, but it is perfect. Bedrooms for everyone and an office. Close to downtown, fabulous park, historic neighborhood. The house was built in 1889.

I had my last day of work at Ten Chimneys after 8 1/2 years on Friday, 5/19/06. Kevin had his last night of work at Pizza Man after 4 1/2 years last night. Caspian had his last day at Honey Creek after 3 years on Friday, 5/19/06. Here I am at work on my last day, deleting 37 messages from Kevin and Zane...

They had a lovely going away party for me with flowers and a banner and cake and a fabulous bracelet as a gift and a wonderful scrapbook with notes from staff and volunteers and all sorts of pictures and materials from the time I was there. It was a great going away. I felt a little like I was at my own wake or funeral. Man, everyone should leave town at least once. People said the NICEST things. Was very sweet. (Sheesh, I am so not eloquent today.)

And, just for fun, here's a picture of Zane on the couch. He has started talking a lot. As I type, he is running around with a tiger on a motorcycle, saying, "Vrrroooooommm" He is also very good with "Buh Byyyyyyyye", which we will say to Milwaukee on 5/31/06. He's lookin' less like a baby, isn't he?

~t

Language Explosion

Zane has decided it's time to get with talking. (That's him Easter morning, dancing with Caspian's Easter Kermit.) He's saying "Mama", "Dada", "hi", "light", and mimicking all sorts of things all of a sudden. It's so cute. He is signing "shoes" all the time. I think because he likes to go outside so much. He also signs "cheese" "milk" and sometimes "more" and "all done." He waves bye bye...usually about 30 seconds after the person leaves. Well, he's getting there. He's very into dancing and loves the "Itsy Bitsy Spider."

~t

Happy Easter!

Not quite from Olympia...but soon!

Our favorite house has an accepted offer. Boo Hoo.

Oh well, the right thing will come.

~t

Houses, Houses, Houses, & Puppy Bucket Hat

We're off to Olympia to house hunt in 5 days. I'm obsessed with houses. I cannot stop thinking about them. I am imagining my crappy furniture in these lovely places. I am imagining my mother's decent-but-not-my-taste furniture alongside my crappy furniture in these places. I am wondering how this is all going to work and if Design on a Dime would ever consider coming to Washington. I am imagining my sons growing up in these places. Being teenagers!!!! in these places. I am imagining them have friends over. I am imagining who might live near there and what the schools might be like and what food places might deliver to these places. I am imagining friends and family from WI and ID and other places visiting us in these places (which makes me think the place should be big, no?)

Well, here are the contenders...

Our current favorite, Ramblewood Lane:

Other contenders:

And then, just for fun, here's Puppy Bucket Head and Wagon Boys. Can you imagine them as teenagers? I can.

~t

Sick, Sick, and More Sick

Well, we've entered Sick Season around here. I can't remember exactly when it began. It was after Zane's birthday (2/27), but before his doctor's appt (3/6). I believe Zane got sick first, then me, then Kevin, then Caspian, then me, then Kevin, then Zane, then Kevin? Oh who knows. I just know I'm sick of it.

The upside to the sick sick sickiness is that it makes for a cuddly baby. See below.



Caspian's behavior tends to fluctuate between angel and devil. A little happy medium might be nice. But I guess, what can you expect from an 8 year old, with two homes, two families, two one-year old siblings that are not siblings themselves, a frustrated artist stay-at-home-dad, and an impending cross country move. I guess I just hope we all live through it. I might try to take him to the Shambhala Meditation Center tomorrow. Apparently, they have programs for children.

I will now paste in the text to an email I sent to my friend Erika tonight. This is how my days have been going...

So, tonight, Zane achieved the ultimate of privileges...

I was changing his diaper and noticed that he had an enlarged lymph node, which I wanted Kevin to feel.

Kevin was downstairs.

I had to wait and wait and wait.

Zane decided to get up from the waiting and stand, diaperless, at his toy basket.

This was all well and good for about 30 seconds until I saw the poo coming out of his bum.

That's right. Zane just shat on the living room rug. Zane Valerian...living the good life.
In his defense, he does have the flu.

It took me a couple of hours, but it eventually made me think of you and all the fond discussions we've had about shitting in the middle of the living room.

Ahhhh, this email is beginning to remind me of Alfred Lunt's reminisces of Helen Hayes. Do you think this email will make it into my biography someday?

t

ps--When Kevin finally came up and felt the node, he said, "Yep. It's swollen." He cleaned it up at least.