There's a new doctor in the house...

Anderson and Adeline are already becoming great play-mates.  Anderson is really getting better at being gentle with her and learning how to "play" with her.  To Adeline, Anderson is king.  He can make her smile and laugh at any given moment.  Her eyes are always on him.  To Anderson, Adeline is his princess.  He is very protective.  At the gym last weekend I spied on the two of them in the middle of my workout and found Anderson right where I left him...right in front of his sister's carseat.  He was sining to her and dangling a toy above her.  The gals in the child care center said that he did this for most of the 60 minutes they were in there.

I caught this play-time on video the other day.  Anderson loves playing "doctor" and frequently (almost daily) asks Brad if he can work with him at his hospital when he grows up.  The two of them (Anderson and Adeline) were playing like this together for at least 30 minutes while I was cooking dinner.  I love this!!  

The Adventures of Huder

Huder (hooter) is our "elf on a shelf" and he's had quite the adventurous stay at our house.  Anderson was very upset with him the first time he messed with his toys but now he thinks its pretty funny what kind of fun things Huder does while we are sleeping.  Here is a sample of where he's been and what he's been up too.

A hiking we will go...

As the holiday season sets in...and the rain, I think fondly of the warm summer months and the beauty of the mountains.  We love hiking and hope that our kids will love it too.  Anderson is well on his way.  He is usually pretty good for at least a 2-3 mile hike before he needs a ride on dad's shoulders.  Each season he gets better and better.  Adeline, of course, will get to enjoy a free ride up the mountains in the Ergo for the next couple of summers!  We were not able to get up to the mountains as much as we like this summer but we did get up a few times.  Here are some photos...enjoy!  We did!!

Arboretum in Seattle...on a scavenger hunt made by dad!

Hiking with dad in the Cascades

What kind of crazy animal is in that tree?!?

Hiking up Little Si

Pointing to Mt. Si in the distance

Lunch at the top of Little Si

Hiking with cousin, Elle, near Lake Wenatchee

Perfect hideout!

Love it!

Peaceful alpine lake...so tempting...

And we're in!

Discovery Park in Seattle

Picnic at Discovery

Dad, Anderson, and Adeline hiking in the Cascades

My little hiker...carries his own backpack too!

Mom, Anderson, and Adeline taking a break at the top

He took a tumble...but got back up and finished the hike.

She's rolling!!!

Adeline rolled over for the first time on September 28, 2012.  It took me by surprise because she hasn't been super active in the gross motor department.  I didn't catch her on video till recently...

Now she's rolled from her back to her tummy a couple of times too.  I won't be long before she's on the move!!  I'm not ready!

Green Bean Race

It's pretty funny what we do to get our kids to eat.  Anderson isn't a particularly picky eater but he just doesn't eat a lot at one time.  However, throw in a little healthy competition and he becomes a champion eater!  

Malibu

In late September we had the exciting opportunity to travel up to Malibu, which is a Young Life camp about 100 miles north of Vancouver, BC.  Malibu is at the mouth of the Princess Louisa Inlet and surrounded by the beauty of mountains and water!  Brad was asked by a friend to be the "medicine man" for a weekend retreat.  The whole family got to go and it was a great time.  We had a lot of time to relax and play.  Here are some photos from our weekend at Malibu...

Soaking it all in...

Robin and Adeline at Chatterbox Falls

Brad and Anderson at Chatterbox Falls

Conversations with a 3-year-old...

For breakfast Anderson had a bagel with cream cheese and asked "Mom, what does this bagel have?"  I told him that it was a plain bagel.  He asked "What's plain mean?"  I said that there is nothing extra in or on it.  Later when Brad came home from his over night shift and asked Anderson what he had for breakfast Anderson told him "I had a nothing bagel and cream cheese."  Ha!

When Brad was putting Anderson to bed he started asking about Bella, our chocolate lab that is now at a new home.  He started crying saying he missed her and asked "How do we know that she is OK?  How do we know if they pet her enough?"  I guess we should schedule a visit to Bella's new home...such a sweet heart!

Anderson asked "Mom, why is your phone smart?"  I explained why and he said "I want to be a grown up so that I can have a smart phone too."

When feeding Adeline..."Mom, why is it called nursing?"  Stunned...I reply with "I'll have to google that!"

After using the bathroom..."Mom, why does some food turn into poop and some food doesn't?  You should google it."  Ha!

Prayers from Anderson

We try to say a pray, as a family, before dinner and, with Anderson, at bed each night.  We usually let Anderson pick if he wants to pray or not at dinner time.  And at bed-time, we ask him who or what he wants to pray about.  It is so fun to get a snapshot of what is going through a toddlers mind!  Here are some of the recent prayers...

Before dinner..."Dear God, thank you for this food.  Thank you for my milk.  Thank you for Adeline.  And, thank you for mommy for popping Adeline out. Amen."

At bed-time..."Thank you for Auntie Aly.  Thank you for her letting me borrow her snow board at Christmas (about 6 months ago) to go snow boarding in the snow (really she used it as a sled during the huge snow storm we had last winter).  And, I hope she doesn't die."

Before dinner..."Thank you for food.  Thank you for Adeline and I hope she never dies.  I hope I never die.  I hope I get to sit in a booster chair. Amen"

At bed-time..."Thank you for Uncle Josh.  Thank you that he gets to see Elleanor soon.  I hope Elleanor doesn't take toys from me when I see her next time. Amen"

Feeding Giraffes

Grandma Suanne volunteers at the Woodland Park Zoo and got to help with feeding the giraffes a couple of weeks ago.  We went to the zoo and Anderson got to feed the giraffes with Grandma!  Here are some pictures... 

The giraffes eat big maple leaves. 

It was pretty cool  to see them this close!

Anderson wasn't nervous at all.  He walked right up to give the giraffe the leaf.

Whoa...look at his tongue!!

Adeline's Cheap Entertainment

Adeline is changing and developing so fast!  Her sweet and gentle personality continues to radiate!  We just love her to pieces...

She has started giggling!  It's so fun to watch and hear.  Anderson really got her going the other day when we were listening to some music.  He just absolutely loves his sister and is very into playing with her.  Sometimes it is a little difficult to help him understand that she is very fragile still.  He loves it when she responds to him by watching him play, babbling with him, smiling, or laughing.

BTW the music you hear in the background is a gift from our dear friends, Andy and Joy, and it has classic kids' songs that are personalized with Adeline's name.  So cool!!  Great gift!

Going, Going, Gone...

Anderson and Brad spend a lot of time outside in the backyard playing sports.  Brad is very patient and encouraging.  Anderson and Adeline are very lucky to have such a creative, attentive, and loving dad!! The games that Brad comes up with are so cool.  Last night he made an obstacle course and the whole family competed.  So fun!!

One of Anderson's favorite things to do is play sports...soccer, baseball, football, and a classic...croquet.       We've said, from very early on, that if Anderson doesn't end up being some kind of big hitter (baseball or football) then we would be very surprised!  Since he could walk he's loved to wrestle and tackle.  It's nice to see him putting that energy and desire into a focused place.  Here is some video of Anderson swinging the bat with dad...he's quite the athlete and a lefty (although he still switches sometimes)!!

Skiing 2012

No...the mountains didn't just get a dumping.  I'm just a little late in posting some videos of Anderson skiing for the first time this past March at Snoqualmie.  He picked it up really quickly and after about 45 minutes of practicing on the magic carpet Brad had him riding up the lift to practice on bigger bunny hills.  We only took him up once last year but will hopefully get him skiing a few more times this coming season!

Questions

Childhood development is amazing!  Some of my favorite moments are the questions Anderson is asking.  Most of the time I feel like I fumble through the answers and often I say, "Let's ask your Dad about that when he gets home."  Here are some of my favorites over the past few weeks...

When talking about my job..."Why do you like to help kids learn?"

After bedtime prayers..."Mama, how does God hear us?"

While riding in the car..."What does it mean to run a car?  A car doesn't have legs!"

When looking up at a clouding night sky..."Why can't I see the moon, Mom?"

On a rainy day..."Mom, can we go back to Hawaii tomorrow?"

When playing with Adeline..."Mom, why did God pick me to be Adeline's big brother?"
To my sister, Alyson..."Auntie Aly, why don't you have any kids?"
When talking about friends, Sam (6) and Ben (4)..."When will I be older than Sam and Ben?"
After I told him our schedule for the day..."Mom, what's a genda?"
When talking about what husbands and wives are..."Why can't I marry you, Mommy?"
When taking a bath..."Mom, how do your ribs protect your lungs?"
When driving to his friends, Nolan and Logan's house..."Why do Nolan and Logan live so far away?"

Easy Adeline

Isn't it crazy how different two siblings can be??  Anderson was very motivated to move and see everything.  He was a good baby but now we realize how much more energy he had compared to other babies.  Adeline is happy to be snuggled into Mom or Dad and is not as interested in tummy time and moving around.  She is very social.  She started smiling at about 3 weeks!  It's so fun to watch her process interactions and attempt to imitate sounds.   She doesn't really ever cry or fuss except when tired or when she has a gas pain.  Even when she is hungry she usually just sucks on her hand till I feed her.  She is a great sleeper...takes great naps, sleeps 6-8 hours at night, and falls right asleep when I lay her down awake.  We feel very blessed!!  Here is some video of Adeline...it's not too exciting but I want to get some early video of her so that we can remember what she was doing at this age (2 1/2 months).

Anderson Turns 3

Ok so I know I'm a little late and I haven't posted anything for almost a year but I have new resolve to post at least once per month.  As a start, I have a few things I want to post from the past 10 months or so...

Anderson turned 3 years old on February 9, 2012!!  I asked him a list of questions that I intend on asking him every year.  We did not go over the questions before I started filming and for the most part I hadn't asked these questions before (except for maybe "What's your teacher's name?").  Here is the video...can't wait to see how his answers change as he gets older.

Sweet Adeline

So part of my new resolve to post more often is due to the birth of our daughter, Adeline Ruth Talley!  She was born on June 3, 2012.  She has been a blessing to our family.  The adjustment from having one child to two children has been really easy because Adeline is such a great baby!  She sleeps well, eats well, and smiles all the time.  Anderson absolutely loves her and can't seem to get close enough to her when she is awake.  Here are some photos from the past couple of months...enjoy!

Adeline - 1 week
Wrapped in a blanket that my dear friend, Shannon, had made especially for her!

Adeline - 1.5 weeks
This hat is from my Aunt Cindy's boss...so sweet!

Adeline - 2 week
Snuggling with Anderson on the couch...

Two tired kiddos...

Adeline - 2 months

Adeline - 2 months
Beautiful blue eyes...I wonder if she'll keep them??

Adeline 2.5 months
She loves playing on the mat with her big brother...we are working on being  calm and slow when he is with her on the mat!