Avatar

We just went to see Avatar at an Imax theater last night. Grandma stayed home and watched Liam and Owen While the rest of the family went to the movie. I was bouncing and skipping as I walked to the movie feeling so light and it dawned on me that this was the first time I had been away from my babies in almost 4 months! (And I haven't been without Owen for even longer) I know that sounds a little pathetic maybe but I didn't really want to ask someone to babysit when I didn't know anyone very well and Owen was only recently was old enough to leave behind.

I thought Avatar was pretty cool. I agree with Nathan's Dad when he said "I like it when the Indian's win", the basic plot isn't original but it's still an impressive thing to watch. I read a review that said Avatar was like a teenage boy's dream (rescue an alien race, get a hot alien girl to fall in love with you, etc...) I had to laugh at a couple parts because it made me think of that review, but it was still awesome. The Imax was in a furniture store called Jordan's furniture. I had never heard of anything like that before. They have put a lot of attractions in their store to get people to walk through and see their furniture and hopefully buy it. I think it's a pretty good idea.

I was totally entertained by the women's bathroom! There were full length mirrors on all the bathroom stall doors. When I went into the stall and sat down to do my business. I was very uncomfortable when I finally realized I was watching ladies washing their hands. I felt very exposed (even though I wasn't really) when ladies were checking their appearance in the "mirror" and it looked like they were looking at me! Totally Genius! I have been raving to everyone about how awkwardly cool one way mirrors in a bathroom are! They kept the stalls dark as an important element in keeping the privacy. Only down side is then you can't check to see if the seat is wet before you sit down.

Let it snow!

We are in Massachusetts with Nathan's family for the holidays. This is me in looking at the beautiful fresh snow while staying cozy inside! One of the best ways to enjoy the winter weather (especially if you've been in warm Florida for the past 4 months). Here is a summary of the time since my last post:

Liam and Nathan in front of "Pooh's howse" at Disney World.


Liam and Owen were wheeled around Disney World in style!

Liam trying on a hat after the Pirates of the Carribean ride. It's nice that we all could ride, even Owen! Nathan and I didn't have to take turns on almost any of the rides we went on.

Proof that I was there too! I got in free since it was my birthday! (they are ending that promotion this year, saddness...)

You can tell Liam loves his brother, Owen has to be pretty tough to handle the attention Liam gives him!

Nathan's internship ended on Dec 11th and we were planning on leaving the next day. I started fretting about the packing two weeks before we were going to leave and started packing the week of our departure. My brain felt pretty scrambled by the time we left. Here we have just about everything packed up...

2 days before we left we went to downtown Disney with some friends. It doesn't cost anything to walk around and there are lots of cool things to see. There was a Lego store that was showing off some impressive Lego sculptures outside. (we are posing in front of one of the smaller sculptures) We walked through a restaurant full of animatronic dinosaurs, Liam was pretty impressed. We had a fudge sundae at the Ghiradelli soda shop, mmmm.... very good! Downtown Disney wraps around a body of water so they have a ferry to take you across if you don't want to take the long way around. So we rode the ferry back to where we started when we were ready to go home. It was a lot of fun, Liam loved it.

Liam got a pirate sword from the ferryman at downtown Disney. Liam impressed him by calling the ferry a water taxi (he has a book full of different kinds of vehicles)

A different way to pack up Owen.

On our way to Massachusetts for Christmas. We split the trip down the middle by staying with my aunt Melissa in Virginia for a day. Liam and Owen were very good for both halves of the trip.

Luckily we just missed the snow storm that hit Virginia after we left. It caught up to us a day or two after we arrived in MA. But that was okay, as long as we weren't driving in it we didn't mind so much.


Super Owen!

Liam likes to wear his uncle Kevin's motorcycle helmet. It's very heavy but somehow he manages to avoid capsizing.

Liam was so excited to get to play in the fresh snow with Daddy, it was all hard and crunchy before.

He made Nathan take him out twice that day. Nathan made him a little 8" snow man that they played with for quite a while. It was very cute.

October

Since it's been over two months since the last post, I'm going to back track a little.

We started potty training Liam the last week in September. No more diapers! It took him a week to figure out what needing to go feels like and what he was supposed to do, then he did pretty good most of the time. It took another week to start going to sit on the potty himself and some where in there we stopped using diapers when he slept. Then in another week there were virtually no accidents, yay! Also, Owen started army crawling at the beginning of October and now tries to eat everything in sight. He'll get up on all fours and rock but he won't do a real crawl yet. He's pretty fast though and very busy! Just in the past week, he's started to sit up all by himself too!

Liam calls it "my iPod" He likes to play the truck racing app, the drawing app and the puzzle app (especially the puzzle app!).

Mid October we were invited to a pumpkin carving party. We brought home the pieces for the eyes and nose because Liam liked to use the Jack-o-lantern as a puzzle. We took pictures right before we threw it away because it getting was moldy inside.

A friend gave us 11 fitted cloth diapers and 2 diaper covers at the beginning of the month, so mid month I decided to give cloth diapering a try (On Owen, not Liam! Remember, Liam is potty trained! Yay!). After a couple weeks, I bought 13 prefolds and 3 more diaper covers to supplement the ones that were given to us. We're still working out the nitty gritty stuff, but it' seems to be working for the most part.

Liam is using a pillow for a turtle shell.

Owen discovered he likes climbing on things, especially Liam's froggy potty. The only problem is he gets stuck once he's up there. He has pulled himself up to stand using the stairs. He has also tried to pull himself up using the coffee table and the beds.

Liam wanted to be a pirate for Halloween. He got really excited when he got his pirate beard painted on, he would yell: "Arrrr matey!" When Liam saw what I was wearing he said: "Mommy, you a pirate girl!"

Liam also liked Owens outfit. It was to small to wear in the conventional way, luckily he didn't mind wearing it as a little hooded cape. He ran over to my make up in the bathroom and said: "Make me a tiger nose!"

September

Since it's been over two months since the last post, I'm going to back track a little.

Liam and Owen were delighted to have Daddy back! The trip to Orlando was about a 30 hour drive. We left Friday afternoon and arrived Monday night. Our only problems were Liam kept getting car sick until we got him some children's Dramamine and getting a flat tire the last day of the trip. Liam and Owen were suprisingly good for the trip. Still I'm pretty sure I want to avoid road trips that take longer than half a day in the future. Unfortunately, I know of two coming up before the year is over (ominous music playing...).

Owen started eating rice cereal at 5 months. He just wasn't satisfied with only nursing anymore. After a couple weeks we added the fruit and vegetable baby foods. He loves them all and so does Liam. Almost every time I feed Owen, Liam comes over and says: "Ahhhh" and waits with his mouth open until I give him a bite.







We went to Gatorland on Saturday the 19th since Tupperware offers employees free tickets.





It was pretty cool, Liam really enjoyed it. The gift shop had some awesome things like back scratchers made from real alligator "hands" , real lacquered alligator heads (they look alive), alligator skulls , plus toy alligators of every kind. (I really wanted to send my brother Chris an alligator back scratcher to use on his girlfriends, but I didn't... not yet anyway...)

The next weekend we went to Seaworld. They offer a Funpass which means you can come back all year for the same price as a single day pass, so we decided we should start going so we could make the most of our ticket price (we've gone three times as of November 1st). Liam loves all the fish. I think sea creatures are probably a big hit for kids of all ages, there is something so magical about them.

Kittens

So, Nathan's internship has been extended 3 months! So that means we will be driving out to Orlando. He will be flying in Wednesday night, I'm so excited! It's been a long 8 weeks. The boys have grown so much. Owen has been working at grabbing things. Liam is talking better all the time. They have been having fun playing with the little kittens. It is fun to watch all these little kids carrying them around. It has been nice to be here with my family and spend time with them and get to know my younger siblings better. We will be driving to Idaho for Grandpa Shirley's birthday. Nathan's family will be there, so it will be like a mini family reunion. From there we will drive another 37 hours to Orlando, yipee! Lots of things going on! Oh! I can't wait 'til my love gets here!

away

Nathan has been in Florida for 4 weeks now. So he is half-way through the internship. He says he's learning a lot, but he misses us and doesn't like being alone. The boys and I miss him terribly, but are getting along fine (I hate sleeping alone). I can't imagine being without Nathan for so long with out having my family around to help with the boys. Nathan and I talk every night either on the phone or webcam. Webcam is especially nice because Nathan can see the boys and they can see him. It's so fun to watch Liam talk to his daddy on the computer and see Owen smile and squirm when Nathan makes faces at him. Liam is talking better all the time and Owen is growing rapidly. They are both so very charming. I am sad that both Liam's 2nd birthday and our 3rd anniversary are going to happen while Nathan is away.

moving again

So, a week and a half ago, Nathan got a two month internship with Tupperware in Orlando, Florida starting in July! Since it's only for two months, it works out better for Nathan to go alone and the boys and I will stay with my family in Colorado. If they ask him to stay longer (his teachers say it's pretty likely) the boys and I will go out to Orlando at that point and I will have to cancel my classes for the fall semester. But in the mean time the boys will get to spend time with their grandparents and little aunts and uncles. Now we get to pack our things into storage again! We've already started tearing the place apart and filling up boxes. What an adventure!

photography class

I just finished my photography class yesterday. I have to say that the last assignment was my favorite, portraits. And, of course, I had to pick the most beautiful subjects that I had at my disposal, my boys! Here are some of my favorites. I just can't pick any less to show off than this and I wish I could post a lot more.

Liam and his favorite thing... can you guess?


sleeping smiles


dreamy baby


Owen with his daddy






Liam's first experience with a candle.