2013 Nativity

Riley is a typical oldest sister in many ways...at least typical in my experience, and Scot's. She and her brothers worked on this "play" all afternoon, and were excited to perform it for us on a Sunday evening.

Sleepover

Riley and Asher shared a bedroom in our last house for a little over a year, and they loved it. Now Riley has her own room, and Asher shares with Tyson. Before the move, they were both disappointed when  we told them of the upcoming changes to their sleeping arrangements. Scot and I really had to do some convincing. We got Asher excited by promising him the top bunk, and Riley was sold on the promise of a "cute, girly room."

They settled in quickly after our move, and are both content now. But we occasionally let them have a "sleepover" together in the guest bed. Now that Riley's in school and we're stricter about bedtime on school nights, this may become a semi-regular weekend treat for the two of them.

Superkids

We gave the kids capes and superhero masks for Christmas. Riley loved hers immediately, but Asher took a while to warm up to his. Now he won't take off his orange cape and blue mask. In addition to playing in the at home, he has worn them to the grocery store more than once, and to a friend's house for dinner. Because Tyson adores Asher so much, lately he wants to wear his blue cape too.

Catching Up

It's been a busy month, and unfortunately I haven't taken a lot of pictures. But here are a few to catch you up on what's been going on in our family. 

This scene captures the sentiment of all five of us in the weeks between Scot starting his new job in Denver and our move. Having him gone so late was a hard adjustment for all of us, and we're happy to have him home at a normal time each day again.

I wish I could remember what they were so excited about when I was taking this one. Maybe it was because they were cuddling under that huge, super-soft afghan that I found for $4 at Goodwill. Maybe it was that we were days away from selling that awesome blue sofa on Craigslist. Or maybe it was just because Mommy actually got the camera out.

The first thing Scot did the day we got into our new home was set up the boys' bunk bed. Asher had been talking for weeks about sleeping on the top bed when we moved. The boys share a room now, and this was the first night Tyson slept in a "real" bed off the floor. Luckily he loves the bed, and has only fallen off once. That we know of.

Riley wasn't thrilled about sleeping in a room by herself, but we successfully convinced her of the benefits of having her own room. The selling points were: she could keep the furniture and dolls in her dollhouse and not worry about her brothers scattering them all over our real house; she could make her bed more easily if she wasn't on the top bunk (She loves making her bed. Weirdo.); she could let her brothers in the room whenever she wanted, but close the door and keep them out at her discretion; we promised her a new girly bed and cute furniture. She loves her new room, and especially the "princess net." One of the next projects on our to-do list is to paint her dresser purple. So far she has been very liberal about letting Asher in the room, but Tyson doesn't often get the privilege. Fortunately there is a shelf full of puzzles just outside her bedroom door, so he doesn't seem to mind.

Time Out Together

Do you cringe a little when you find yourself doing or saying things your parents did when you were young? Especially things you hated when you were young? I do, every time. But I still repeat my parent's methods on a fairly regular basis.

Like earlier this week when Riley and Asher were fighting with each other. I put them in a time out together for the first time. My Dad would have made them put their arms around each other. (My sisters and I HATED that.) But because of the height difference between my two kids, I made them hold hands instead. They were giggling with each other in no time.

An Exciting Week

Aside from the biggest news we've had in a couple years, there have been some other fun developments at our house this week. Asher identified his first color: pink. It shouldn't be to hard to guess why that was the first color he learned, and who he heard it from so much. I was wearing a multi-colored striped shirt yesterday. As Asher sat in on my lap before his nap, he pointed to one stripe and correctly said, "Pink." I thought maybe it a lucky guess, but then he searched out every pink stripe on the shirt and did the same thing. Even more endearing was just after I got dressed the day before, he pointed to the sweater I was wearing and said, "Cute." It sounded more like "coot," but I knew what he meant. He did the same thing to Scot's shirt last night.

While Scot was out of town last weekend I put up our Christmas tree, and the kids and I had a great time decorating it. We waited until Family Night when Scot was back to put up everyone's favorite Christmas decoration: the Christmas train! Both kids get such a kick out of it, but Asher especially can't get enough of it.

We have three bedrooms upstairs. Ever since we decided to adopt another child, we've been telling Riley that when Asher got older, he would move into her room and share the bunk beds with her. The initial plan, which she was on board with, was for her to take the top bunk and Asher the bottom. But since then, she developed an acute fear of the smoke alarm on the ceiling directly above the beds, and by association, the top bunk in general.

Last night we made the jump, and moved Asher into Riley's room. In order to make it possible, we separated the beds and left the top bunk rails in place for Asher.

So far they think it's great. Asher is so pleased to be sleeping in the new bed, and Riley is much less nervous about the dark bedroom. And the fact that they are both actually excited to go to bed is enough to make Scot and I thrilled with the change.

Best Buds

Nothing makes me happier than when my kids are having fun with each other. Asher is old enough now to go along with (some of) Riley's ideas. She gets a little bossy some times, and when Asher has had enough, he finds the nearest exit. But most of the time these two get along fantastically!

Quick Albuquerque Trip

Scot was asked to visit a client in Albuquerque last week, so the rest of us tagged along, of course. It was a quick trip: one day in the car, three days there, and one more day to drive back.

In addition to plenty of books, games and snacks to keep the kids entertained, we also broke down and let them watch a DVD. I picked up a copy of Lady & the Tramp just for the occassion. Both kids love dogs, so I wasn't surprised that they enjoyed the movie. Riley, however, did not love the mean dogs that chased Lady. 

We stopped at a park about halfway there for lunch and a little exercise. Both kids fell asleep soon after we got back on the road.

We swam with cousins on Saturday morning and then went to Dion's, Scot's favorite pizza/sub place, for lunch. Granddaddy made us pancakes and fresh-squeezed juice on Sunday morning. Then it was church, Sunday dinner, and more playtime with the cousins.

We were out the door early Monday morning to meet up with friends at the zoo. The weather was perfect and the zoo was just the right size.

Riley hasn't seen the Simonsen girls since we moved from Austin when she was a year and a half. But it didn't take long for her to warm up to them, and soon she and 5-year-old Emma had declared themselves the leaders of our little group.

This chair reminded me of King Louie's throne on The Jungle Book. And the girls were more than happy to pose in it.

Riley has been enamoured with peacocks ever since we saw one at the Denver Zoo in April, so we were delighted to see a mama peacock (actually, a peahen) with two little peachicks. They were adorable and let Riley get surprisingly close.

On our drive home we stopped at Burger King, since it was the only place only the way with an indoor play area. Riley and Asher were excited for their free crowns, although they couldn't have cared less about the faces that were decorating the crowns.

Otherwise, it was an uneventful drive home, thankfully.

Catching Up

Who, me? Behind on blog posts? Never! Okay, I am making a commitment to myself to add a post each day until I'm caught up.

In the meantime, I found a video that was taken a week before Asher's birthday back in January. Enjoy!

Siblings

If only it were this easy. For some reason, this commercial just touched me differently and brought out the miracle of life. It also reminded me how much love there can be between siblings.Riley and Asher have been so cute together lately. The other night, I was sitting in the recliner in the basement and Asher was sitting in a baby doll stroller. Riley pushed him down the hall and I heard some laughing, then the stroller came back into the main room with Riley sitting in it and Asher pushing it.

Becca told me that the other day, during quiet time, Asher was calling for "Why-wee" over and over (this is common in the morning and quiet [nap] time when he is up and Riley isn't). Asher made his way upstairs and called for her outside her bedroom door. She wasn't napping, so she stuck her fingers under the door and he would grab them and yell, "Why-wee!" Becca opened the door, the kids acted like they hadn't seen each other in weeks, they hugged and kissed, then Riley was sent back into her room for more quiet time.

Their Favorite Things

Riley's new favorite song is "My Favorite Things" from "The Sound of Music" soundtrack. She especially loves the "When the dog bites, When the bee stings" part. Singing it to her this morning made me think of more of my kid's favorite things right now.

Asher and Riley both loves books. One strategy I've tried to employ lately to get things done without having them underfoot is to have Riley "read" to Asher. It sounds like a fantastic solution, in theory. In reality, Asher seldom sits still for her, Riley doesn't like sharing the chair with a wiggly boy, and her arms aren't long enough to keep him from trying to eat the books. But when it has worked out, it's adorable.

Riley has never been a big fan of bathtime. Her brother, on the other hand, has always loved being in the water. And his enthusiasm is starting to wear off on her. The other night Riley was at the front of the tub and Asher was at the back. She was occupied with a bath toy as Asher crawled toward her and watched her for a second. Then he raised a hand in the air and brought it back into the water, right next to Riley. Then he waited for her reaction. Unfortunately for him, she didn't seem to notice. So he crawled back to his spot and found a toy of his own. A few minutes later Riley had moved closer to Asher. He looked up from where he was sitting, smiled in her direction, and deliberately splashed her with two hands. This time she noticed and laughed. Asher responded by giggling, and it quickly turned into a splash fight, with both of them squealing and laughing.

Lastly, the two of them both really like each other. Riley has lots of pet names for her brother, including "Cute Boy," "Ashee," and "Handsome." And just in the past day or two Asher has started saying her name a lot. When Riley is in preschool or taking a nap, and it's just Asher and I, he'll repeat "Wywee" over and over.

Sunday Best

I have photos and video to post of Thanksgiving and all the cousin madness that overtook our house for a couple of days. But I just couldn't wait to get this photo of Riley and Asher up here. Asher's birth family sent these adorable outfits. How cute are these kids?

Catching Up

I've managed to get way behind on this blog, so here is a quick catch-up post of our autumn so far.

Soon after Asher began crawling he discovered the most fantastic baby toy: a big box! It kept he and Riley occupied for quite a while one evening.


At the end of September we celebrated the end of summer with a block party. We had a great time getting to know our neighbors better, eating some great food (including s'mores over a fire pit), and being entertained by a pinata and a water fight for the kids. Riley loves all the kids in the neighborhood, and as one of the girls said today, "Riley is like the celebrity of the neighborhood."


Less than two weeks later we were hit with a decent-sized snowstorm. Riley was very excited to wake up to snow, and insisted on playing in it before she had even changed out of her pajamas.


Fortunately we were able to salvage our tomatoes, even though they weren't ripe before the freeze. We planted one heirloom variety and weren't sure what to expect from them. They turned out to be HUGE! And a little crazy looking too. But not bad tasting, and one slice was big enough for an entire sandwich or burger.


We finally gave Asher his first haircut. We stripped him down and cut it in the empty bathtub for easy clean-up. He was so cooperative! He just played with his favorite bath toys and let us move him around as we needed. The haircut itself turned out pretty well, and I think he looks even cuter now than he did before, if that's possible.


Two days after his haircut we took some photos of Asher dressed up for church.


Asher continues to be a picky eater. I'm still not sure whether it is tastes or textures that he has problems with, or a combination of both. After I had given up trying to feed him sweet potatoes one night, Riley jumped in and had much better luck.

New Game: Giggle Ball

Riley and Asher play for a record-breaking (for them) amount of time. Asher giggles like a, well, a baby. Asher "pets" Bernie. Riley takes photos of the family. And I finally experience one of the benefits of having two kids.

Cheap Entertainment

Now that Asher is becoming more interactive, Riley has a lot of fun playing with him and getting him to laugh. And he just eats up any attention he gets from her.

Teamwork

This bubble blowing is Asher's new favorite trick. He kept himself entertained this way for about 30 minutes in church last Sunday.

Tea Party

Riley will often tell us that Asher will be able to play toys with her or play Ring Around the Rosies with her when he’s bigger. But the other afternoon she found a way to include him in her play while I was making dinner.

Asher may not have enjoyed the pretending as much as Riley did, but look at the smile he’s giving her. He loves the attention from her!