Lucy’s Blog

So….we’re moving!!! We’re staying in Boise but in 2 months we will be upgrading-BIG TIME. We’re moving about 4 miles away from our current house-we’ll be less than a mile away from Megan, Luke, and Porter!

My Aunt and Uncle are planning on retiring here in 2014.  They were here to visit at the beginning of January and found a house that they LOVED.  They put an offer in, it was accepted, and it closed today!One thing-they needed tenants!  The house is amazing-absolutely amazing.  One of the things that Shaun and I had to discuss was the fact that it might be hard to move out when the time comes because our future home probably won’t be this nice.  We ultimately decided that we could do it and the fact that the house is not in the neighborhood that we ultimately want to end up in would help us move out . Plus when we move, that means my Aunt and Uncle are here to stay!

We are very excited and a little freaked out.  I’m freaked out that I have to pack this house up-our last move was so massive-1,000 miles!!!! So I’m a little moving gun shy.  Shaun is freaked out about keeping the new place clean and the yard maintained.  The new house is TWICE as big as our current place (and almost 3 times as big as our condo in San Mateo).

I took screenshots of the virtual tour so I could show you our new abode (for the next 2 years!).

Front of the house:

Entry/Formal Living Room:

Formal Dining Room:

Eating Area/Kitchen:

Kitchen (See the counter space? The cupboards? The double ovens?):

Family Room:

Laundry Room (with heated floors!!!)

A bad picture of the downstairs powder room:

Office/Entry to Master Bedroom:

Master Bedroom:

Master Closet:

Master Bath (with heated floors!!):

Lucy’s Bedroom:

Lucy’s Playroom:

Guest Bedroom:

A bad picture of Lucy’s bathroom/guest bathroom:

Backyard:

Lucy’s play structure and play house (fully carpeted, working windows, and electric):

BBQ/Fireplace/Storage shed:

So yeah-we’re excited.  It’s going to be nice.  And even better?  My Aunt and Uncle will live here when it’s all over!!!

It’s been too long!  Shaun and I were talking the other day about the things that Lucy says and how she’s starting to correct herself as she becomes a better talker.  We wanted to write it down so that we wouldn’t forget.

-She calls herself “Soosy”.  She can say “Lu” but she is adamant that her name is “Soosy”.  In the past week or so, I’ve heard her say “Lucy” but she’s still saying “Soosie” more often than not.

-She calls glasses “Eye Sees”.  She’s started to say “Sunglasses” but they were “Eye Sees” for a very long time. (The transition to “Sunglasses” is what prompted this post.)

-She LOVES to read and loves to say “BE END!” at the end of books instead of “The End.”

-She really likes wipes but calls them “whites”. I’m guessing because they are white?

-Her dolls names are Baby, Mo, Pink Bow, and Two Bow.  I asked her today if Pink Bow (who she calls Pink for short) and Two Bow were sisters and she confirmed that yes they are sisters.  Good to know.  She also loves sleeping with her “BIG Atterpillah” (Big Caterpillar) and uses him as body pillow of sorts. When she wakes up in the morning she asks for “ALL Babies/Dolls and BIG Atterpillah” that means that we need to bring them all upstairs.

-Diapers are “Bipers”.

-She can now spell her name “L-U-C-Y LUCY!!!!” and then tries to spell other people’s names “T-U-C-Y Tessa!” or “W-U-C-Y Willy!”  At night she tells us “No Mommy.  No Daddy.” meaning that we’re not allowed to spell her name (we have since she was 6 months old using the letters on her wall) and that she’ll do it herself.

-She has started writing “W” and says “W!”.  That’s the only letter she writes so far

-She sings “Rock a Bye Baby” to all of her babies in the morning before we come to get her.

-She sings the ABCs and has them almost completely memorized.

-For awhile she would count to 10 but skip 4.  Now she counts to 10 but skips 5.

-She loves to “pat” Mommy and Daddy.  This has turned into more of slapping and hitting so we have to remind her to be “gentle”.  Sometimes she gets it.  A hard slap is almost always followed by, “I pat Mama. I pat.” Yeah it’s cute but doesn’t fly anymore!

-She likes to have 2 wa-was (water) with her at all times.  She’s had a cough recently and honey water helps that.  She asks for “1 honey wa-wa and 1 regular wa-wa”. Yes, she says “regular”!

-She LOVES to tell you that “Tessa is 1 and Soosy is 2!”  That will change in about a week

-She absolutely LOVES to cook.  She pretend cooks in the kitchen that Papa made her but she also pulls up a stool and say “I watch Mama cook.”  She then helps me with dinner and even got out an ice cream scoop the other night to beat eggs! “I stir eggs Mama!” She can name almost all the ingredients I use and knows that onions are “picy” (spicy) before they get cooked.  She knows to stay away from knives and the hot oven and stove.  She makes Daddy “rice and sauce” in her play kitchen almost daily and has been known to make “meat” and “mac n’ cheese” as well.  This morning she got bibs out and was putting them on her babies one at a time and feeding them “gapes” (grapes).

-She calls dark purple grapes, “Blueberry Gapes”.

-About 4 months ago she was stuck on “The Potty Book”.  We read that thing every night for about a month. Then she switched to “Lady Bug Girl”.  Then “Nigh Nigh Moon” (Goodnight Moon). Now it’s “Atterpillah Book” (The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and “Sushi Book” (A book about sushi).  She likes to sit in the rocking chair and look through the Sushi Book while Daddy or I sit on the footstool and read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to her.  She now tells you what is happening on every page and does understand the basics of a story.  It’s pretty impressive

-She LOVES to color and will do it at any chance she gets.

-She uses “Please” and “Tankyou” all the time and has even started saying “You’re welcome.”

-She loves to pick out her jammies and clothes every day and tells you “I chose!”

-She intersperses “Mama” and “Mommy”.  “Mommy” just started about a month ago.

That’s everything that I can remember right now but I will leave you with some pictures that I’ve taken recently.

(that is grape seed oil, not wine!)

Check out her “Atterpillah!”

(Farida does know how to spell “work” it just looks like “werk” )

Daddy dressed her-dots match dots, right?:

It has been COLD and snowy here in Boise.  The coldest I’ve seen is 1* on our outdoor thermometer and we’ve had snow on the ground since Monday. We woke up today to more snow!  There was a Christmas parade and the Farmer’s Market in Downtown Boise this morning so we bundled up and went!  Call us crazy

Lu in the car, ready to go!

Don’t the girls look happy?

Wouldn’t you be ecstatic if your Mom dragged you out to watch a line of Minis?

No? How about a snowman! On a Harley!

Really?  Are you having fun yet? Maybe not:

(I think my dear daughter is thinking “EFF YOU MOM.  This SUCKS!”)

The marching band that made both my sister and I start crying-they always do-WTF is up with that?!?!?!

Dancers…sort of dancing…

Isn’t this fun? Well at least there are candy canes!

(“Really Mom?  Really?  Even this candy cane can’t make me smile.”)

Cool old car:

These people said “EFF IT!” and put up there hard top.  How awesome is this car?!?

This float was so sad.  The characters were all falling over because of the snow

Horse-in a a blizzard! (not really)

We ended up going to a Vietnamese place for Pho and watching the rest of the parade from the window.  We saw Santa, sorta…The girls said they had fun or something like that…

  While we were doing that.  Daddy was out mountain biking.  No really!

He had a blast!  So did we-no really we did!

I’m loving the seasons here.  We’ll see if I say that in January or February or March….

On our way to Cabo, Shaun captured this gem:

We joked that this is them at 90 and they were on their way to the slots. Ha!

Wednesday was Shaun’s birthday (Happy Birthday Daddy!) and he wanted to go to a kid friendly place to eat so that Lu could come with us.  We went to Chili’s and on the way there all we could hear about from Lu was “cheese pissa!”

While trying to get that on camera, she surprised us with this:

Later that night she managed to ruin her brand new pink shirt, in the best way possible.

Even when she does something she isn’t supposed to it’s cute.

On Thursday Lucy didn’t take a nap at daycare.  On Friday, she was at Lissa’s house with our sitter in the morning.  I went to pick her up for naptime and the sitter said that she was REALLY tired (not surprising).  I brought her home and she DID NOT want to nap.  I rocked her for 10 minutes and she was still wide awake.  I put her to bed and she babbled for 40 minutes.  I went into her room and told her it was time to go to sleep (in my sternest voice) and rubbed her back. That seemed to help but as soon as I left the room she started babbling again.  Finally at 3 (I put her down at 1:30) there was silence and I thought, “Success!” 

I was working away when about 25 minutes later I hear light knocking.  I ignored it thinking it was just my house making noises.  About 2 minutes later I hear more knocking.  I get up to go answer the front door and as I pass by Lu’s room I hear the knocking coming from HER room.  I open the door and there stands my 2 year old on her stepstool in front of the door.  Apparently she had been trying to get the door open.  That silence?  Well that was her getting out of bed (which she has never done before without either Shaun or me in the room), taking her stepstool and using it to get her blankets and books off of her shelves and then to try and open the door. Oh yes, and to get into the Vaseline.

I didn’t notice at first that she was covered in clear goo.  I brought her upstairs to Shaun (who was home sick) and asked him to watch her for a little bit longer so that I could finish up work.  I came back upstairs and notice that she’s VERY shiny.  I asked, “what’s on her?” and Shaun said, “I think it’s spit.”  I go to wipe it off and know IMMEDIATELY that she had gotten into the Vaseline.  The picture above is after I tried to get it out.  Lovely, huh?  And she’s so dang proud of herself too!  Luckily she only got it in one place in her room (on her rocker) and after a good bath her hair is mostly back to normal, albeit a little greasy.

This weekend, Lucy has decided that big girl undies are way cooler than diapers.  One problem-she’s only ever gone potty once at home (2 weeks ago she poo’d-it was a big deal).  She tries and tries but nothing comes out.  Yesterday she wore undies all day (except for nap) and had one accident that really only got her undies damp.  Today, she insisted on the undies and sat on the potty numerous times with no success.  She wanted to go again and I was doing the dishes.  I was just getting my hands dried when she had a “BIG PEE” and then she got really upset and has been in diapers ever since.  I told her that that was what pee felt like and the next time she feels that way, she can always sit on her little potty (she likes sitting on the big potty).  I told her that she’s learning and that it’s okay.  I hope my little perfectionist isn’t beating herself up too much over the “BIG PEE” . We’re not pushing it and figure that when she’s ready she’ll let us know.  Truthfully, diapers are very convenient.  That being said, I’m not going to discourage any potty training!

Today she has been a bit of a grump.  She looked at me and said, “Mama, Soosie cutting a tooth." Wha?!?! I don’t think I’ve ever said "cutting a tooth". I confirmed that that is what she said and she nodded her head and pointed to where her 2 year old molars are coming in. Seriously?!?!

And, yesterday she told me, “Mama, behave!”

It’s a good reminder

My brother got married this weekend in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  I always hesitate to post when I’m going to be out of town because I worry that someone will break into my house or cyber hack me.  Is that weird?

We had a really great time.  Such a great time that I forgot to really take pictures.  I guess I was too busy enjoying myself   I didn’t even get pictures of Lucy and Tessa as flower girls-oops!  There are plenty of those from other people though and I’ll just have to wait until they are posted to share them with you.

My Mom and Dad, Aunt and Uncle, my sister and her family, and my family all shared a villa.  It was gorgeous and so much fun to just hang out with everyone.

Tessa enjoying breakfast:

The guys went fishing on Friday and caught a TON of tuna.  Here’s about 1/100th of it:

That is by far the freshest sashimi I have ever had!

These next few are blurry but oh so cute.  My Mom got the girls crowns for the rehearsal dinner.  They loved them!

Lucy helping Mimi decorate for the rehearsal dinner that we hosted at our villa:

The awesome Marichis that my brother hired-SO FUN!

Single for one more night!

I love this picture of them:

There was lots of diaper time!

Lots!

No really.

Did you know that they only make Cheetos, Fritos, and sugary cereals in Mexico?  No?  That’s what the girls think.

There was beach time. We went twice but I only got one picture?!?!

And, the only picture I took at the wedding?

That’s the father-of-the-bride’s dessert plate.

Perhaps it was all the killer Aunt Marci margaritas?

Wow! What a weekend! Lu got to wear her costume at least 5 times this weekend.  She loved it!  We’ve washed it and I’m sure it’ll be making an appearance again!

The first event? Playgroup where they practiced with their costumes, “bobbed for apples” (scooped crab apples) and “trick or treated” (they knocked on doors and Moms would open them and give them a block in their bucket-it was cute!

“Bobbing for apples”:

Lucy (the Giraffe) and Tessa (the Zebra) on their way to The Y Party:

There were too many people there for Lu’s taste but Tessa LOVED it:

On Saturday we went to the Boise Philharmonic Philharmonsters, first there was activities-an instrument petting zoo where Lu tried to play a violin but REALLY liked the xylophone.  Lu wanted her face painted but couldn’t get the nerve up to let the lady do it.  Mommy, Auntie Lala, and Tessa all got hearts but Lu wasn’t so sure.  After the activities, the different sections of the Philharmonic (strings, wind, horns) played spooky music. We were running into lunch and naptime and the girls lasted about 30 minutes.  It was really neat.  Here we are before going in:

Shaun got an ear infection this weekend and while he slept it off and after Lu’s nap, I went grocery shopping and Lucy hung out with Auntie Lala and Tessa.  Auntie Lala figured out how to get Lucy to wear her giraffe hood-wings!

It’s a fairy giraffe!

On Halloween, we took the girls in the wagon down to Harrison Street. 

On our way there we saw a beautiful double rainbow. What does it mean?!?!

Harrison Street is CRAZY on Halloween.  We just went to check it out and visit our friends that live there. They stop when they hit 1,000 trick or treaters!!! This was at 5:15-I can’t imagine it at 7 or 8!

Look at these pumpkins!

Trick or Treating was a success!

Next up? Unkie Jake and Aunt Amy’s wedding!

I have time to catch up!  Don’t miss the post below about our fun trip to the pumpkin patch!

We had a big and momentous milestone this weekend-Lucy moved into her big girl bed!  It’s really just her crib with the front part off and a bed rail on.  She can get in and out on her own though.  We decided it was time to make the move when she started standing on top of her front rail and yelling “HANDS! HANDS!” so that we’d give her our hands and she wouldn’t fall.  We thought it might be a good time to switch over before she actually fell.

Here’s Lucy, very seriously sitting on the edge:

I you look closely, you’ll notice Tessa is in the bed too.  That’s because they were doing this:

They jumped in the “Big Girl Bed” for about 30 minutes before dinner tonight.

They are so cute together.

Lu slept great in her bed the first night –over 12 hours.  She took a 3 hour nap today and then easily went down tonight.  Let’s hope this continues!

Lucy also took her first bubble bath this weekend!

Her skin is very sensitive so finding bubble bath that would work has proven to be challenging.  Auntie ‘Laina and Uncle Richard managed to find some for her birthday.  She had a great time!

As you know, Lucy has become quite the chatter box.  On Thursday she was in the car with Auntie Lala (my sister, Lissa) and she started saying “Boise, Idaho!”  So now when you ask her where she’s from, she’ll tell you. We think she got this from school?  Who knows!

She also LOVES Lady Gaga.  We have dance parties and anytime there is music on she asks for Lady Gaga.

As I mentioned above Lucy is going to “school”.  This week she starts going to daycare 3 days a week.  The other 2 days she’ll be with Tessa and their sitter Farida.  I only had care for 24 hours a week and it was proving to be too difficult with my full time job.  I found an AMAZING daycare here (after leaving several in tears) and Lucy LOVES it.  She gets very excited about school and tells us all about it when she gets home.  She went one day a week the last two weeks but this week starts her new schedule.  They have a class pet, a Guinea Pig named Lenny, they have music class on Wednesday, they have a learning statement everyday and learn a new ASL sign everyday.  Lu now knows “tree” and “leaf” in sign language.

Here she is on her first day:

They LOVE her at school and asked if she’s always so well behaved.  I told them that she is a good girl but she’s also 2 and as soon as she’s comfortable, I’m SURE they’ll see some of that come out.

What else?

She’s become OBSESSED with dolls lately.  Her two favorite she has named “Mo” and “Bow”.  Yes really.

She’s also OBSESSED with the necklace that her Gram and Pop sent her for her birthday.  She puts in on everyday and only takes it off to go to bed.  It has a special place in her bedroom so that she doesn’t lose it.  This girl can accessorize!

I picked out the clothes and she picked out the hat, bows, necklace, “bracelet” (an old rattle that is now a bracelet), purse, and boots.  I think I need to take a lesson from her!

In other news, she’s a counting super star.  She can now get up to 9 on her own.  Sometimes she goes out of order but most of the time she can go right up to 9.  Her sentences and story telling are getting more complex but she difficult to understand.  *I* can understand her, as can most of the people that see her everyday, but most people probably think she’s talking in gibberish. 

Her memory is also amazing.  She remembers stuff that is just crazy.  Farida is constantly commenting on how she can’t believe her memory.  If you tell her that she gets to do something after nap? She remembers.  If you tell her steps of what you’re doing, she remembers.  On Mondays, I have soccer and Shaun bikes to work. I’m supposed to drive Shaun’s car so that we can take his bike home in the car.  Last Monday, we went out and I got in my car and Lu said, “No Mama, Daddy’s car!”  I thought she was just being bossy, nope, she was right.  Shaun had to ride home in the dark that night. Crazy I tell ya!

We love our little Lu and can’t believe how fast she is growing (I think I say that every time I post).

Lucy’s 2nd birthday party was a success!

It’s party time people!

Follow the arrows!

Butterfly flag:

Butterfly mat:

Lucy is 2! (Papa did all the chalk work-isn’t he awesome?)

Fruit salad in a whale watermelon courtesy of Mimi:

I made Cilantro Jalepeno Hummus, Artichoke Hummus and then there was FISHIES (Lu’s favorite), pita chips, and fresh veggies.

Lucy has attitude!

Tessa!  In a dress!

Ollie, being all boy:

That’s better!

Daddy with Miller High Life-CLASSY!

Cupcakes! Auntie Lala outdid herself with the cupcakes:

Even though we sang Happy Birthday twice so that Lu could blow out the candle twice, I don’t have a picture of that on my camera?  I know Papa and Auntie Lala DO have a picture though.

The kids LOVED the cupcakes and ice cream:

Then it was time for PRESENTS!

All the kids had to help!

Bracelets!

Clues of what’s to come:

OHH!

What is it?

A Papa made kitchen!!!! Ollie knows what it is!

Lucy is figuring it out…

Pure love!

Lucy loves the kitchen so much that she doesn’t want to stop to eat!  She puts “water” in her glass, she opens the oven and says “Fareful! HOT!” She pulls things in and out.  She’s in absolute L-O-V-E.  Thanks Mimi and Papa!

Thank you everyone who made her birthday awesome.  We had SO.MUCH.FUN!

We’re moving in 33 days and I can’t believe it!!!  We’ve been incredibly busy.  We just got back from visiting my parents and work has been insane. Our visit was so fun!

It was a busy and fast visit.

Lu got to feed the fishies:

Pet the horsies:

Picked oranges:

Went swimming at Uncle Ben’s and Aunt Sheri’s:

Blowing bubbles:

Having fun:

Lu LOVED the pool and swam for a good hour.  She was stroking her arms and kicking her legs and LOVED jumping off the side.  She’d yell “Okay READY.  1-2-3!” and then she’d jump in.  She went under a good 10 times because she wanted to.  It was so cute.  She’s really become quite the little swimmer!

We also hung out with the doggies:

The next day we went to the beach (where it was incredibly windy!) and played with my oldest friend’s son Ben.  Lisa and I have been friends since we were 12!:

Isn’t Ben cute?

We went back to Mimi and Papa’s for dinner and Ben did some farming!

The kiddos played!

And then they modeled!

Ben LOVED Lucy:

Look at my girl!

And I picked up Ben and guess who HAD to be in Mommy’s arms?

Lu was such a good girl on the drive down and back.  I hope she can be that great when we have to drive to Idaho!

This weekend she started counting.  She can do 1-2-3-4 then 6 and 10, then “more, more, more” and we do it all over again.  She also started singing “Row, row, row” for Row Row Row Your Boat and her colors are coming along.  She gets red, blue, yellow right about 75% of the time.  Sometimes she’ll get pink and other times green.  Her talking continues to improve and we’re getting more 3+ word sentences.  She’s such a happy and sweet girl and she’s seems to be getting over her shyness a bit.  She was great this weekend and loved playing with her cousins and Ben.  She loved all the animals and gave lots of kisses to everyone.  She’s pretty attached to her Mommy and Daddy but I think that’s to be expected at this age!

Oh and strawberries!  I forgot to mention her love of strawberries.  She ate her weight in strawberries this weekend!  On the car ride home I kept hearing “Wawbewwies!  Wawbewwies!”  She ate a basket on the way home and then I cut her off.

She just gets more awesome everyday.