Creative Juices

Our girl is beginning to dive into the world of "creative arts." By this, I really mean to say, her mommy is beginning to loosen up and set her free into foam stickers, wiggly eyes, pipe cleaners, glue and finger paint, to name a few. Yes, we have entered into the amazingly awesome stage of creativity, where Maddie is just now interested in sitting for long periods of focused time towards an arts and crafts project. I love it!

I picked up several fun "goodies" to fill her arts and crafts tub and introduced it to her a few weeks ago. It was an instant hit, and she dove right in with as much zeal as I could have wanted! Geoffrey was thinking, "Hey! Now why can't I have this much fun??" I just love how her tongue sticks out when she's concentrating.She loved the finger painting experience!However, she still wanted to know how and be reassured that the paint would come off of her fingers.I'm excited to watch her creative juices continue to grow!

Maddie's New Ride

Maddie's Christmas present from Mommy and Daddy came a little bit late this year. We decided to hold off giving it to her because, primarily, we hadn't bought it yet! Also, due to traveling to Oregon over the holiday and because she doesn't really care, we decided we would wait until we came back to Pasadena to give it to her. What was it, you say?....A new trike!! That's right. Maddie is the proud new owner and rider of a Radio Flyer Tricycle, complete with adult handle in the back! Perfect. Here she is showing off her new princess helmet.We gave it to her when it was dark outside, but we couldn't not let the poor girl get out to test out her new wheels!Maddie asks to ride it most every day, and sometimes is just as satisfied with pushing herself around in it through our tiny apartment (ha!). She loves to wear the helmet, and the first few days she had it, she could barely let that helmet out of her sight. She would wear it during meal times, during diaper changes, and tried to wear it to bed (which we didn't allow).

Overall, this is by far the best present we have ever given her, as I think all three of us can agree. She is not really pedaling too much, yet, but she pushes with her feet and likes to have us push her "super fast" as she picks her feet up down the sidewalk. The handle is great, too, because we can steer the front wheel and have a bit more control (which is AWESOME). Here's our happy little rider!

Sunriver

The second portion of our vacation in Oregon found us taking a wonderful trip over to Sunriver Resort! We went with my family, spending 4 nights at our family home, relaxing and enjoying each others company. It was a great time for us to feel like we actually "got away," particularly for Brant, who has been doing nothing but working like a dog, with his seminar studies and his 3 part-time jobs. Maddie and Ellie had nothing but pure fun, squealing with delight whenever they were together (which was every waking moment). It is always such a joy to watch them play and get along so well. The weather was crummy, as far as Sunriver weather goes, but it didn't stop us from having a great time! Sunriver always provides for a wonderful escape for each of us, away from the norms of everyday life, along with fond memories of going there throughout our lives.We didn't take the girls ice skating, but they enjoyed watching other people skate.
Grandma Kris and Ellie took a train ride around the shopping mall. Maddie was going to take a ride later, but she forgot, *so we did too!* :)One afternoon, my sister, Brant, the kids and I went over to the Lodge to take a peek at the gingerbread houses they had on display. I think us "big kids" enjoyed it more than the little ones, but it made for a nice outing all the same. There were some pretty impressive houses! This first one is taking from the movie, "Up," and won first prize.
Snoopy's Doghouse was another fun one. Another impressive display of a resort.Ellie and Maddie in front of the "In N Out" display. Fitting, seeing as we are living in the land of In N Out.And like all good parents do, we put all of our kids together for a cousin shot. I'm including a few, just for good measure! Trust me, I took far more than I am posting on here!
Just some big sisters lovin' on their little brothers...We bought Geoffrey's outfit when we found out we were having a boy (this was our going home from the hospital outfit). After we brought it home, we realized that Brant has a shirt almost identical to Geoffrey's. Had to take a picture! :)Ellie, loving on Uncle Brant and cousin Geoffrey. Love this.Our little family - four of us! Crazy to think about, but loving every minute of it.

Christmas in Oregon

We took a wonderful trip home to Portland over Christmas break. We were blessed to be able to spend 2 whole weeks with all of our family, the highlight, of course, being able to introduce them all to baby Geoffrey. There is nothing quite like having a 2 week old baby around at Christmas time!The flight to Portland was great. Maddie was well occupied with new books and toys, and her Daddy's attention, while Geoffrey nursed and slept like a champ with me. Our time home was special, and in fact, was the first time Brant has been home since last Christmas. We thoroughly enjoyed soaking in our families, with one-on-one time, group activities and traditional Christmas festivities. Although there is never quite enough time when we are visiting, we felt refreshed and truly happy with the time we were able to be there.

Geoffrey meeting his Grandpa Dale for the first time.And his Grandpa Pat, too! So cuddly!I think this next series of pictures is too funny. Cousins, Benjamin (3 1/2 months) and Geoffrey (2 weeks), meeting for the first time...
Benjamin: Okay, so what's the big deal, Mom?
Geoffrey: Wait, what?! Who is this? Benjamin: Don't worry, Geoffrey. Its not so bad out here. I'll teach you the ropes!
Geoffrey: Oh no. No! He's holding my hand! And I have no arm control or strength to get away!Benjamin: Dude. You need to just chill out.
Geoffrey: I'm so done!!!Reuniting with Tucker was another big highlight of the trip. Brant finally outnumbers the girls in the household (even though Tucker still doesn't live with us).
Watching Maddie reunite with her cousins was pretty great, too! She had a blast with all of the girls! (And we had a blast watching her be entertained and engaged with others!)
Geoffrey was the best present under the tree, for sure!
And Maddie was a show-stopper!Geoffrey was pretty tired after all of the morning's festivities. Here he is with the beautiful blanket Auntie Amber knit especially for him! My little man was so cute dressed in his Christmas best!Maddie and Ellie in their Christmas best, too!Its tiring being so pretty! (Clearly Ellie is a bit older, and knows a bit more about modesty than Maddie :) )Geoffrey met all 4 of his great grand-parents! They were all delighted to finally hold the little man! Here he is meeting Great-Grandpa Doug.Something happened where I didn't get a picture of Grammy holding Geoffrey, but she did! Here she is holding Benjamin.
Here is Geoffrey meeting Pop-pop.And here he is meeting Great-Grandma Erna.Stay tuned for the second installment of our Christmas in Oregon, with highlights from our trip to Sunriver!

Geoffrey's first 2 weeks of life

Okay! We're back in business. I'm going to do my very best to catch up to speed with this blog, but you'll have to cut me some slack, as I'm still adjusting to losing most all of my free-time as a new mother of two. :)

This particular post should be titled "oldies, but goodies," because it is filled with highlighted pictures from the first two weeks of Geoffrey's life. He already looks so completely different. However, I still need to get these pictures on here to document, regardless of how much time has past, so here goes!

At his 2 week check-up appointment, Geoffrey weighed 9lbs. He is an eating champ!! He sleeps as well as you'd expect any infant to sleep, and when he is awake and not hungry, he is relatively mellow. This picture was taken when he was 2 days old.Nothing Maddie likes more than holding her baby brother!
Deep thinker, just like his father.
Daddy's pretty content.I adore this picture.
:)
Can't get enough kisses!Life in this family wouldn't be complete without a trip to Disneyland... That's right! We took our little man to the Merriest Place on Earth when he was 1 week old. Call us crazy, cause we are. But we are so glad we did it! He stayed in the stroller the whole five hours we were there, but it still was memorable. We now have the fun task of figuring out our new rhythm as a family of 4 in the park. We had our system down, and now we just have a bit of tweaking to do. :)

On the tram, ready to enter the park! (And, yes, I just finished having a conversation with Brant, wondering how old we should tell people our baby is, so as not to be judged at bringing a tiny newborn to Disneyland. Not to worry, we didn't lie, and no one hardly asked. :) Besides, Disneyland is for kids of all ages!)Little G earned his first pair of mouse ears on this trip!We are loving life and Geoffrey is the perfect fit for our family!