The things my kids say and do...

On Monday when I went and picked Easton up from pre-school his teacher told me that Easton and a boy named Jayden are become pretty good buddies. When we got home I started asking Easton about his day at pre-school.

Me: So I hear that you have a new friend named, Jayden.
Easton: Yep, and Aaron too.
Me: Oh, so Jayden and Aaron are your friends?
Easton: Yep, those my boys!

I'm working with Easton on learning to identify his letters and the sound each letter makes. He is doing pretty well but still has trouble with a few. Anyways today when we got to Dd he of course said B because he thinks b,d,and p (sometimes q) are all b because they all look pretty similar. Once I finally convinced him it was D then I asked him what sound D makes.

Easton saw the picture of the dog and said, "Dog!"
Me: "Dog starts with the letter D but what sound does it make?"
Easton: "woof, woof."

I have no idea where Easton picked this up (maybe from other kids at pre-school?) but anytime Blair does something that she shouldn't Easton will say, "Bad boy!" I don't like that saying but for some reason after the first time I told him not to say it anymore I corrected Easton by saying Blair's not a boy she's a girl so now when I tell him not to say it he says, "Bad boy, girl!" I guess I need to make myself more clear in more than one way! I also caught him a couple of times today spanking her after he said "Bad boy!" and when I was telling Nathan about this right before dinner Blair was behind me spanking me!?! Oh, how they catch on quickly...

Also randomly today Blair learned to put her pointer fingers in her ears. It looks as though she is going around thinking, "Nananananana I can't hear you!"

The last couple of days when Blair does something she shouldn't I will ask her, "Do you need a time out?" and she will without hesitation walk over to where Easton sits for time out and just sit there. I'm pretty sure to her it is just a fun game. Now when she gets out of time out I will tell her she needs to go and tell ______ sorry. It's funny because she does exactly what Easton does which is a soft brush of the hand against the person she is saying sorry to. We used to have Easton hug the person he was saying sorry to but for some reason the hug over time turned into a brush of the hand. Not sure how or why but I guess it still gets the point across that they are sorry. It is just funny to me the things Blair picks up on from Easton.

This is the face I get now anytime I pull out the camera to take pictures. Don't you just love cheesy faces?

Blair's also in the trying to jump stage. She will walk around the house and then out of no where she will yell, "jump" (only it doesn't sound anything like jump but the way she says it and the action that follows I know that it means jump) and she'll try to jump. I like this stage along with her trying to run stage. It is all just too cute!

I took the kids to a service project last Saturday. We were supposed to pick up trash around a local park. Easton actually surprised me and helped out a little. I think he just liked holding the stick that picks up trash. I'm pretty sure it was used more for sword fighting plants along the path than it was for picking up trash but he did pick up about 10 pieces of trash. After about a half hour he started complaining and wanted to go home. I told him that if he helped out a little longer than we could go to the park and play. I think that motivated him a little and we were able to do about 10 more minutes before he started complaining again. I brought my camera but forgot to take pictures of the service project but I did get a video of Blair going down the slide by herself. She loves slides!

I like how she has a hard time getting herself back up because her big belly is in the way!

Turtle Sandbox

We finally bought Easton the turtle sandbox! No, it wasn't because Nathan wanted his garden back. In fact I think Nathan gave up thinking he would ever get his garden back. What finally got Easton the turtle sandbox was when we found little surprises in the sand. Apparently our neighbor's cats decided to turn Easton's sandpit into their own personal walk-in liter box. It was disgusting and it smelled disgusting. What is even more disgusting is the fact that I have no idea how long Easton was playing in there with all that crap before we finally discovered it. I basically grounded Easton from playing outside until we got the sandbox because I knew he would go straight for the sand pit. I tried our local walmart but they were out of them and they weren't getting anymore. I tried Toys R Us online but with taxes and shipping it would have been over $80. Sorry but I wasn't willing to pay that much for a sandbox especially since it was about twice as much as I was expecting. Then with family in town/Easton starting preschool we basically forgot about the sandbox until one day last week when Easton snuck outside and I caught him in the sandpit. I called him inside and told him he couldn't play in the sandpit but not to worry because we were going to go right then and find him a sandbox. I'm really not sure why I told him that when I had no idea where I was going to find a sandbox and I basically promised him something I really had no idea I could keep. I got online and looked for the closest Toys R Us. Supposedly there is one a couple of miles from me but I never found it. Luckily I thought about calling another walmart before we left to see if they had any turtle sandboxes. They told me they did but they also told me they had swimming pools with a slide a few months ago too and it turned out they didn't so I was a little worried about making the trip out there. Luckily they did and best of all it was half off the original price. I got his sandbox for $19 plus tax. I can't believe I lucked out that much. I would have been more than happy to pay $40 for a poo free sandbox and a happy little boy!

Unfortunately Easton didn't get to enjoy his sandbox for very long the first night. Blair kept taking the sand toys out of the sandbox which made Easton upset so he took a handful of sand and threw it right into her face. Her eyes were wide open so she got lots of sand in them. Let's just say the rest of the evening wasn't enjoyable for anyone. I eventually got all or at least most of the sand out of her eyes but that wasn't until after everyone on my block probably thought I was trying to murder my child. She did not, in the very least, like me washing her eyes out with water.

On a positive note Blair is learning to say and sign more words. She's signing please and thank you now. She is also signing hot but it looks very similar to thank you instead of hot but if she blows after she signs thank you then I guess it means hot. She loves ring around the rosie and will say "Dow" for down right before she falls down. She is also saying "boo" when she plays peak a boo. I swear she made a barking sound "woof" after I said and signed dog for her.

One of my favorite things right now (just started yesterday) is when it is time to change Blair's diaper I will tell her to get me a diaper, which she will, but then she will lay down and stay put while I change her. I"m pretty sure I could get used to this but I'm guessing it is just a phase. I actually wouldn't mind changing diapers if it was always this quick and easy.

Easton's new favorite saying, "okey dokey artichokey". He's pretty funny and cute.

Grandma's visit!

Grandma Uehling (Nathan's mom) flew into town for about 5 days. She came the day after Gpa and Gma Kelsey left. It has been great having so many visitors this summer. Nathan's been on a crazy rotation these last few weeks so unfortunately he wasn't able to spend much time with his family. I'm pretty sure it was okay because I think secretly grandparents come mainly for the grandkids. Nathan had one day off so we took Gma to San Francisco that day. We took the ferry over which the kids seemed to really enjoy and I think/hope most of the other passengers enjoyed having my kids on board too. Blair loved walking all around the ferry and going up to everyone. She especially liked the stairs and the people that had food.

Everyone on the ship

View of Alcatraz.

Once we got to San Francisco we went into a couple of stores so Gretch could buy some memorabilia stuff. While Nathan, Easton and I were busy buying some salt water taffy, Gretch and Blair went into a different store. When we met up Blair had on pair of Sun glasses. I figured Gretchen had bought another pair and let Blair play with them. Nathan finally noticed them and asked where Blair got the sunglasses. Gretch didn't even know Blair had them. Yes, we have a little thief on our hands! Luckily the store was right there so Nathan just brought them back.

Nathan watching the magic show. We all shared a crab cake (my 1st crab cake).

Of course we saw the sea lions, got some bread from (I can't remember the name of the place) and went to Ghirardelli's. We only got the free sample since we still have some chocolate from the last time we were there (surprising I know!). The sample was pumpkin spice with caramel. It was actually really good!

Gma and Easton watching the sea lions.

View of Golden Gate Bridge

Ghirardelli square

Gma and Blair standing in line for trolley.

Dad and Easton waiting in line to get on the trolley.

We also took the trolley to China town. The trolley wasn't quite what I expected but I'm glad that I got to experience it. We took the kids to a local park to let them run around for a while before we hit up some more stores in China town. We got some really cute Chinese pajamas for the kids while we were at China town. Also in China town I had a woman ask me to take her picture. I didn't think it was all that weird until she started posing with Easton. I have to admit I was a little worried that she was going to steal my child. Speaking of weird people taking pictures of my children. There were two other people that day who randomly took pictures of my kids as we passed them on the streets in San Fran. I know my kids are cute but come on people that is just weird!

Dad, Easton, and Blair on the trolley.

View from the trolley.

Blair on the slide. I love her belly hanging out!

Easton on the playground.

This is where the lady wanted her picture taken with Easton.

We decided to take the bus home instead of the ferry since the departure time was sooner than the ferry but Blair was not very happy. She didn't get a nap all day so she was really tired. I finally got her asleep when we were about 2 minutes from getting off the bus. I'm pretty sure those around us weren't too thrilled having a screaming baby for about half their bus ride. I'm not sure the ferry would have been any better but we could have at least got up and walked around which I think would have helped.

During Gretch's stay we also did some shopping around Vacaville/Fairfield and the kids and I took Gma to six flags for a few hours while Nathan took a nap from being on call the night before. As we were about to leave six flags I took Blair to the bathroom to change her diaper. While I was walking back I see Easton pulling his pants down. I start yelling, "Easton no, no, no pull your pants up." This is about the time that Easton starts peeing on the walkway. I was so embarrassed. But wait! It gets better. Apparently Easton's pee splashed on Gma's leg. LOVELY! Way to make your mama proud! I wasn't as embarrassed when I found out that Easton had asked where I was and said that he wanted to go to the bathroom too! I guess grandma just thought Easton wanted to go to the bathroom because I was in there not because he actually had to go. Oops! I knew I should have taken him first. I still feel bad that he peed on gma's leg though. Sorry about that. Gma also came to church with us for sacrament which was nice for me to have someone there to help with the kids.

Thanks Gretch for coming to visit us. Easton still wakes up every morning asking about you.

Easton's first day of pre-school!

I can't believe my baby boy is all grown up and going to pre-school already. I can't say that I was ready for him to go but I knew he would enjoy it and that it would be good for him to get out and interact with other kids his age. I admit it is weird not having him around for 3 hours 3x a week. Blair and I both don't seem to know what to do with ourselves. It will be good for Blair though too so she can have some one on one time with mom. I was reminded last week how much easier going to the store is with just one child. I think I could get used to that and I'm sure Easton won't miss that since he hates to shop!

Easton 1st day of pre-school!

Easton and Blair.
Its not the greatest but neither would cooperate and I had to snap it quick and get Easton to pre-school so I could go pick up Grandma Uehling from the airport.

After a whole week of pre-school Easton seems to really enjoy it. He is learning all kinds of things.

His family.
According to Easton he is an only child or maybe he wishes he was an only child? Ms. Laurie (Ms. Valerie's assistant) asked him if he had a brother and he said no. Then she asked him if he had a sister and he said no. She doesn't know Easton very well but she was pretty sure that he had a little sister and asked him again. He still said no. Ms. Valerie told Easton that he did to have a sister but then Easton wouldn't tell Ms. Laurie what Blair's name was so she just wrote baby sister. Even after a week he still won't tell Ms. Laurie what his sister's name is.

Learning colors. This month it is yellow, blue and green. Yellow + blue makes green.


I learned a few things about Easton that I didn't know. Apparently his favorite color is red. Usually when I ask him he tells me green or blue. His favorite food is bananas. I would have guessed pizza since that is usually what he asks for. The day after he brought this home he did ask for and eat three bananas. Of course his favorite show was Diego. He loves that movie! And his who's who wouldn't have been complete without something to do with Dinosaurs.

He is also learning about circles, the letters m and a, how to pronounce them and sign them. He also knows the sign for apple even though half the time he will tell you it's pear.

Besides what you will see later on in this post (which happened over a month ago) I would say that Easton has really started to mellow out. Yes, he still has his moments but those moments are not as frequent as they used to be. He's hardly ever in time out now and he's more willing to do the things I ask him too. My favorite words now (besides I love you) is "okay mommy!" and "sure!" I hardly ever have to fight him to do things now. It is wonderful! On the down side...Blair is starting to fill those shoes.

The other day I was getting Easton ready for the day and while I was helping him get dressed this was our conversation...
Easton: "I told you it was big!"
me: "What are you talking about? What's big?"
Easton: "My butt!" (as he is shaking it from side to side) "Just like yours!"

Thanks buddy! I know I can always count on you to tell me the truth!

Easton loves this book! He got it from the summer reading program at the library. He pretty much has it memorized and will go around singing it.

We went to the tomato festival in fairfield over a month ago to check it out but to be honest it really wasn't all that exciting. They did have some fun blow up toys for the kids to play on so we bought some tickets for Easton to play on some of them. Of course when we ran out of tickets Easton threw a fit because he wanted to play on the other toys. Sometimes I wonder why we do nice things for kids like this when it seems like either way (letting them do it or not letting them do it) the end result will be them throwing a fit? Anyways, he seemed to have fun in the process...

Easton on the titanic slide.

Video of Easton on the slide:

After the festival we did some grocery shopping. Easton found a dinosaur toy and wanted it so I figured while we shopped that he could play with it. Sometimes a distraction makes shopping more enjoyable. We passed the bin full of balls and like I mentioned in the other post Blair freaks out every time we pass it. I had my camera so I thought it would be funny to get it on tape. Unfortunately Blair was distracted at first by the camera but then we made the mistake of putting the dinosaur toy away and Easton's tantrum distracted her enough that she didn't even notice the bin full of balls.

Video of Easton's tantrum:

I love you EE! Thanks for being my buddy and always wanting me to cuddle with you when you go to bed at night. I know it won't last forever so I will cherish it while I can.

Blair at 15 months

This little girl just cracks me up! She is sooooo busy, busy, busy. I swear she never stops moving unless she is sleeping or eating (and that might be debatable). She definitely takes after her mommy. I remember in 1st grade my homework assignment was to practice holding still for 5 minutes every night. My mom would set the timer for 5 minutes and I would just have to sit there on the living room couch for what seemed like forever. It was definitely hard work! I have a feeling that Blair might have similar homework assignments in the near future.

Another trait Blair gets from her mommy is the love for food! She is definitely better at sharing than I ever was but she definitely loves her food and I swear she could eat forever. I think she is always hungry and constantly eating because she never stops moving. One of her favorite things to do with food is to rub it in her hair. I have no idea why but I swear she never leaves her high chair without some kind of food in her hair. And I wonder why her hair always looks greasy...

Blair after eating yogurt. I'm still not sure what got more her hair/face or her mouth/tummy.

Just recently she has started to copy what I do. If I'm brushing crumbs off of her or something else she will do the same. If I'm sweeping the kitchen floor she will come up and pretend to sweep the floor too. If I'm cleaning with a towel she will do the same motions too! It's pretty cute!

One of Blair's favorite things to do now is to pour water on her head when she is in the bath tub. Tonight at dinner she took her cup and tried dumping it on her head. Luckily it had a lid on it but because it had a straw in it too some water was able to come out and ice cold water leaked on her head/face. She definitely had a surprised look on her face but that didn't stop her from doing it again and again.

The other day I started a bath for Blair and Easton and told them to come up the stairs. While they were making their way up I went into each of their rooms to grab clothes for them. I called Easton's name thinking he was still on his way up but when his answer came from the bathroom I was a little surprised. I walked in to find Easton already in the bath tub. That wasn't a big deal since he usually undresses himself and climbs in the tub by himself but I wasn't expecting a little girl in there too! Normally Blair waits somewhat patiently outside the tub for me to take her clothes off and lift her in but not this time! She was fully clothed and splashing away. She did look up at me briefly to give me a huge smile before she went back to her splashing, but she really didn't care that her clothes were soaking wet and her diaper became 10 pounds heavier in just a few seconds.

Happy wet girl!

Blair's favorite word is probably ball pronounced "ba". This was her first word besides mama and dada. She loves balls. In fact I would almost say she is obsessed with balls. When we are at the store and she sees the huge ball cage full of balls she goes berserk. I broke down once and bought her and Easton one thinking that might calm her down for future trips, but no, she is still as crazy as ever!

Other words Blair says: more pronounced "Mo" (she signs this one too), no (she can't do this without shaking her head and pointer finger at you), and today I heard her say mine for the first time pronounced "My" as she was pulling a stuffed animal away from Easton and bringing it closer to herself (oh how we love the word mine).

Signs: more, all done, eat, bush teeth, bath (kind of), and help (kind of).

She shakes her head yes and no and knows exactly what she wants/doesn't want. She'll answer just about any yes/no question you ask her.

She's becoming more and more social. She's not afraid to leave my side anymore and she will even go to people she doesn't really even know.

She likes to pull hair and when she gets tired she will smack you in the face and throw tantrums. She is also starting to throw tantrums when she doesn't get her own way.

She hates getting her hair done and getting her diaper changed. She runs away and I'm guessing it's because she knows she is about to be forced to hold still. Her little run is pretty cute (probably because I can keep up with her).

She loves her blanket. The first thing she does when she wakes up is hand you her blanket so she can lay her head down on it and on your shoulder. She drags it around with her and gets really excited to see it when she hasn't seen it in a while. She loves to cuddle with it. She has also been known to randomly put it over her head and walk into things (i.e walls, people, appliances, etc.)

She will now fold her hands for prayer but only for about 5 seconds because like I said she is busy, busy, busy!

For over a month now I've been trying to get a video of Blair playing peek a boo but she must be camera shy. Here's somewhat of a video of her starting to play peek a boo but really I just like her stinky face at the end.

Kelsey Family Visit 9-6-10

This was Sunday when all the kids (minus Brae who was playing wii) attacked Gpa. He was such a good sport!

Monday we took the kids to 6 flags. It was definitely a full day but they all had fun. We were a little bummed because we thought they were open until 8 and were disappointed when 7 came around and they announced the park was closing. We promised the kids a water ride and weren't able to live up to it because they were closing. I think the kids got over it though once they all got stuffed animals and flashlights from Gpa and Gma. Thanks guys!

Right when we entered the kids got their picture taken with these two characters.

The whole crew checking out the penguins.

We saw the sea lion show.

Easton and grandpa hanging out while the two older (taller) kids rode a ride.
Easton wasn't very happy that he couldn't ride with his cousins so while they went and rode another big kid ride I took Easton and Blair to loony toon town.

Blair sitting in the big chair.

Finally Brae and Ella met up with us and Easton finally got to ride some rides with his cousins.

We had to stand in line for about 15-20 min to get into the water park (20 people at a time for 5 min) and Easton basically refused to get wet. I don't know why because it was so hot outside. It wasn't until about 30 second left of his time that he finally started to play with some water. Of course he was really upset when he couldn't play anymore and had to leave.

Braeden getting wet!

Ella getting all wet!

Double swings! Nathan got off work and joined us for a couple of hours.

My cute boys!

Easton, Braeden and Ella


Video of the three of them riding the ride:

I like how Easton had his hands up for the entire ride. Such a daredevil!

Dolphin show

One last pic of my favorite little girl!
This was the second time she has lost a binky at 6 flags. We don't have anymore so I guess this is goodbye to the bink for good. I'm really not looking forward to church on Sunday.