Finally...an update!!!!

Hey and howdy all...it's been a long time since I've posted anything meaningful here...so here's the news...

Eilish first...

I cannot believe her birthday is next week. I cannot believe that she is going to be 4!!! How did that happen???? Four years old...she's getting so big too...I just don't know what to do with her sometimes.

She's finally potty training really well. She is down to only wearing pull-ups during rest times...the rest of the time she's in underwear and she goes potty without too much prompting. I don't even know when the last time she had an accident was...she's doing so great...I'm so proud of her.

On top of that, she's finally growing some...those of you that got a chance to see her around Christmas likely noticed something...Cav was nearly as tall and nearly as heavy as she was...that has changed...quite a bit. Cav hasn't stopped growing...that's for sure (more on him later), but Miss Eily is now (finally) over 30 lbs and is a full head taller than her brother again.

She's so smart too...every night, Dad reads her a book and then tells her a short made up story before bed. Well, the last couple of weeks, she's turned it around on me. Now she's making up stories for me...it's really impressive. She takes the bits and pieces of all the "Princess Eily and Prince Daddy" stories that I've told her and uses them to create completely new stories.

On top of that, we're (mostly her nanny and her) working on teaching her how to write her letters and numbers and other general kindergarten prep. She doesn't start school until the fall of 2010, but I figured it was time to get her started...after all...the schools here require that she be able to read (at a "See Jane run" kind of level) and be prepared to start arithmetic when they enter kindergarten.

The best part is that Eily the camera ham has made a reappearance. It's not every time the camera comes out like it used to be (before her momma passed)...but it's a lot more frequent that it has been any time since then...see the pictures below.

Eily the ham...pre-haircut








Eily the ham...post haircut








Eily in some of her pretty new princess dresses










Cavan...well the kid is something else. He's huge (nearly 28 lbs last he was checked...he's got to be around 30 by now)...when you put him and Eily back to back, he's broader across the shoulders, chest and hips than she is...the only thing is, he's shorter.

He's also become much more physically adept...he's walking with absolutely no issues now, it's still kind of stiff legged, but he's well balanced and only crawls as a last resort now. He's taken to climbing anything he can...the couch, the toy box, the kids small play table...heck, this past weekend, I'm making his breakfast and I look over to the side and he's standing on Eilish's chair (at the kitchen table) leaning out trying to get his hands on one of her left over chicken nuggets from the night before!!!

He's also getting so smart...he can say a few of the typicals (Daddy, baby, momma, Hi, bye, hey), he's also got his sisters name down (Eily...not Eilish) and his nanny's (Ashley). He understands some signs (more, help, stop, all gone, milk, drink, eat) but he refuses to do them...he just sits there and smiles at you. He's started actually playing with his toys too...instead of haphazardly flinging them all over the room.

Cavy in his new "grown up" cloths






Cav the pimp...well kinda!








Yes, my children are bucketheads!!


All in all they're are a pretty amazing group of kids...I know they are what keeps me going. Anyway, enjoy the pictures...their should be a video below this...and I'll try and not be such a stranger...especially now that my computer is being somewhat more cooperative.

Dance of the Bucketheads

The "Great Cream Incident of 2008"

Alright, I've teased you with this long enough...I finally managed to find all the pictures and get a few minutes to post this...so here goes.

One weekend last October, Dad was out of the room for about 10 minutes. Now this isn't all that unusual around here. Dad does have other things to do...but I try and keep my time out of the room as short as possible...especially considering I was dealing with a (at the time) 3 1/2 year old and a soon to be one year old. So I notice that things seem abnormally quiet...and I go out into the living room and boy was I greeted with a sight. My son has pulled himself up on the doorwall and is smearing something white across the glass...now this wasn't even the best part...his hair, neck, face, hands and clothes were also completely white. The kid looked like a ghost!!! At his feet I find a (now empty) tube of Eucerin body cream (the really thick and heavy kind...not the nice thin lotion). Evidently, Christy had kept a tube of that in with the kids diaper creams and such...I didn't know that it was even there.

Anyway, I naturally panicked, the stuff was on his entire face...nose, eyelids, mouth...it was a mess. I through him right into the bathtub and literally scrubbed the kid pink. Came off of everything great...except for his hair. Now...I only have "after" pictures...I was (understandably, I think) more concerend with getting him cleaned up before had...but the pictures below were after washing his hair 6 times...2 with Johnson's baby shampoo and 4 with Dawn dish soap. His hair looked like this for days and it took weeks before it lost the really oily sheen that it had after the color went away...

A quick update

Apologies all, for the dearth of updates recently. Things have been crazy here in Washington. Between 3 years worth of snowfall already this winter, record setting floods, difficult flying experiences, a very uncooperative computer, and the economy now affecting what was supposed to be the one safe haven (Pacific Northwest companies have announced job reductions close to 100,000 in the last few weeks...including an upcoming 10,000 from Boeing). It has been difficult to get time to post...add to that, I went cross-country skiing last week and my butt's still to sore to sit comfortably for any period of time and it's just been a mess.

I have tons of stuff to post...Thanksgiving, "The Great Cream Incident", a retrospective on my life since Christy has gone, Christmas...I just have it all stored off my rapidly failing computer right now...I'll dribble bits of it out as I get my computer running again (or kick it to death...one or the other). For now enjoy the two videos from today of Cav and Eily dancing their little hearts out.

Also, I apologize to some of you whom I was supposed to visit while I was back in Michigan...my original flight home got canceled...we ended up almost a week late...and the pure, seething hatred that I developed for Northwest Airlines caused me to forget to bring my address book with me...so for those of you that are unlisted...I had no way of getting a hold of you...I apologize. We (or maybe just the kids) are likely coming back in the summer (or earlier if Boeing decides to RIF me)...so we'll work something out.

Holy Cow!!! He's 1 Already?!?!?!?!

Happy Novemeber all from a rainy, rainy, rainy Washington State. The weather this week has just been hideous...heavy downpours, gusty winds...clouds so heavy and dark that it's pitch black at 4pm...welcome to a Seattle winter! Ick. But, even the icky weather couldn't dampen our week...cause this week, Cavy turned 1!!! Freaky, ehh? I remember when Eilish was born...that first year seemed to take forever! With Cav, I feel like I blinked and missed the whole thing.

Remember when???


...and now!!!


Cav had a great day...he played, got presents, ate dinner, had cake...in fact we had so much fun it tuckered him out and he didn't get through all his presents. We opened the rest of them this morning (which is why I'm not posting this until now). So here come the pictures...there is also a video of him with his cake (Dad didn't make him a practice cake...this was his first experience) after this post...so keep scrolling down!!!

Cavy with his new toy from his Grandma and Grandpa's


"Look Cavy it goes like this..."


New Ride-On Leapfrog toy!!! Two minutes on it and he figured out how to scoot it all over the room!!!


PRESENTS!!!


Dad's contrived attempt to make cupcakes look like a real cake...


Dad's trying to get him to blow out his candle...Cav wants cake!!


Hey where did the rest of it go???


Oh well...I'll get it anyway!






Sister likes cake too.


Birthday extended...presents...Day 2.

It's that Halloween time of year

And so begins the crazy holiday rush...with Halloween...possibly the most difficult day I've had to deal with to this point. For those of you who don't know...Halloween was a big deal around our house...in fact it was by far Christy's favorite holiday. When we still lived in Michigan, we would do up to front yard big...dress up and have a party and hand out candy. Christy started planning the front yard around Labor Day. Couple that with the fact that this was Cavan's first Halloween...and it wasn't an easy day for me...

Just to give you an idea of what Halloween means to this family...here are a few pictures from Halloween 2005...our last Halloween in Michigan.









And now on to this year...our first contestant...attending her fourth (fourth...can you believe it????) Halloween...Eilish Danielle!!!

Getting our hair done


Test run with the crown


What's That!!!


Daddy...it's beautiful!!


Ready to go


Dancing Princess


Now...for those of you that do not know...this choice of costume, carried a certain level of irony to it. Not only is Belle one of Eilish's favorite Disney Princesses, but, when Christy and I got married...someone decided it would be amusing if the "Just Married" sign carried a theme. Beauty (Christy) and the Beast (me)...see the irony here? I tried to find a good picture of the sign...but the best I could come up with was the picture below...I hope it looks ok.



Now...for our second contestant...checking out his first Halloween...shortly before his first birthday...Cavan Gabriel!!!

Cavy the Mouse


Even well dressed mice need a drink once and a while.


Do I really have to wear this silly suit?


We had a great time...went to one of the local malls (shockingly...it was raining here...yes...rain...Seattle, I know...what a concept!) and walked around for a while. Eilish made a haul...aided and abetted by her completly indifferent brother...who had no clue what was going on other than the fact that his ears (Mickey ears) kept flopping down into his face...so Eily stole all his candy too.

Getting ready for trick or treat


Here we go!!


Happy girl after a long time of trick or treating


Tired boy after a long time of trick or treating


Thirsty boy after we got back...note he is wearing his first shoes!!! We took advantage of the fact that we were already at the mall!


Note I have lots more to tell you...I'm trying to organize the pictures for the first bit. I think we're going to call it "The Great Cream Incident of 2008"...more on that when I get it ready to go...I think I'm also going to do a retrospective of the insanity that has been the last year of my life. As many of you likely remember...we are rapidly approaching a year since Christy passed away and I think it's time that Dad sat back and went over the highs and lows of the year. Of course...there is Cavy's first birthday in there too. So provided Dad gets off his duff and actually does something, I should have a few more posts for you in the next few weeks.

More Summer Fun...playing in the water!!

Wow...what a summer

With summer winding down, I'm finally back with a new post...and wow, what a crazy summer it was. Grandma and Grandpa showed up in late June...grandma stayed with us until mid-July and then hijacked the kids and took the back to Michigan...leaving Dad here...all by himself. While the peace and quiet was kind of nice...I had quite a hard time adjusting to life without the kids.

Anyway...on to the kids.

Eilish is growing...finally. She's starting to fill out a bit (you can see in the pictures below)and has gotten a little bit taller. She's actually fitting 2T sized clothes really well and her 3T stuff doesn't look so huge on her anymore. Other than that, she is mostly busy playing and helping daddy keep track of her little brother. Although, she has developed a healthy obsession with the Disney Princesses this summer. Mulan is now her favorite movie...although The Little Mermaid, Snow White and Cinderella are very close seconds.

On the downside, the Wonder Peanut is starting to demonstrate her age a little. She's gotten moody, can swing from happy to sad in a second flat and is starting to get a little physical with her little brother when he does something she doesn't like...although that will end soon, I think...more on that later on. Typical 3 year old stuff...as annoying as it can get, it's actually a little refreshing to see her do something that is consistent with her age...instead of consistent with that of an older child.

And the biggest news of all...Eily has upgraded into a big girl bed! Daddy took the front off of her crib and made it into the toddler conversion. Her reaction was absolutely precious. We put her in it and she sat their looking around and says, "I am a big girl!" in the most astonished tone of voice. Up until that point, whenever we'd tell her she was a big girl her response was, "No! I tiny!".

Cav...what to say about the kid. He's nothing short of amazing. In the short amount of time that Grandma stayed with us, he went from doing the inch worm thing, to crawling, to pulling himself up on things, to cruising, to attempting to free stand in the middle of the room...he still can't do the last one yet...but don't tell him that. Since then, he's gotten to where he can pull himself up with one hand, stand with one hand (barely) holding on to something, transition between pieces of furniture while he's cruising around, and the kicker...he can walk while only holding one of dad's hands...not both. The kid is growing way to fast...for those of you keeping track...he just turned 10 months old a week and a half ago.

Speaking of growing...right after the kids got back from Michigan, Cav had a pretty good cold going. It seemed a little more persistent than normal, so I took him to the doctor (just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to his chest or something). So he got weighed again...21 lbs 14 oz. This was 4 weeks ago, already. Eilish at one, weighed 22 lbs...Eilish at 3 weighs 27...thus why I said that I don't think she'll be knocking him around for long. He may be bigger than she is now when he turns one at the rate the little horse is growing.

Anyway...I'm slowly going through the 700+ photos that were taken this summer between grandma and daddy. As I get them done, I'm going to put together slide shows like the one right underneath this post. Hopefully it won't take me forever to get the next one done!!! I will let you know as I get them done.