Schroeder!

I shared this photo via text with Eli's godmother (and one of my best-friends), Vanessa.

She texted this back: 

Love it!

Counting Down the Days...:(

Waaaa!  One more day until Mom heads back home to the east coast.  Happy for my Dad...sad for me!  We've had a great time with her out here.  Chloë just LOVES having the constant playmate and attention.  She's up for a harsh reality check starting Thursday!  Gramma has not only been her playmate but also her room mate.   Chloë's big-girl bed has a trundle bed that pulls out and so they shared the room for the past two weeks.  I'm sure Gramma will be excited to get back into her king-size bed in Richmond!

Finger update:  Chloë's finger is doing much better- we still keep it covered with gauze and a bandaid but we're taking it off to let it air out for awhile each day.  I think in a day or two we'll be able to lose the bandaid all together if she's ready for it.  The wound is healing really nicely and I'm thinking it may look almost completely back to normal when it fully heals.  Maybe a slight indentation...and not sure if fingerprints can grow back?  Does anyone know?

Boys are 9 1/2 months already- just had their 9 month well-baby check up last Friday.  Elijah is 20lbs and Owen is 19lbs more or less.  I think Owen measured about a 1/2 inch longer than Eli.  Sounds about right.  So overall Owen was in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height (tall and thin like Myke) and Eli was 75th percentile for both (tall and big like me...!).   They both continue to have giant heads (over 98th percentile).  Thank you Grandpa for the giant head gene :)

Loving Gramma

(though it took Owen 2 full days to crack a smile at Gramma when she first arrived...he is very wary of new people these days)

Both boys love to watch the washing machine in action

big boys!

Myke and I went on a date night!  Sushi yummy-ness :)

Welcome to "The Three's"....

Yesterday Chloë sliced her finger while reaching into our utensil drawer in the kitchen.  Sliced it on a tool that slices corn right off the cob.  I mean really sliced it.  Like sliced a big chunk right off of the ring finger on the right hand.  She didn't cry and scream as much as I thought she would considering the amount of blood that was pouring out of the wound.  I tried to wrap it in tissues and keep the pressure on but it soaked through in split-seconds and we had blood running down both our hands.  It was bleeding to fast and so much that I couldn't even get a glimpse of the actual wound.  Anyways, I called her pediatrician's office and got her in right away to have it looked at and see if stitches would be needed.  She was completely calm on the ride there and in the waiting room watched Shrek while we waited to be called back.  So it wasn't an emergency by any means... but when we got taken back in the room and the doctor came in to look at it Chloë went berserk.  Poor thing :(   The doctor took off the temporary bandaid we had on it and the blood started pouring out again.  The doctor ended up having to get another doctor to come look at it as well because she wasn't sure what to do.  There was nothing there to stitch since she basically sliced her finger pad right off.  Anyways, in the end they put on a pressure dressing on it and told us to come back in today to have it looked at once the bleeding had stopped and we could actually get a look at the wound.

The good news is that when we went today the bleeding had subsided completely and we were able to get a better look at her finger.  No one is exactly sure how it will heal but the doctor said she will most likely not have a fingerprint on that finger anymore!  So for now we just have to keep it bandaged up and dry while waiting for it to crust over.  Yum.  

Chloë hasn't skipped a beat...it's amazing how adaptable toddlers can be.  She just does everything with her one good hand.  

Welcome to the 3's I guess....

My Baby Girl is THREE!!

Chloë turned 3 yesterday (on February 28th...no, that is not a leap day, no, she is not a "leap-year baby" - these are questions/comments we have gotten from DAY one of Chloë's life).  Instead of a birthday party we decided we would take her to Disneyland!  Just Chloë, Myke and myself.  My mom stayed in SAn Diego with the boys.  The trip was a first for both Chloë AND myself!  It was a fun time and we've decide we'll take the boys for their 3rd birthday in just a bit over 2 years from now.  I'll share some pics....again, too tired, too busy and too late to write more.  I wish I had more time...  doesn't everyone?

These cheap-y felt ears were priced at a whopping $15

We decided to take a photo with them instead of purchase...

Not sure what I'm doing here...

10 seconds before this photo:  "Look Chloë, it's Goofy!!  Run up and get a pic!"... 

*I push through the crowd yelling, "Goofy!! Goofy...we have a birthday girl here..wait! We need a photo!  Goofy!!!"

(later I realized this is Pluto, not Goofy.  Chloë was too starstruck to correct me)

(*ps: I DID not actually push through crowds yelling...I just added that for effect)

Is this Chip? Or Dale?  

Does it really matter? 

Not to Chloë!

The stationary teacup for those too old/scared to go on the actual ride.

I won't tell you which of the two people in the photo was which...

The castle!

The end of the day...this is what hours of Disney can do to a toddler

Wednesday 2/29- after celebrating her birthday at preschool

And of course, the boys can't be forgotten!  Here are some photos of the boys!

Owen

Eli 

Love this shot! (taken last week)

Oh, I forgot to mention...

Gramma has arrived!!  

Baking Myke's birthday cake

Eli trying on an outfit he received as a gift 

Owen trying on shoes from Uncle Hale

Playing (fighting over a toy) together

My musical kids

Someone in particular is especially excited that Gramma is here!

I feel like I always start out with the same line..."Things have been so busy lately"... but it's true, they have.  As always.  It just is how things are.  I thought we were busy when we had just one child.  Now we have triple that amount and we are triple busy (if not more).  It's just non-stop all the time.  Right now I'm having a little break because all three are in their beds for rest time.  No, not all three are sleeping...in fact, I think I can hear at least 2 of the 3 making noises or talking.  No one is screaming bloody murder, though, so I consider this a successful rest time thus far.  Hey, I actually got to check my email!  Actually, I check my email all the time on my phone, but it's the responding to an email that really means I have found a free moment in my day!  That or getting a moment to vent on here.

So, yes, we've been busy here in San Diego, but a lot of it has been FUN busy-ness so that is the kind of busy that I don't mind.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!  Chloë doesn't usually attend preschool on Tuesdays but because her class Valentine's Day party was on that day we stopped in for an hour to join the festivities.  I may have stayed home if I had known Ms. Gina & Ms. Abi would have me doing the Hokey Pokey in front of a roomful of sugared-up 2 year olds!  We had fun though.  I even got to read a couple stories to the sugared-up two year olds.  I was surprised they had any attention span at all after all the cookies and goodies!

Chloë's valentine- not sure why it's showing up sideways

Enjoying their grub

Let's see..what else...We had a really cold (we're talking 50's & 60's) week last week with a couple rainy days.  Rain down by the beach = snow in the local mountains!  Chloë was off of preschool on Friday due to the holiday weekend so we headed up to the snow with a couple friends (left the boys behind...as much as I would LOVE to take them to play in their first snow that would have been near impossible without Myke along with me...not to mention that they don't have any type of winter gear to speak of).  Mount Laguna is the nearest mountain to us and it's about a 45 minutes drive from where we live.  East.  I think at it's highest peak it reaches an altitude 6700 feet.  That's where we headed.

Jax & Chloë with the snowman

Okay, because I never have enough time, the rest of the blog with be a photo essay of sorts...

Last week Chloë had a little play date with her friend, Samantha.  

Clean girls having a snack

Dirty girls playing in the dirt

Bath time - Check out that water!

Not sure if they came out clean or dirty after this!

Over the weekend I took Myke on a (surprise) getaway for his 33rd birthday!  I convinced (conned) two friends (and they are WONDERFUL friends, I must say) into watching all three kids for over 24 hours so we could go on a mini-vacation.  After much thought I finally picked our location:

Mexico!!

Only KIDDING...we did not go to Mexico.  We went to Temecula, which is wine country here in San Diego.  It's about an hour's drive from our house so not too close, not too far.  Perfect for when you only have one night.  We had a really nice time eating out, tasting wine, sitting around an outdoor fire pit at the place we stayed.  We stayed in a cute little cottage within walking distance of Wilson Winery.  I found it on VRBO.com.  Love that site!  Here is a picture of the cottage:

Adorable, huh?

Child-less dinner...ahhhh

Hot air balloon taking off- view from our cottage

A bunch of balloons taking off Sunday morning

Okay- more later!

Let the birthday party circuit (circus) begin! A bunch of Chloë's little friends have birthdays all within two weeks of hers so this time of year can get really crazy with Myke's favorite past time- kiddie birthday parties!  This year it started late January and goes until mid-March with their being AT LEAST one kiddie birthday party every weekend (actually, I do think we have President's Day weekend off, which is good because that's Myke's birthday weekend...and Myke doesn't like to share).  The 2nd weekend in March has 3 kiddie parties.  Yikes.  Myke did attempt to make a deal with me before we had kids (and I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before...probably last year around this time) that he would change all dirty diapers if it meant that I would do all birthday party duty.  Unfortunately for both of us, I have had to change dirty diapers and therefore he must attend birthday parties with me.  So that's that.  

Chloë and I had a "mother-daughter" date yesterday while a friend/babysitter watched the boys.  It is rare that we get much one-on-one time other than running errands in the evenings, so it was really special :)

Bike ride on the boardwalk....a digger!

Gazing at Mission Bay (does Chloë feel a draft?)

breakfast at Kono's - pancakes!

picking daisies

Mandatory Starbucks stop

trying out skateboarding

Meanwhile, back on Felspar Street:

My little goofballs

These guys turn 9 months next week...and both of them are getting 3 or 4 of their top teeth all at once right now.  Chloë had no teeth until 10 months old.  These boys are close to having 6 already.  Can we say drool factory?  Okay, gotta run...Myke and I have designated Friday nights as "tech-free" so we can hang out without distractions of laptops and iPhones.  Adios.