Christmas Weekend (Part 1)

I was super excited for Christmas this year because this was the first time I felt like Katie really got it.  She understood what it was all about and talked about Santa, the decorations, the traditions, the reindeer food we made, her chocolate advent calendar, and of course Rudolph.  This will also be remembered not only as the doll house Christmas but the Rudolph one as well.  Katie's imagination took over and all of her stories revolved around Rudolph, Clarice, and the abominable snow monster who she insisted was "naughty". The first night we watched it she got scared and went into her bed.  After a daddy pep talk she came out and bravely said, "I'm ok now, daddy will protect me."

daddy and kt girl watching her favorite Christmas movie, "Rudolph"

I put a lot of pressure on myself this year because Katie is old enough to remember these special times and I wanted everything to be wonderful and super magical.   However, Christmas Eve morning after a great Jazzercise workout (more on that later), I realized that everyone feeds off of my mood and if I was stressed than they would pick up on that.  So, I took my hubby's advice, told myself it is what it is, and chose to embrace every little moment. 

Carly - 18 months

who knew boxes could be so much fun

 

While we continued with many of my favorite traditions from my childhood, we also started some new ones.  My favorite was making reindeer food for Rudolph and all of his friends.   I got the idea from another mommy blog and loved it.

 

We also got the girls comfy cozy and drove around looking at Christmas lights.  We made a stop at one of our very special friends house, the Karabias's. 

Santa's Little Helper with cowboy boots and Tink

Linda and Katie reading a story on Christmas Eve

my silly hubby and I after the girls went to bed and prior to night #2 of Operation Doll House

More Christmas photos and stories coming soon.....

Happy New Year everyone!  Stay safe!

Christmas with an Almost 3 Year Old...

equals a very busy, messy and loud, but happy household.    Katie is very into Christmas this year and is excited about everything.  This is the first year she really "gets" it which makes it more fun for Jeff and I.  And while Carly is interested in some things I think it is mostly because her big sister is.   I will do a more thorough update hopefully this week but for now I will leave with you some tidbits on what has been happening with us.

• Katie wants to be an elf when she grows up and specifically the elf, Hermie from Rudolph. 
• Katie's imagination has taken off and she has many stories to tell. Right now they mostly focus around Rudolph, Tink (aka Tinker Bell), Peter and Wendy.  
• Carly is showing her personality more including some serious 1 year old tantrums including kicking and throwing herself on the floor to get my attention.  I seem to remember my mom telling me I used to cry until I passed out so we are lucky Carly hasn't taken after her mommy in that respect (at least not yet).
• Both girls had their well child check ups last week and are both completely healthy and doing just fine. 
• Christmas shopping is so much fun this year and I can't wait to see the girls faces when they see what Santa brought them.   And Santa better get busy because he still has to put that doll house together and hopefully he won't wait until Christmas Eve (hint hint daddy).  

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season! I will update with pictures as soon as things calm down a bit. 

Meeting Family

This past week both Jeff and I have been on vacation.  Since we are going on a big road trip to visit family in Montana in two weeks we decided to stay close to home this week.  And speaking of road trips, I am dreading the drive so if anyone has travel tips for toddlers PLEASE PLEASE share them with me.  Katie will do great (I think) but Carly is the one I am very worried about.  Ok, but back to this weeks happenings.  Monday and Tuesday we just stayed home, recovered from the wedding, and did some house cleaning and organizing.  Wednesday was a big day because I got to meet Jeff's biological mom, Maryann, for the first time.  She lives in California with her husband, Ruben and while Jeff met her when he was 19, this was the first time they visited us here in Bellingham.  Jeff's parents met them and the girls also got to meet two of their cousins, Jewell and Zoe.

 

It was a wonderful day of visiting and getting to know each other and of course Jeff bbq'd some delicious ribs for dinner.  Maryann and Ruben, thanks for coming up here...it was great to meet you both!

starting from the left: Katie with Papa, Grandma Sylvia, Jeff and Carly, Maryann with Jewell, Ruben (and little dog, Precious), Zoe

Wedding + Baby + Toddler = Exhausted Mommy and Daddy

Jeff's cousin, Brady got married this past Saturday to his beautiful bride Nichole.  The events were up north across the border in Canada.  Luckily it was very close and we didn't have to travel far because by the end of the night Jeff and I were exhausted.  The ceremony was at a Catholic church and luckily they had a "crying room".  We attempted to sit with everyone else but after a whole two minutes we realized that was not the best choice.  Carly was being very vocal and it was just less stressful to let them wonder around the room and be free to talk.   After the ceremony we had about an hour and half before the reception started so we went back to the hotel where all of the out of town family was staying.  We are discovering that Miss Katie is definitely not shy because she loved meeting and talking to all the people...she is a social butterfly just like her daddy. 

After a little visiting we all loaded up and got ready to go to the party.  Since we were trying to stick with the potty training we brought Katie's little potty along with us.  She refused to go in the big toilet at the church but was all for sitting in the back of the Subaru and using her little potty.  She once again did her business and Jeff dumped the potty contents (luckily it was just pee) in the bushes.  Probably not the best solution, but what else are you supposed to do with it when you are in a parking lot.  I really wish I had gotten a picture because it was just too funny seeing this pretty little girl sitting on her pink potty in the back of the car. 

But I was scrambling all evening keeping my littles out of trouble.  It was exhausting and probably not something I would recommend.  Carly is just at an age where she doesn't want to be confined.  She constantly wants to be walking and exploring which is difficult to do at a golf course wedding reception full of people.   She and I spent a lot of time outside wondering around while Jeff stayed inside with Katie.  And although Carly struggled, we thankfully avoided a major meltdown.

Katie once again surprised me and did great.  She had good manners during dinner and even sat through about 40 minutes of speeches just chatting with her new favorite Aunt Louis.  They talked about all sorts of things including marriage.  Katie said "I will only get married when a boy gives me a ring." That's right Katie girl...and make sure it has a very shiny rock in it!  The other highlight of the evening for Katie was when Aunty Gloria took Katie up to meet the princess (the bride).  She even got a flower from the princesses bouquet which Katie didn't let go of until we got home. 

Overall, it was a beautiful wedding and it was great seeing family, but it was just very hard to really enjoy it having two little ones to take care of.  I wish I had taken more pictures but I forgot my camera and honestly I wouldn't have had time. 

Congratulations again to Brady and Nichole and thank you for including us in your special day...toddlers and all.  :)

Bye Bye Formula

We are done with the crazy expensive formula that Carly has been on for 10 months and have transitioned her to regular, good ole fashioned whole milk! She is doing great with it and we are so excited and relieved that she doesn't have any lasting food allergies. We started the switch about three weeks ago by mixing her formula with whole milk. She had no problem with the taste difference and is now drinking regular milk in a cup with all of her meals. She still takes a bottle in the morning and right before bedtime but once this last can of formula is gone she will be getting 100% regular milk.

It's hard to believe that 10 months ago we were in the hospital with our baby girl and worried about her losing too much weight. Wednesday when she went in for her one year old well child exam she was off the charts in all areas, including her head! She is 26.6 pounds and 31 inches which put her above the 95th percentile. I knew she was a big girl because she is wearing 18 months clothes already. I have been a little worried about her rapid growth, but our pediatrician wasn't too concerned and said that she should slim down now that she is walking and a regular diet.

She also loves regular food and only eats baby food as a supplement to the things she can't chew. She still only has her two little bottom teeth but is doing really well with chewing. She had papaya for the first time and loved it. Some of her other favorite foods include bananas, peas, carrots, grilled cheese sandwiches, and MumMums.

This weekend the Garner's will be relaxing after having three weeks of very busy schedules. Today we are off the library and to do some shopping for Jeff's upcoming 40th birthday. I got this wonderful idea from another mommy blog and I can't wait to have Katie do it. Have a great weekend everyone!

Grandpa Bennett

Sometimes I wish my blog was more creatively written, but every time I sit at the computer to write I end up just updating everyone about our life.   Oh well, it is what it is, and until I have the time and energy to write entertaining, funny, or inspiring posts I will just keep you all in the loop about what is happening with the Garner Family.  

A week ago today I got the news that my grandpa had suddenly passed away.  He was my dad’s dad and while I wasn’t very close to him as an adult, I have many wonderful memories of him as a child.  He was the grandpa who spoiled me by introducing me to chewing gum at a very young age, taking  me to my first professional baseball game (it was the Denver Zephyrs at the time), and always sending me two dollar bills (walking around money) for every holiday imaginable.  We had a lot of Sunday dinners together and for some reason the only thing I remember having was pot roast.   We spent a lot of time at grandma and grandpa’s house and even lived there briefly when we moved back to Colorado from a short stay in Chicago.  Unfortunately, my goldfish, Birdie, didn’t survive the trip and was  buried in a Frosted Flake box behind that little green house I remember so clearly.  Grandpa will be greatly missed but the memories are plenty and I will hold on to every one of them.   

The service was Thursday and Carly and I flew back to Denver on Wednesday morning.  It was a quick decision and while flying with an almost one year old who is constantly on the move was crazy, I decided to take her because:

1.  I knew it would make things easier (logistically and mentally) for Jeff 
2. My dad has never met his granddaughters and this was an opportunity for him to at least meet one of them.   
3. A very happy, joyful baby has a way of making everyone smile even during a sad occasion
4. Her plane ticket was free

Grandpa Ron holding Carly for the first time....she obviously wasn't sure at first but she got happy quickly

Family dinner with the Pope at Bucca Di Peppos

One tired baby

summer time outfit...probably the only time she will wear it since we aren't having summer here in northwest

 

Now that we are home I am very glad we went.  It was wonderful seeing all of my family, my best friend Elizabeth and her daughter Reese, and my second parents, Sharon and Don.   Carly didn’t do so well on the actual flights, but she did amazingly well the rest of the trip.  Katie was great while I was gone and even daddy survived.  Now, I am quickly unpacking, doing laundry, and getting organized to leave again this Wednesday.  I will be going to California for a work conference and daddy will be Mr. Mom to both girls this time.  After this week, daddy is going to need a vacation.  

Race for the Cure Pictures

We had a wonderful summery weekend (finally) here in Bellingham so we had to take advantage of it and spend as much time as possible outside.   Sunday was the walk down in Seattle and although it was challenging with two little ones, it was well worth it and the first of many Team Garner Race for the Cure's. 

all ready to go.  Parking and traffic were horrible but we still made it in time

Carly did ok....it was a long car ride down and no fun being confined in the car seat and then a long walk confined in the stroller.  After a few meltdowns we decided to shorten the 3 mile walk to 1 mile

Katie had a blast with all of the people and excitement.  She is not shy at all and talked to everyone!

staying hydrated

exhausted after a very early and busy morning.... nap by 11:30 am

and no Race for the Cure would be complete without a trip to the Old Spaghetti Factory...Katie loved the ice cream

PaPa's Birthday Celebration

Yesterday was Grandpa's birthday so we had a little celebration for him last night.  I asked Katie what she liked to do with Papa and wrote that on his card and then she colored it all, including the envelope.  We had cake, sang to him and played with balloons.  It was a lot of fun, especially for Papa and Katie.  

showing Papa his card (sorry for the blurriness)

hold on Papa, Carly is a wiggler

Papa with his two granddaughters

Family Pictures

We had professional pictures taken a few weeks ago and we were very happy with the way they turned out.  Of course getting a two year old to smile on cue is not easy so we ended up with many fake smiles.  Carly was actually the easy one and thought the whole thing was a lot of fun.  Here are pictures from Jen Martin Studios.  She does a great job and photographed our wedding, Katie's 3 months photos, and some mommy and Katie shots last spring.