New Bike, New Hairdos, New Projects

So this morning Sydney asked me if I would be willing to braid her hair before church. Since I had the unfortunate chance to get up at 6:30 and stay awake, I had plenty of time to braid. So we checked out the SheDoeshair blog and found a neat pattern for a crisscross braid. So she sat patiently and let me do the most complicated hair style I have ever done. Amazingly enough she kept it in all day. She also ended up sleeping in it too, so we will see how it looks in the morning. Emily also got the same hairstyle but hers came out tonight.

This weekend we also decided to get a new bike for Emily. She has definitely outgrown her other one even though she has not really mastered riding yet. On the upside, she is so in love with her new bike, it may help her get over her fears of riding. It is shiny, purple and Hannah Montana. Yeah for Hannah Montana.



This last week I started working on a organization project with a friend of mine. She is taking a class on Professional Staging. One of her assignments is to declutter a home. Mine definitely qualifies. So we started in on the worst room in the house, the office. We hauled the the stuff out on the right side of the room, sorting it into baskets, we took down my sewing desk and drafting table, and set up an ebay basket, and and trash pile, and a donate pile. The trash pile ended up filing one of our large trash cans. The donate pile was not much smaller. It was hard going through and getting rid of many things. however when I thought about having things for 8-10 years for a project, and I still had not done anything with them at all. I figured it was time to unload. Karl is not excited about the unloading part. I was concerned about our home looking overstuffed to prospective renters. I also want to have the Place for Everything and Everything in it place. Since we are not moving into a 4000sq ft home any time soon, I better figure a way to make my stuff fit in our existing one.

So far we are about a third of the way through the office. I did not get as much done without her help over the weekend. I still have some homework left to finish before she comes tomorrow! The plan is to make an l shaped desk, swap sides of the room for the two of us, and have all my craft supplies in the closet so everything on my desks at least are cleared and put away when I am not working on them. Karl is getting excited about the desk but he was disappointed when I asked him not to put 5 monitors on his part of the desk.

Memorial Day Weekend

We got to spend a day and a half with April this weekend and celebrate her birthday and have fun with the family. The girls were so excited to be there for her birthday. They each made her a card which were very cute. Caleb was happy to see everyone too. We went for walks, went to the pool, and had a picnic on the playground. Josh really enjoyed playing peak-a-boo with Matthew too. He was also such a good sport in the car. And of course, the girls howled when it was time to go home. I love that they get so happy to see family it crushes them when it is time to leave, but it also is just so hard t know what to do with the tears.

We tried to get Josh to practice crawling on the carpet while we were there, and while it worked better than on the floors at home, he wasn't too happy to be on his tummy. I think he tends to gag and have more reflux on his stomach, because while he drools a lot all the time, when he is on his tummy he actually spits up. That is about the only time he does that.

I have been taking pictures of April and Caleb in front of there house almost every time I come to visit, but this time when we tried, we discovered how much harder it is to get a toddler involved in the picture taking process. His only desire was to get rid of me, and run over to Emily & Sydney. He did not want to sit on April's lap and smile. Such a shame. We had such a nice series going. My best shots are going up on Flickr though.

We had to cut the visit a little shorter than initially planned and come home Sunday night. I was just called to be the Activities chairman at church, and I had my first big activity on Monday. I had planned to skip it, but as the weekend approached, I felt really unprepared and decided to be here to make sure it ran smoothly. I am so glad I did because there were so many things i did not think of that needed to happen. Like bringing trash bags. Nope, didn't cross my mind. Luckily it crossed Karl's mind. Also, if you cook hot dogs, bring something to use on the grill. Tablecloths are also really nice to have. I also got too much food, but everyone really seemed to have fun, so I think that overall it was a big success.

Teeth

So, unlike 4 months ago when I thought Josh was teething, (that was an epstein pearl) he is finally teething. I can see and feel them now. Poor little guy. It definitely is bothering him. He is getting both bottom teeth at once.

Funny kids

I looked at Emily crabwalking across the floor with her feet up on eight lbs weights and thought, that is just so odd.
She asked me "Is this the coolest thing?"
I said " gee Emily, it is kind of strange."
"I'm not strange!" she said.
"ok, how about oddly peculiar?" I asked.
She thought a minute and said " yup that's what I am!"
And she kept on crab walking across the floor.

Little Black Rain Cloud

So, the past week has been one of those laugh about it later type weeks. So for the future amusement of myself, and the current amusement of anyone reading here goes.

Monday-I decide to got to the local consignment store to get some things for Josh. It is slightly out of the way, but hey, it will be fun. They are closed and only Open Tues through Friday. No biggie. I go home to get other things done, and decide to go Tuesday with my friend.

Tuesday, Josh has a short nap, so we went to the Gym, I go have lunch with a friend, and he lost it in the mall. He was screeching during lunch, and managed to dump a full glass of cold ice water into my lap with one of those lightening fast bay movements. At least he did not get my lunch in my lap. He has done that before! So I cut it short, and headed home. A short nap later, he was up and cranky. I headed out to the consignment shop again (did I mention it is not totally convenient to get there?) They were closed. Reason: an unscheduled trip to get a friend at the airport they won't be back until the next day. grrr.

So We went home and went to Chuck-E-Cheese for a school fundraiser that night. I ducked out with my friend (leaving Karl with all the girls) to go to the mall and pick up my conditioner since it was on sale, I had a coupon, and I get double rewards points on Tuesdays. Of course I did not remember where in the mall it was and went the opposite direction. When we got to the store, there was a sign up. They had just gone on break. Had I gone the other way, it would still have been open. I was so frustrated. I felt like a little jinks was parked on my shoulder!

Josh fell asleep in the car on the way back to get Karl and the girls. But once they finally got to the car, he was up again. Something about his sister singing as loudly as she could woke him up. What got me was that it surprised her he could not sleep through that! So I ran back into the mall again and got my conditioner on the way home. But what a pain!

I did make it to the consignment shop later, maybe Wednesday. They had some wonderful clothes for Josh. They no longer sell toys because of the law that was passed recently about lead in toys. It is a shame since most of my kid toys came from consignment shops. But maybe it will keep me from picking up toys and having too much junk at home this time?

I did find a wonderful yard sale that was (gasp) selling used toys and got a few things to help Josh work on crawling and sitting. He still hates tummy time and is not that close to crawling, but he just loves to sit and to stand & jump.

Oh and the big blue ball I was planning to use to help work on his core blew away from my shed in a storm. It could not be helped since the roof blew away too. Oh well.

There were a few other frustrating things that happened, but I started this post a month ago, then had to stop writing it. So it must not have been that bad after all!

Spring Break

Two week ago was Spring break for the kids. We started out the week with Easter Sunday. we had dyed some eggs the day before, but those never go in the hunt! I am always afraid of the spoilage factor and the girls get up way too early for my taste.

They had a wonderful time hunting their eggs and scooping them up. I loved to see them help on another hunt, and play hot & cold for some of the harder to find eggs. Josh was just a spectators this year :) After church I grabbed josh from Karl, Like always, loaded up the kids in the van, and drove home like always. Karl has meetings in the morning and drives himself. I got home and noticed the car in the driveway and wondered how Karl could possibly have gotten home before me. Then it hit me. We drove together this Sunday since he had no meetings. Woops! Luckily he realized there was a problem (25 minutes late) and there were still friends in the building who live nearby so he got a ride home.

We tried getting a shot of all the kids dressed up looking adorable but Sydney was having a temper tantrum moment, so she was unable to come out & join the other 2. This is Josh's first tie, and I thought it was wonderful. Emily really likes her new dress and has worn it again. Of course it can't actually touch anything on her skin, but hey, it is progress in my book.

On Monday I went to visit April & Gary for 2 days. We hit the pool and had a great time with family. Then we came home for a OT (Occupational Therapy) Evaluation for Emily. They think she needs some sensory therapy to help her get over her skin issues. I totally agree! I got a brush and I am responsible for brushing her 3 times a day to help desensitize her skin.

She also might have a mild case (is that even the right word?) of Aspberger's Syndrome which is on the high end of Autism spectrum. She had that test right before Spring Break. We are headed to the doctor today to get the results of the test. I would like someone to help me understand how her brain works and how to get her to handle the little ups and downs in life that throw her for such awful curve balls.

Lost but not Found

Yesterday while eating French Toast, Emily lost her extremely loose front tooth. It has been wiggly since September, but hanging on by a thread since February. I had tried to convince her to let me give it a good tug, but there was no interest there. Yesterday morning, she took a big bite, and the tooth came out, but not before she swallowed her bite no knowing what had happened. She was crushed to lose the tooth.

Literal Humor

We were having a late & lazy breakfast this morning. Karl had Josh in his lap in the recliner, and so I delivered his plate of Monkey bread. Sydney's little ear perked up and she was so excited about eating breakfast. I told her "There is a plate in the kitchen with your name on it". She ran into the kitchen and picked up the plate and called out" Mom, this doesn't have my name on it." So I got to explain the word figure of speech to her. But she got her monkey bread and was a happy camper.

Right now she is working with Emily on a 54 piece 3d tiger puzzle. Amazingly enough there has been almost no fighting. Josh is snoozing and Karl is off renting an aerator.

We are going to attempt to make the lawn look a little nicer this year. Right now as a corner lot, we have the worst lawn at our intersection. And we are sitting next to a major line of shame as our neighbors have a beautiful lawn. He is not thrilled I called to find out the actual price to rent the thing. He pushed it off this morning by saying "Do you know how much that will cost??" So I called & found out! He he. He suggested that I take a shot at the machine. I'm going to use the roto-tiller though so I don't feel too bad about signing him up for yard work.

Green Eggs are Gross

I don't recommend trying to make them. The Oatmeal didn't bother me, but the eggs did. I took the whites & yolks & separated them, colored the whites then added them together & cooked them. It looked weird. In the book they are white whites and green yolks. This was just wrong. But the kids though it was cool. Karl not so much!

On another note, Josh finally figured out how to roll over! Yeah! I was getting worried since he wasn't trying to do it, but he has got it down now! Yeah Josh!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I made oatmeal for breakfast, but in honor of of today, I made it green! Emily saw it in the pot, recoiled and said what is that?? She was totally grossed out! Sydney at it happily, but Emily was a hard sell. Finally I convinced her to try it and she scarfed it down. I though it was a great idea. When she was getting ready to go, she asked why I made it and I said I had been thinking about green eggs and ham instead of oatmeal. She declared that was gross, but then asked for it for dinner! Of course I have no idea for to actually make green eggs.

Josh is 6 months old and Emily is 7!

What a weekend. Emily had her birthday party on Friday. She had a great day. She has basically been counting down from her last birthday. She had hoped for an Alvin and the Chipmunks themed party, but we ended up with Hello Kitty instead. Since is was actually Friday the 13th this year we had a PJ, Pizza, Popcorn Movie Party. I thought most kids would not be able to make it, but almost everyone could come so it was a little wild here! All the kids seemed to get bored with the movie half way through, but we finished it anyway with minor interruptions to eat pizza, and frost cookies. Then we had cake & opened presents. Josh was done about that point, so Karl took over and helped Emily not completely get the greedy gimmies! After the presents were opened, we had 30 more minutes before parents showed up so we got out the Disney Dance Dance Revolution and that was a huge hit! Emily & I practiced last weekend over and over until we actually got her to able to play a whole song straight through. She was so proud of being able to complete a song and then did it 4 more times by herself. Emily really enjoyed her presents and had a hard time going to bed at 9 after all her friends had left. We tried to get her to properly thank her guests and say goodnight, but it was hit & miss! With one boy, she barely even thanked him before she rushed back into the DDR fray!
Pictures will be coming soon!

Sydney has been asking me to cut her hair for the last few weeks. Finally this week I caved. She cries almost every time brush her hair and never lets me do anything fun with it. What is the fun of a girl with long lovely hair if she doesn't let her mommy play with it! So unfair! So I took her on Thursday and she got about 4 inches taken off. It is a cute little bob. She likes it better. We didn't get it as short as she wanted it, but that seems to be ok now. It isn't as tangly anymore although it still gets in her food.

I did get to put rollers in Emily's hair last Sunday that she slept in. It made her hair absolutely adorable & bouncy. She loved it. We tried again on Thursday, but it was not as effective without the slightly damp post bath hair. We also awakened the inner phone diva in Emily. She got to talk to my Mom on the phone. Normally Emily gets a little useless on the phone. She doesn't put her ear up to the phone and prefers the speaker phone. She did use speaker phone this time, but actually held it to her ear and talked for a good 25 minutes to mom. Karl and I were amazed. We think she actually had her longest conversation. Either that or it was the longest monologue on record. Thanks Mom for your patience!!!

Question about food bill

Does anyone know anything about the Food Safety and Modernization Bill? HR 875? I got an email about it and trying to find something in plain English that explains this. I can't tell if it will affect organic farming, backyard gardening, or what. It seems like there are lots of post against it on blogs. If anyone has any insight, I'd appreciate an education.

It's a Snow Day!

We actually got something other than rain this weekend. In a shocking twist of fate we got a snow day this year and we actually had snow on the snow day! It wasn't much, but the girls had a blast and licked snow off the ground, the bush, the car, and out of the air. Gross, but lots of fun if you are say 6 or 4. They threw snow at one another, and looked at their footprints and even thought about making snow angels.

As Karl and I were driving around town looking at the pretty snowfall and the lovely frosted trees and roofs. It made us nostalgic for Connecticut. But we decided we were not quite nostalgic enough to go back to the frosty temperatures for so much of the time. We were thinking maybe Northern Virginia instead!

Weekly Excitement

Going in no particular order...

I got a haircut and love it.
It has rained for 48 hours and the yard is squishy.
We started composting-so far no master system is in place, and that is also squishy.Thank goodness for the garden and the rain!
Size 2 diapers are no longer a good fit for Josh. We know this because they leaked and were also very squishy and gross.
Sydney learned to wiggle her eyebrows to add interest to her speech. It is incredibly funny.
We discovered a new pacifier that Josh likes. It is the Soothie kind.
Karl signed up for his first masters class yesterday! yeah!!!
Gremlins came into the house and made a mess of my nice tidy craft desk.

Living with Felines

I have somewhat unusual cats. They prefer to not eat out of plastic. They like cold filtered water, and appreciate the finer dining options. When pressed or generally unimpressed with their options they are willing to get takeout however. About two weeks ago we bought a different kind of kibble. (Strike 1) They were not thrilled. We also served a different variety of their normal wet cat food. (Strike 2) They got take out.

I was in the kitchen when a heard an odd thump on the door and heard scurrying sliding cat feet. I looked away from the stove and saw a little grey bird fluttering around on the floor and getting picked up by Abby. I ran over, scolded her and tried to catch the bird. The bird was thrilled to be out of the cats mouth, but was not as eager to be in my hands. It flew down the hall before I could convince it that it really wanted to go back to the kitchen and out the now open glass door.

I went out a bought their regular kibble that afternoon. No more takeout orders have been placed since then.

However, the other night while nursing Josh, Carrie hopped up onto my lap. Karl commented on the kitty snuggle time and wondered where Abby was. I jokingly suggested checking the closed closet. He opened the door and called her name, and sure enough she had gotten locked inside the closet. This happens to her at least once a week. Does she not care or is it that she falls asleep inside the nice dark closet and only worries about it when she wakes up. Who knows!

Solid Food and Puffed Apple Pancake

We are feeding Josh some solid food now because he just seems hungry! He also like watching us eat now, and so far he likes everything he has tried. (Apple, Brown rice cereal, potato, & sweet potatoes) For just starting to eat semi solid food (basically soft mush at this point) he is grasping the concept really well. He really enjoyed his rice cereal and apple mush tonight.He was even opening his mouth for the spoon and sort of lunging for it. It was cute, but messy. And I didn't have the camera handy. The high chair is not out of the attic yet, but hopefully that can happen tomorrow! So far he has eaten while sitting in our laps, and in the baby bjorn. I am hoping that by eating solid food, he will go back to sleeping trough the night. It has not happened again since the one recorded posting. He has been waking up once or twice, even 4 times in the last 2 weeks. Yuck.

I cleared off my craft table about 3 weeks ago so I could work at it and just did Josh's first scrapbook page. It was lots of fun to get back into it. As Karl was looking through my book last night, he commented on the jump from December 07 to September 08, but what can you do. So I missed a year. I was working on 07 in 08, so now I will work & catch up on last year.

We are thinking about trying to teach the kids Spanish. If anyone has any good suggestions let us know! Sydney's preschool teacher suggested it for her, and we think it is a great idea. Sydney is a little sponge and just soaks up new material. If she hears a song only once or twice, she can sing it back later in the day and get the gist of the song. It amazes me.

Emily is a puzzle. At some times she is an incredible helper, with Josh, with odd jobs, etc, and at other times, she is overwhelmed by simple things like her socks. Lately her special seamless socks have been too itchy for her to wear. I don't know where else to get soft socks since I am buying the softest ones I have ever found. Pants that were perfect just a few weeks ago are also no longer ok for her either. Argh. She holds everything together at school, but when she gets home the littlest things upset her and she just dissolves into tears. It is rough. She is also starting to have lots of loose teeth. Right now she is missing one and looks like 4 more are getting ready to fall out.

Karl and I are trying to figure out what to do with the next few years. Wish us luck! San Diego has job offers, and perfect weather, but it is really far away from the majority of family members. We saw a house for was really lovely up for foreclosure, and Karl was thinking if we end up staying here is Suffolk, he wants to unload our house and live in a different one. We never planned to live her for very long and now we know a few more things about house layouts that we like & that we dislike. Someday I would love to design and build a house that is just for us, and has all the charm of a really old house, but all the features of a new one. That day is pretty far away though.

I made a puffed Apple pancake tonight. My mom used to make it when I was a kid. I thought I followed her recipe, but it did not turn out the way I remember it tasting. I'm not sure what I did wrong though. I remembered a higher fluffier puff in hers. Think popover meets apple pie. It was more cooked apple filling meets egg-y cooked dough. No really impressive air in the thing.

So, my other plan this week is (after reading an article saying that good sleep habits aid in weight loss) to turn in around 10:30 every night. We'll see how I do! Good night!

Emily lost a tooth

After only 6 month of wiggling, the front tooth is finally out!.

He did it!!!

Yahoo! Josh slept all the way through the night by himself in his crib! Yeah!!!! And he found his thumb. He is still a fan of the other 8 fingers, but mastered thumbsucking alone. Right now he is sampling my thumb bone. Apparently it is also tasty.

The very late family Newsletter for 2008

Happy Chinese New Year,
This past year has brought lots of changes to our family. Most notably, we had a baby boy in September. I’d like to blame the lateness of this letter on the baby, but it isn’t really all that fair to him. We still live in Suffolk, Virginia, and have really settled in here. We have done some traveling to see family this year. We went to Fairfax, VA, Ithaca, Rochester, and Syracuse, New York; Ayer, Massachusetts, and New Haven, Connecticut. Karl also made it to Hawaii, San Diego, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Denver on business and to see his nieces get married. Although we are far away from most of the family, it was fun to spend a lot of time this year with our closest family members, Heather’s sister and her family.

Emily & Sydney absolutely love school! Emily finished Kindergarten in June and began 1st grade in September. She loves her teachers, loves reading and art, and is enjoying being 6. She is also a wonderful helper with her baby brother. Sydney is in preschool this year. She is as creative as ever, and as feisty as ever! She is a big hit with her teachers at school & at church. She makes it easy to forget she is only 4. They absolutely adore tigers. They like to dress up like them, to draw them and to collect all kinds of tigers.

Both girls were expecting a baby who was more like their cousin Caleb (who is almost 2) who moved & talked, than like an actual newborn baby, so it is only as Josh gets a little older that they are realizing he really is a baby too, not just a bundle in Mom's lap. They are excited to teach him things, and love making him smile. Josh is a wonderful happy little fellow. We love how his smile lights up his face and it is so great to have in our family at last.

Karl and I are struggling with the challenges of life, but hoping we are meeting them well more days than not! Karl has a heavy work load, and a lot of stress at work. He is also dealing with some recent medical issues, like diabetes, which we hope can be turned around with diet and exercise! Sadly it will mean less candy and raw brownie batter!

The kids and the house keep me busy, but I enjoy getting the one on one time just with Josh. I took some time off from my regular design work this year and focused on more creative pursuits like scrapbooking, stamping, and photography. I still love to read and will fall into a book any chance I get! I have made many good friends here and enjoy the time we have spent in this area.

We don't know where we will be next year, but hope it will go as well as this past year has gone for us. We hope this year has started well for you, and wish you all the best in these uncertain times.

With love,
The Pilz Family

I am proud of me!

I actually got a lot done today. This was the kids first day at school for a full day in 5 days! We had a lack of snow day and 4 half days. It was really amazing when 2pm rolled around to see what I had accomplished. what I am most proud of is that I have a clear craft desk! Yeah! Now I can get back into my scrapbooking and stamping! Yeah haw!