October 11, watch them grow!

The kids in March (Will at 20 months, Lyn newborn), the end of April (Will 21 months, Lyn about 6 weeks) and one taken today (Will 27 months, Lyn 7 months). Watch 'em grow!

October 11

On the 8th Lyn pulled herself to standing holding onto our Vtech piano car toy (she's been pulling to standing a week or so now) then pushed it and took several steps solo. She JUST turned 7 months, I'm so not ready for cruising yet! She's only been crawling a couple weeks!

We went to the pumpkin patch today. Will had a blast checking out the animals and pumpkins, he loves pumpkins. We also stocked up a bit on Mother's Cookies since they're discontinued, but couldn't find Circus Animals - bummer!

October 6

Will.. is a blur of motion and hard to get pics of anything but the back of his head now. He's over Teletubbies and into Blue's Clues. Been eating a lot better, taking more like real meals and he feels like he's gaining weight. He's wearing 2T shirts now, 18 months pants, 6.5 or 7 shoes, 4 diapers. He's 27 months now, 2 years 3 months.

Lyn.. is crawling either army crawl or up on her knees, sitting on her own, getting into sitting position on her own too, pulling up to standing, attempting to cruise. She falls down a lot, sitting up and standing up, but she's still trying. Constantly. She's doing better eating solids, taking some baby cereal/pureed food and some Cheerios or puffs. She races over to grab any Cheerios Will drops and eats them. She's wearing 9 or 12 months onesies, 6 months pants, 2 shoes, 3-4 diapers, tall and skinny like Will. She turned 7 months yesterday.

My total weightloss is hovering around 95-97 lbs right now.

Justin is enjoying his new job.

We meet with the real estate agent Wednesday for some inspection stuff, disclosures etc

We meet to go over loan stuff on Friday and hopefully should have more info about when we may move then

September 26

We've had a busy couple days! Thursday was Will's 'Unbirthday.' I made him a boxed butter cream cake, I added 2 cups pureed strawberries instead of the water, used canned butter cream icing and made a quick filling of pureed strawberries simmered with a little sugar, cornstarch and a dash of cinnamon. Put some heart sprinkles on top, he LOVED it and he usually doesn't like sweets that much, he loves strawberries. He says 'strawbitties' He picked off a bunch of sprinkles, then ate some of the cake too, I think that's the first time he's really eaten and enjoyed cake, he's sampled frosting before but usually refuses the cake portion.

Today we started off the day by taking the kids to the beach for the first time. We went to Coronado, not that far from Hotel Del. It was great!! Almost nobody there, the weather was perfect, we parked free right near where we were sitting. We got to see some military guys training jogging and singing on the beach, they went by twice, like a parade. Will had a blast diving in the sand, digging, throwing sand everywhere, chasing birds and running around. He walked into the water with me once, got knocked over by a teeny wave he wasn't expecting and ran out of the water hehe. It was cold anyway! The sand was nice though. Lyn scooted around on the blanket determined to eat sand, and I'm sure she got some down, she was very determined. She got a bath in the sink when we got home, and looks not too thrilled in the pics but she really liked the bath and was just tired. Finished off the day with a trip home to wash off all the sand, then a run to the 2nd hand store (I got size 8 shorts! I'm sure they run big since everything else that fits is 10/12, but I've never worn size 8 and I'm over the moon!) then we went to the grocery store and Will was so exhausted he passed out in the cart about 4 and has been sleeping since. He almost never goes to sleep while we're out, and usually refuses to nap anymore even at home. I got him up for a Pediasure about bedtime and he went right back to sleep. Big day for our little guy!

Mini update on the condo, apparently there was a miscommunication so the agent thought it was 30 total days to get an answer, but it's 30-31 business days. That means by next Wednesday, not by the 19th as we'd thought. Sooo.. hurry up n keep waiting. Maybe we'll have an answer by Wednesday. Hope all are well & having as much fun as we've been!

September 23

realized I forgot to send results from Lyn's doc checkup last Thursday to everyone. She's 25 1/4 inches tall (50th percentile), 15 lb 1 oz (40%), head circumference 43.5 cm (75%). She got 3 shots. She's right on target sitting, crawling etc. Doc said I can increase to solids 3x/day. She's also started taking Cheerios, she seems to be following in Will's footsteps and doesn't really like pureed baby food, she'll only eat the stuff with some texture and likes Cheerios a lot better than spoon foods. She's started trying to pull up and climbing on low items, she's in a big rush to be vertical now she's mobile. She's been hauling rear over to come investiage when I feed Will and trying to get his food. She goes back to the doc December 8 for her 9 month checkup.

Will gave her a kiss this morning without prompting. He's been testing his limits pushing her and things, so it's nice to see him be affectionate with her. He's been bouncing off the walls leaping around, ran full speed into the door frame last night, flipped over the laundry basket and bashed his head on the wall this morning. Full of it. Kids are doing great otherwise. Still waiting to hear on the condo, we were supposed to hear by Friday so maybe we'll hear sometime this week. Or before we die of old age. I bought a lot of 8 jeans on E-Bay, I only had 1 pair that fit so I needed more, got some size 12 and some size 10, some of the 10s are too snug to wear yet but I can easily zip all of 'em, yeah!! Guess that means I'm back to my high school size, but still about 25 lbs heavier, working on that but the weightloss has stalled, need to do a carb detox week again after I clean out the kitchen a bit.

September 17

took some really cute pics of Lyn last night after sending the update that I had to share

September 16

Will & Justin were in a parade last Saturday. I got a couple pics of the float they were on, but they're not really visible/in focus since they were in the back in the shade. Here's a couple other pics from that day and the last week or so. Justin got a promotion! We're very proud of him :) As I understand it's on a trial basis for now, with hope to be permanent. He's now a Business Analyist. Latest word on the condo is that we should have an answer by Friday.

Lyn has a doctor appointment Thursday morning for her 6 month checkup and shots. She's officially crawling! Not quickly, but she can make it across the room in about 10 seconds between crawling, scooting and rolling. Will can count to 8 now. His most recent favorite is puppies, he loves dogs, Blue's Clues, anything that looks like a dog is "puppy!!!" with lots of squealing and excited monkey hooting. He's starting to pretend play, right now he's pretending a stacker ring is a bowl and "drinking" soup out of it by the sound of it, sitting at the kitchen table. He's also started jumping, one of the last baby/toddler milestones, not jumping off things which he's been doing for ages, but squatting down then hopping up and jumping.

September 11

Will - is talking in sentences sometimes now. He makes coherent statements when he feels like it, and surprises us every day or two using words we didn't know that he knew. He's used vague words a few times too, to make complete sentences instead of talking in shorthand. Most of the time he just uses nouns still, but he's adding what he's noticing or wants about that noun sometimes too. He loves puppies, that's one of his new favorite words. He's been eating a lot better since he switched to a toddler bed and is down to 1 nap most days, if he naps at all. He's definitely gaining weight, he's noticably heavier, he's eating at least twice what he was before. Our bathroom scale said 28 lbs this morning, he was about 25 last time I checked, but it's not totally accurate since he won't stand very still. He's due for another haircut. The 2 year anniversary of his homecoming was the 6th, and his Unbirthday is coming up on the 25th (his due date).

Lyn - can get up on all 4s now, and takes a couple steps crawling. She has trouble because she wants her fingers in her mouth so falls on her face a lot without that hand on the floor too. Any day now she'll be crawling. Still no teeth. She's eating nonstop again. She also gets cereal or baby food once daily, when she eats it a little better I'll try more often. She just turned 6 months on the 5th. Her hair is getting longer and shiny. She screams if we try to give her a bath unless I plop her in the tub with Will, then she watches him and tries to splash all the water out of the tub. She showed Will how to splash, he was never interested before, so we have a lake in the bathroom after bath time now. But they have a good time. Lyn's next doc appointment is next Thursday, for her 6 month checkup and shots.

Still waiting on final word on that condo. Maybe we'll hear before we die of old age. I've been planning, picking up a few decor items 2nd hand or clearance, and got a couple pots. I have a couple kitchen scraps growing, a sweet potato, a mango pit and 3 pineapple tops. It'd be nice if we get the place, I'll have space to put some houseplants out of reach of little hands. I'm also hoping to learn to sew, I have a few projects in mind I'd really like to make but I need a place to set up the sewing machine first where the kids won't mangle everything, then I need to learn to use it. Anyone know how to sew that might be interested in showing me some basics? Or have a recommendation for a good learner's book to teach myself?

I've also made a document of all the recipes I've come up with for my diet, either ones of my own creation or ones I've modified to fit what I like & need. It's 20ish pages. I'm constantly adding to it. If anyone wants a copy let me know, I'll e-mail you one, any feedback on my recipes is appreciated :) Maybe eventually when I build up enough recipes that'll turn into a cookbook.

August 12

Couple more new pics of the kids, I felt like dressing them up today. Lyn doesn't look too thrilled, she wasn't sure about the focusing light on the camera. Then Will was telling her "high 5!" and she was laughing at him.

August 7

Just a couple new pics, Will stacking cans - first time he's shown much interest in stacking things. I'd call it the leaning tower of peas-a, but it's mostly other stuff :D Lyn hanging out in the Bjorn, how we usually go out.

August 1

Will is doing great, talking much better. He's combining words sometimes now, yesterday he said 'bye-bye Mommy, bye-bye sissy.' He gave Lyn a kiss goodnight without us asking, aww. He's also becoming more interested in helping, and he says 'helper.' He's starting to tell me when his diaper is wet or dirty, not when he needs to go yet but we're getting there. He's started eating better using a fork of his own. He also is starting to recognize shapes, he knows square, circle and triangle well. He's started stuffing things in his clothes, goofy.

Lyn had her first cereal feeding yesterday! I gave her rice cereal mixed with pumped milk. She seemed to like it well enough but is still figuring out how eating works so didn't actually eat much. Justin gave her a cookie a few weeks ago so it's not her first food. She can roll front to back and back to front now, scoots around on her belly, does push-ups lifting her chest, and if we hold her up she sometimes takes steps.

I discovered a magic trick, if I put clothes with baby poo on them in the sun it takes the stain out! She has days when she seems to save it up so when she goes no diaper can contain that much, YUCK. Nothing seems to get the stains out but I found that tip browsing online and it really works, like magic!

I'm still losing weight, down about 82 lbs total now, I still have about 35 lbs to go. I've been taking the kids out in the double stroller for a walk almost every morning. We're still waiting to hear back about the condo we put an offer in on over a month ago. We're hopeful to hear any day. Apparently the appraisal is done, the bank needs to decide which offer is best and if it's high enough compared to the appraisal to decide if they'll sell it. Several other bidders have walked away they're taking so long to decide, which is good for us, less competition.

July 17

Both kids had checkups today. Will got seen for his 2 year checkup, he is 33 1/2 inches tall, 25th percentile. 25 lbs, 15th percentile. He may have allergies, we can try giving him Claritin. His teeth are crowded and we were referred to a pediatric dentist to have a look at them. His umbilical hernia still has a tiny hole under it and the skin pouch, which doc still thinks may resolve itself, or may require surgical correction when he's 4-5. He's talking much better, starting to combine words now, just decided to suddenly start doing it like he's learned everything else. I don't even really think he needs the intervention anymore for speech, he's making so much progress he'll catch up by the time we get through the waiting list we're on! He probably could benefit from the occupational therapy section to help him eat, he's still tough to feed. Other than that looking good. He doesn't get seen again for a year.

Lyn had her 4 month checkup, she is 24 inches long, 50th percentile. 13 lb 2.5 oz, 25th percentile, tall and skinny like Will. She got a bunch of shots and checked over. Doc thinks her eyes may stay blue - who in the family has blue eyes? She's a bit ahead on milestones, rolls front to back, back to side, side either way, pushes up raising her head and shoulders, scoots around like a turtle, has good head control and is getting things into her mouth. She's also discovered her feet and is continually trying to grab them. We got the okay to start introducing solid food whenever we feel like it's time, doc recommends rice cereal twice daily starting between 4-6 months then introducing other foods when she's doing well with that. We'll see how things go, I'm waiting for her to start seeming not satisfied just with nursing or show real interest in food.

I'm still sticking to my diet and starting taking the kids out for a walk with Will in the stroller and Lyn in the Bjorn almost every day. I'm down a total of 78 lbs now and still averaging around 2 lbs/week. Doing good! Starting to buy new clothes, almost nothing fits.

July 10

Lyn laughed for the first time tonight!! :D Just one little laugh, but definitely a laugh, yeah!