cute faces

Kai likes to stick her lower lip out as far as she can, then she sticks out her tongue and then smiles, all at the same time. It is hilarious, especially when she does it while eating. it cracks me up every time. Landon, has his own funny moments. I always get him up just before I go to bed to use the bathroom. He doesn't really wake up when I do this and barely registers that I am there. I will carry him the the toilet, and pull down his pants for him. His eyes don't open the entire time and his head is usually resting against me as he is still asleep. I did this the other day and I could barley get him to stand up, he kept falling to the floor he was so asleep. He is all floppy and sweet. Kai likes to give raspberries. She sticks out her lipes and makes funny noises, all while drooling madly over everything. It is adorable but wet. Landon has been practicing making funny faces in the mirror. He is getting very good at a few different ones. Ask him to do one for you the next time you see him.

playgroup and perfect moments

I had one of those perfect moments you occasionaly experience as a mom. Chad brought Kai to me in bed this morning. Then Landon came in, he usually asks to watch tv, but this morning he crawled under the covers with Kai and I and the 3 of us talked and cuddled for a few mintues until I had to get up. It was very sweet. Yesterday's playgroup went very well. There were 2 other families there. One was a mom and her little girl. The other was the mom and dad and their 3 little ones. After a while, one of my neighbors showed up with his little girl. All the kids had a great time and we spoke a lot of spanish. I think it is going to be very helpful to all us -no matter what language we will be working on. The other families seemed very happy to be included. This may be one of the first times the one family has been at an American's household that she did not have to clean and was a guest. We have decided that we need to keep getting together and are going to invite a few more families. Kai is so close to forward progress on her crawling. She can almost get it, then she falls flat. It will be any day now. I really need to put the baby gates back up. She almost pulled herself up today, got half way up then plopped right bak down.

teenagers can't drive!

Ok, not about my kids as much. We had another of those car accidents caused by teenagers being dumb. A teenage boy was driving 85 and racing on a little road with his 12 year old brother in the car. Not a good ending-from what the pictures show, there is not much left of either the boys or the car. They both died and the boy in the other car is in critical condition after being ai-lifted out. A girl in my Sunday School class (all high schoolers) tried to argue with me and tell me that some teenagers are good drivers-haven't met one yet. By definition, they aren't good at it. The problem is, they think they are. I can't imagine how hard it will be to let my kids drive, or worse, ride in a car with another teen. Kids can take driver's ed at 14 1/2-way to young! Every teen I know that age is way to distractable and impulsive. I have been drving a long time and I still make lots of mistakes. Landon will be the oldest in his class and will want his license before everone else. Yes, I know we have more than a decade to wait, but if you are a parent, you know what I am talking about.
Took the kids to church today, made it thru both Sunday School and the service with out getting paged to come to the nursery to take care of Kai. They love her down there. She is always smiling-and her smile is sooooo cute.
We have a playgroup coming over today-I will s[eak the best English and the worst Spanish of anyone here. In fact, I may be the only one to speak English. Hope it goes well.

new teeth!

Kai not only got her 1st tooth today, but she got her 2nd as well. They are little tiny, but man, are they sharp. Very pointy! She wasn't even being that fussy. Landon found my tape measure this afternoon and has been measuring everything. He keeps saying "sorry mom, this is taking a long time!" Not sure why he likes that phrase. We checked out the Montessori school where Chad works. I'm pretty sure we will put him in next year. It will be 5 full days a week. It will be a big change, but it will give me a chance to work more hours-hope I can find enough.

Most people have at least 1 story about when their kids were baptized. Landon has 2. He was baptized when he was 6 months old. His Mugga (my mom) was assisting and she was hold the baptism candle. He kept trying to get at it. The last time he tried, he almost got ahold of the lit candle-made everyone laugh. Now, fast-forward 3 years and it is Kai's turn. She is 2 months old. Landon was up front with us and ancy. he walked around a little and the elder who was with us motioned for him to sit down-at the piano bench -and it was open! He sat down and gave me a look that said " I am about to get into trouble, but it will be worth it!" He slowly pressed a key-not too loud. He then did it again! I finally had to go and get him. The worst part was that another couple was having their daughter baptized at the same time and it wasn't just us. I heard many stories that day about what other children had done and compared to those, Landon was tame.-lots of little boys stripping in the aisle. I did talk to a friend of mine who was at church that day and she said she didn't realize he had played the piano because it was so soft. Ah the joys of having kids...

to Grandpa's house we go....

We spent the weekend at my father-in-law's house. The kids had a great time-me too. They were great in the car. Landon had to stop to use the potty multiple times. It is not that easy to fit in those little stalls with a baby in a car seat, a 3 year old and an adult. Thank goodness for handicap stalls. Landon went to a State Park that had a touch tank. He worked up the courage to touch a sting ray.The last time he tried, he wouldn't even let me touch it. He was too afraid. He was really brave. He talked my ear off about it. He got to push buttons and listen to bird calls and baby alligator cries. A big day for any kid. Kai was a big hit. One person at the house was quoted as saying "I saw that smile of hers and thought 'what can I buy you?'" She is almost ready to crawl. She gets up on all fours and starts to rock. She manages to push her self backwards. Their arms are stronger than their legs and it makes them go backwards. She gets so frustrated that she can't go forward. If she gets any forward progress, she is so proud of herself. Their grandpa has full-length mirrors on the closets in the bedrooms. Kai had the best time playing in front of them. Looking from herself, to whoever else was in the room with a great big smile. The house has a great couch. Some of the seats are reclines. Landon had the best time pulling them out, sliding head first off of the them and jumping from seat to seat. It is a wonder he didn't break something. It was an interesting weekend and I am glad I took them. I was a bit nervous about driving them both by myself, but everything went well.

let me try this again

OK, maybe this time, my computer will work-last time, I ran out of juice because the power cord was shredded-could the culprit be the dog or the vacuum cleaner? Guess we'll never know. Landon is getting so big, which he constantly reminds me of. He will be 4 in September, but looks like he already is. We went to the sandbox today-he loves it and it is warm enough for us right now. We played the "attached to you game" with his sister. We take turns being attatched at the cheeks to each other. I am stuck to Kai and he ia stuck to me, that kind of thing-very cute. Kai is showing her personality already and she is stubborn. When I go to wipe her nose, she turns from me and keeps her head turned for a couple of minutes so I can't get to her, mind you, she is only 6 months old. We bought a "tickle machine" to cut Landon's and Chad's hair-it works well. we told Landon that he either had to get his hair cut or his fingernails cut-he opted for the hair-he hates the fingernails, he will scream like we are beating him the entire time we cut his nails. We literally have to hold him down to cut the nails and it takes both of us. Anyway, last night, we told him he had to get his nails cut and he immediatley said "no, I want my hair cut" then proceeded to pull the chair into the bathroom, climb on it and scream. If it wasn't so loud, it would be funny. The nails are cut and we live to tell another tale. Kai is asleep and Landon will be shortly. I am off to have a Margarita -yum