Uncle Joel's in town!

Due to all the weather Uncle Joel got a chance to stay with us for the last few days. Unfortunately we have no extra bed or bedroom for that matter. It was couch city for him. We sure enjoyed his stay. Here are a few highlights:

1. Uncle Joel is now known by Andrew as just "Uncle".
2. Uncle cut Andrew's finger while making cobbler.
3. Uncle got to spend Christmas Eve with us at home making stuffed mushrooms, lasagna, and lava cake.
4. Uncle is now our "manny" and we don't think we'll be letting him leave.
5. Joel got to spend Christmas morning with us, watching Andrew and Lo open presents from Santa.
6. He then got to go to my mom's house and have Christmas brunch, and watch more present opening.
7. When we got home he put together Andrew's new easel. (thank you)
8. He took lots of great pictures of the kids while he was here.
9. He referred to Nick and I as the worst decision makers ever. (Rude Joel, rude)
10. Lots of play time with Andrew in the snow.

Christmas Day

SANTA CAME! We weren't sure if Santa would come because Andrew hasn't been a good boy when going to bed at night! Any suggestions moms? However, Santa came through. Lolo received a book, and Bobo a blower. Too much fun.

Opening presents and Grammie and Grandpa's house. Lolo sure loved her dolly. Andrew was having fun with his playdough.



The family Christmas Night. We had two people taking pictures and standing on opposite sides of the room...next year we'll get a better shot. At least we got one though!
The Kraljs! From left; Nick, Kathy, Mark, Winnie (the dog) Emily, Lolo, Joel, and Andrew.

Christmas Night didn't turn out quite as expected, but it was still wonderful just the same. Nick's parents and sister Emily ended up coming over and I fixed Christmas dinner. Yes you read that correctly, I, Lindsey Kralj fixed the dinner. It consisted of Ham (that was pre-cooked and pre-sliced), mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, salmon (for Uncle) and cobbler made by Uncle and Andrew.
It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself, and nothing was caught on fire or burned! We sure enjoyed having everyone over at our house. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Shopping online is fun!

So I'm here in my nice warm house, watching my family work on putting in a new receiver. I won't show any pictures here, trust me you don't want to see it. What I will do is paint you a picture with my words.
Nick-Currently he is half way into the entertainment center. Luckily no crack is showing. He does however hop out to tell me random things like, "This needs some pledge. Could you do that?" or "Lauren is on the move, could someone please watch her?"

Lolo-Well big hint there with Nick's words. She is currently moving around the floor getting into every tool, plastic wrap, or cord that she is NOT supposed to touch. When Andrew takes it away from her, she just simply finds another one. Every now and again she'll do her raptor yell at him.

Andrew-He is working! He's got every wrench and screwdriver out that his dad isn't using. He's also got his Diego flashlight (thanks to Moggy and Papa), and he's working with his dad. His favorite thing to repeat is, "Tell me when you need my help, okay dad?" It's pretty cute. BTW he is currently wearing the outfit he's been wearing for the last 3 days (and somehow managed to sleep in). We're not sure if he's going to take it off. If you're wondering it's a OSU Beaver football shirt (with lots of applesauce, grape juice, and cheese) and his sweat pants.

I am shopping online. Thanks to my friend Meghan I've found the cutest first birthday shirt for Lo. It's on etsy.com, what a fun place! I need some other blog posts to read, so get typing out there people!

PS-Now Andrew is reading a book to Lauren, Dr. Suess Are You My Mother? It's the cutest thing ever.

I deserve some sort of medal

For those of you with children you will understand why I titled this post the way I did.

Today is a "snow" day (although it's not too snowy outside right now). I am home with the kids and we needed some things at the grocery. So after Lauren woke up and had her bottle I bundled the kids up and headed out to brave the arctic blast.

Of course, I was in the Acura because Nick needed to take the Suburban to work (just to be safe). I load up the kiddos, and off we head to Freddies. This part not bad at all, very normal.

When we get to Freddies Andrew wants to ride in the race car cart. Fine I say, there was a red one available; after I use paper towels to soak up all the water in the seat. So, with Andrew riding behind the wheel where oh where is Lolo going to fit? She's still in her car seat carrier (of which she is way to big!). So I throw her in the actual cart.

This leaves me with approximately 6 inches of space to put all my groceries, and I did have a list here people. I wasn't going for one thing. So, away we go. I realize right away that this cart definetly has a mind of it's own. I swear I felt like I was back in my Colt driving days with no power steering.

We manage to work our way through the store finding what we need. I found myself pulling them facing backwards quite a bit because the cart was THAT unreasonable. Now keep in mind that as I am manuevering my way through the aisles, I am almost knocking over displays and having a few close calls with the other customers. I know I had a few dirty looks thrown my way. To top it off the pants I was wearing were a little loose (they have a draw string) and they kept falling down...great.

So we finally make our way out to the car, I load everyone & everything up and the nicest thing happened. A very kind man offered to take the cart in for me. Seriously, Merry Christmas. I was so excited. I warned him it had a mind of it's own. Then I got in the car and told Andrew and Lolo about the nice man. The entire way home Andrew kept asking why he took our cart. Again, seriously. I do deserve some sort of medal.

So here's a lesson for everyone. When we see a mother of two with her pants falling down barreling down the aisle with a red race car, give her a break.
Happy Holidays!

Lolo 9 months!

Lauren is officially 9 months old. We had our Dr. visit today and things are looking great for our little girl. She weighed in at 18 pounds 15 ounces, just about the 75%. Her height was 28", just about the 50%, and her head...well that's another story. Her head is above the 90%. Our Dr. mentioned something about a lot of brain power...why do I have big headed kids? Seriously. Is my head big?

She was so cute at our visit. She's fascinated by finding herself and others in the mirror. She can entertain herself for hours. When the nurse came in to weigh and measure her, Lolo gave her a glare. Then it turned to real tears as she was on the table. The screams started the minute I laid her down to be measured, and they stopped just as quickly as they started once I picked her up.

She is so funny. If she doesn't get what she wants, she will let you know. Today I had her in the high chair eating cheerios while I was on the computer. As soon as I walked away and brother did as well, she pulls the pouty lip down and starts wailing. And then when you walk back in the kitchen and talk to her, she stops crying. This child definitely knows what she likes and what she doesn't.

She is so much fun right now. She absolutely LOVES bouncing. If she's on your lap she's bouncing, if you're holding her on your hip, she's bouncing. Her most favorite thing is the jumper that she can bounce in. The smile is from ear to ear.

I love her more than I could have imagined. I know that they tell you that you will love the second just as much as you loved the first; but I have to say I didn't think that was possible. When Andrew was born and his first years of life (sans Lo) I seriously didn't think I could love anyone more. He was so amazing (and still is) but of course I was wrong. The Lord likes to remind me just how wrong I always am. When He gave us Lolo the love came out all over again. She is the most amazing little girl, and so beautiful, and such a personality. I could go on and on. I won't. I will spare you. But trust me on this one. She's one of a kind.

Snow-whatever!

I just have to say that I'm annoyed. I'm all prepared for snow, and possibly a school closure or at least a 2 hour late start...do you think we're getting anything here in Vancouver? Nope. It's everywhere else; Portland, Gresham, Washougal, Hillsboro...the list goes on and on. Why oh why isn't Vancouver lucky enough? All I wanted was a day off, instead I'm going about business as usual. I'm hoping this ranting blog post will encourage the snow to fall and ice over and then I can have my way. That's all I have to say.

Christmas Trees & Apple Pie

So I made an apple pie from one of Martha's recipes. I think it turned out pretty, not so crazy about the taste. It was an apple spice pie and I think I'm going to stick with the regular old apple pie recipe next time and keep the crust. I love the circles as the top. If you want the recipe for the crust or inside let me know, it was pretty good.

Christmas tree shopping tradition! We went out to get the tree with the family. Of course Nick and I choose our tree in about 10 seconds. It was basically the first one we came to. Cody cut it down for us, and that was that. Lisa was next in finding her tree, not too long after us. Anne and Sharon on the other hand took quite some time locating the "perfect" tree, with Sharon winning out as taking the longest. Afterward we went back to Dad's house and had pizza. It was a fun outing, I know Andrew enjoyed. Lolo had a good time too in the backpack, she was able to see all the action.

This last picture is classic Andrew. He's wearing my shoes, and quite proud of how he can walk in them and they make a really fun noise on our hardwood floor. He's always getting into something and surprising me.

November

Thanksgiving fun! We went to my grandma's in Salem for one last holiday at her home before it goes up for sale. The kids had fun playing together. Reagan is such a good helper with the little ones. And Lolo is for sure jealous of Devyn's hair! Funny story. As we were all getting ready to eat, everyone is seated at the table. Andrew says to the entire table, "Can I have a roll people?" Right. I thought it was hilarious. Apparently things weren't moving fast enough!

Bath time! They love taking a bath together. Andrew's favorite seems to be getting very close to dumping water on Lolo but not actually doing it. Lo just started taking a bath in the actual tub. She's such a big girl now. She loves to eat the toys in the water. She doesn't love getting her hair washed, neither does Andrew for that matter. They do seem to enjoy each other though that's for sure!
Lolo eating a little yummy cereal and applesauce. Yummy! She has started eating the "puffs" and cherrios, etc. She's so great at picking those up and eating them as fast as she can. She tends to get upset if she doesn't have something to eat or drink with her at all times while seated in the high chair. The only thing that will keep her satisfied (besiedes food) is her brother doing something silly to make her laugh.
Dressing up is Andrew's favorite thing. He loves to wear his "work" goggles because he has a lot of "work" to do. He also loves wearing a glove. You got it, not plural. Just one glove. We like to call him Michael Jackson. His glove is his sock, any sock will do. My favorite is when he is wearing his "clean up" sock. Yes, that's right. When he wears that he actually does put things away.
Andrew wearing an awesome headband that he put on himself. Love it. Anybody thinking about sweating to the oldies?