{ ty...hay...avy...& wee-little linc }

My Life These Days

2012-02-01T00:07:00.000-08:00

No time to blog.

My days are filled with:

Dishes.

They never end.

I don't know how, but there is ALWAYS a stack of dishes.

Even if I do them before I go to sleep,

when I wake in the morning,

the sink somehow mysteriously filled with dirty dishes while I was sleeping.

It really is a magical feat.

Laundry.

I thought dishes never ended???

Laundry is the mother of all never-ending tasks.

I had the beast of all laundry mountains in the world on my bedroom floor last week.

I considered taking a picture to showcase the mountain,

but really, I would just shame myself into a hole if I showed you that.

Plunging.

It's no secret.

Our plumbing is poop.

My arms get a daily workout with the toilet.

Seriously, I plunge every day.

Cleaning.

Please tell me your kids' rooms get to this point too?!?!

And the sad thing is that this picture was taken the day after I cleaned that room top to bottom.

All it takes is one playdate.

How is this possible???

And this leads me to my Sunday morning bathroom.

Tyler is in the Bishopric, so he jets out in the wee morning hours to church for meetings & the like.

That leaves me wrangling 3 live alligators to get out the door in our finest clothing & most beautiful faces, hair, & teeth before the church bell rings.

This is the aftermath:

And speaking of the live alligators,

aren't they adorable?

Their latest tricks include but are not limited to:

Ashby:

Rolling from tummy to back.

Getting fatter by the day.

Reaching for things.

Holding onto things for a bit.

Smiling like there's no tomorrow.

Sleeping like a rock star.

She's a genius I tell ya.

Linc:

He's a hat loving gent.

Always sporting a lid:

Wearing the big boy unders

(& not just on his head)

Trust me, this was fully his idea.

I have been trying to tell him how soft and comfy diapers are that there's no rush to ditch them,

but he didn't believe me.

He wants undies.

Goodbye convenience.

However, there is nothing more adorable

than a pair of little squishy bunsies in undies.

He even stays dry for his naps!

He loves his sisters.

He really does.

This is all he needs for happiness right here:

Balls

Blocks

Bike

& his hoop

Avy:

Starting to read!

Such a self-motivator that girl is.

A couple weeks ago she asked me to sit down & help her read.

I was blown away with what she knew!

You go girl!

Celebrated her birthday!

You're right, it was in September,

But since I was laboring & prepping to birth,

we skipped school the day of Avy's birthday &

finally got to celebrate it in her class this past week.

Tyler:

Sold his Volvo.

Wants a truck.

Researches EVERYTHING there is to know about trucks.

Went to Sacramento for half the week last week for work.

Has visited EVERY dealership from here to Sacramento looking at trucks.

Has responded to EVERY craigslist add having anything to do with a truck.

Shows me EVERY craigslist add having anything to do with a truck.

Thank heavens he's so adorable.

Me:

dishes, laundry, plunging, cleaning,

Avy, Linc, Ashby, & Tyler Truck.

And I love it.

Wouldn't trade it for the world.

Victory is SWEET!

2012-01-10T09:46:00.000-08:00

(sorry, somehow i erased the previous post..here it is...again)

I've done it, friends.

I've brought home the gold.

The blue ribbon is mine.

I've had my cake & eaten it too.

Well, technically, it wasn't cake.

It was a chewy bar.

A Chewy Butterscotch Bar, to be exact.

& some of my fellow locals may be familiar with the

Chewy Butterscotch Bar because after all,

I did win first place this year with these tasty gems.

(side note to recipe:

After they are cool, I melt butterscotch chips & drizzle that over the top, then do the same with chocolate chips.

After that, I sprinkle Heath toffee pieces to top them off...YUM!)

You read that right.

I won first place at Kaari's Annual Cookie Competition.

This is a picture of Kaari & the first place winner, Me.

Some people refer to the annual event as a

"Cookie Swap" or a "Cookie Party"

or a "Cookie Exchange"

Let's get one thing straight, Ladies,

it's a "Cookie Competition"

Does this look like the face of a girl who's here just for a swap or party?

This is me after a shameful loss last year.

But I brought my A game this year.

Here are the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place winners:

That's me in the middle...the 1st place winner.

And I must also say that Candace & Natalia were serious competition.

If it weren't for my secret weapon, the Heath pieces, I may have been in trouble.

And here's the booty loot I brought home:

So adorable, right?!?!

Did you notice the "1st Place" tag inside the bowl?

Here's the tough competition I was up against:

Since it is a Cookie Competition with a "swap" or "exchange" element to it, I brought home lots of treaties from the par-tay.

As has been done every year for the past 6 years upon my arrival home from the competition,

Tat & Austy sat down & gave me their full review & analysis of everybody else's entry.

And Gus-Gus quite enjoyed the entries as well.

So now that I've won first place, I guess the pressure's on for 2012.

I gots to get to baking!

Victory is SWEET!

2012-01-09T22:18:00.000-08:00

so much christmas, so little time to post

2011-12-21T01:24:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas.

I have many goals as a mom, but one of my top priorities

as a mom is to make sure my kids have magical childhood memories.

I think Christmas is a good place to start.

I think I feel the Christmas spirit more this year than ever before

because I have 2 tots that are so excited about it.

Here's how we've been celebrating:

Decorating

We made a centerpiece "Winter Wonderland Tree"

Ballet-ing

Avy & I went to the Velveteen Rabbit Ballet in SF

with these lovely little ladies & their moms.

Last year we went with them up to the Nutcracker.

We decided to try a new ballet this year.

Avy loved it.

She sat still and took it all in the whole performance.

We went to Buca for lunch before the show.

After the show, the ladies showed off their finest rabbit bunny-hops

Tree Chopping

We went Christmas tree hunting.

The usual suspects joined the ranks.

This was a different farm than the one we usually hit up in Half Moon Bay.

This was in the wilderness.

I mean, off the road, hiking up hills, scared out of my mind I

was going to lose a red-head in the forest, wilderness.

& this isn't scary at all either.

Tat & I in our traditional tree-cutting garb.

We ended up getting this beaut

A couple days ago, while in the bathroom, I heard a bulb break out in the living room.

Turns out it was more than one bulb.

This picture is the epitome of Linc.

However, he actually wasn't to blame for this.

It's really a cute story:

Linc wanted the blue "ball" ornament down, so Avy said she'd get it for him.

It was up too high, so she grabbed a little chair.

She tried so hard to reach & yank it off, but

instead of just getting the ornament, she got the whole tree with it.

Fortunately, nobody was harmed.

& Linc got his ornament.

Dancing

Avy's dance class showed off their "I love you, Santa Clause number" at dance last week.

Teddy Bear Tea Party-ing

Linc & I hosted a Teddy Bear Tea Party for Avy & her friends.

The girls had to bring their favorite doll or stuffed animal to dine with.

Here's the mini-hostess all dolled up, with Kitty, of course,

ready to party like a rock star.

Er, I mean, a proper tea party princess.

She got a little make-up on for the occasion.

They decorated Gingerbread Houses

Clearly Gus needs to take Tea Party Etiquette 101

Mother Goose read many Christmas stories

Linc was head of the clean-up committee & did a fine job.

Any chance to climb on the table

will not be refused by this gingerbread boy.

After he cleaned up the g-bread house mess...

...he helped set up the tea party portion of the party.

Gingerbread cookies, madeleines, cuties, and hot chocolate.

Then they had a gift exchange.

What a fun party with lots of lovely little ladies!

Oh yes, & this lovely little lady was a gem too.

Preschool fun

Avy's school class had a visit from Santa Clause.

All she keeps telling Santa that she wants is a red bear.

Today I said, "Maybe Santa will bring you your very own roll of tape in your stocking!"

(since she uses tape all day long on any and everything in sight)

She said, "No, Mom. I think he's bringing me a red bear.

Maybe next year he can bring me a roll of tape for Christmas."

Boy will she be beside herself when she sees what Santa has in store.

Kaari's Cookie Competition

This totally deserves a whole post of its own.

Here's to the last week of ho-ho-ho-ing!

T-Day. What? That was a month ago too?

2011-12-15T13:57:00.000-08:00

I'm noticing a trend.

I seem to be a day late & a dollar short.

I feel like I'm scrambling to keep up.

Anybody else with me on this???

So here was Thanksgiving.

It was so much fun.

Me & the kiddos & Whit-Whit drove to Utah.

Tyler started a new job & felt that he shouldn't take off a couple days after starting.

Such a responsible lad.

Me, on the other hand, heard my parents & siblings & nephews would all be at my Grandma & Grandpa Griffin's house for the long weekend, so we loaded up the bus & crossed the country.

Grandma Griff & Mom

The highlights:

playing in the leaves...never gets old

playing with uncle jaxon

little miss muffin got lots of loves

avy's first haircut

yes, her very first!

(well besides the time she accidentally took a little snip at it in preschool last year)

brookie is going to hairschool at aveda & showed us what she's been learning.

she did a fine job!

whit led the kids on a wild turkey treasure hunt to find their

chocolate turkey suckers grandma made for them

played in leaves again.

this time they buried grandma.

yes, my grandma, in the leaves.

she's the most energetic thing EVER!!!

gus-gus entertained us for several minutes with his face against the glass routine

we rode the train

it wouldn't be a bird family outing if we didn't bust out in song & dance while in public

we saw the lights up at temple square

my family laughed at my hat. i didn't care.

it was all i could find in g-ma's closet & i wasn't about to freeze my ears off.

we got to spend some time with sista sally

grandma made us homemade "awful good waffles" every morning for breakfast.

we went for a nice hike.

avy always brings up the rear on walks.

Afterall, searching for sticks that look like the letters in your name takes time.

And add on skipping, singing, & searching for pebbles that will work as kitty food, and you would be last in the pack too.

jaxon with his walking stick

jaxon & my dad doing a little leprechaun jaunt

brooklyn showing the neighbors her tumbling acts

we visited santa baby at the mall

we visited my grandpa bird's grave

we tried to squeeze more people than there are seatbelts into my car

we visited my beautiful grandma bird

everyone always asks where the reds get their red...well this is she.

all the cousins came over so gma griff could get a picture of her 4 2011 great-grand-babies

here's g&g with the bird & griffin grandkids, minus austy

And that was our trip.

A blast.

But don't feel bad that Tat missed all the fun.

Trust me.

I think he was the one who got the vacation:

He was busy golfing, attending feasts, going up to our friends' ranch,

watching all the tv & youtube vids he could handle in sheer silence with no distractions.

He had a very thankful Thanksgiving too.

& I was most thankful that this here beauty was an angel in the car.

Not a single scream from this one.

A true Thanksgiving miracle indeed.

Santa Baby

2011-12-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty good this year:

Besides the time I backed the new car into a pole.

Or the time I didn't buy popcorn from my friend's kid for his scout troop.

Or the 9 months my family ate cold cereal for breakfast, lunch, & dinner.

Or the time I gave the guy at the dollar store attitude because he accused me of cutting in front of him in line.

Or the time I told the solicitor I would respond to his email about buying his fresh produce, & then I just erased it.

Or the time I failed to plan, so I ran out of diapers for Ashby

(oh wait, that's today. yes, she's been wearing linc's diapers for a day now)

Or the many times I've been too lazy to separate trash from recyclables, so I just threw my plastic or glass cartons in the...GASP...GARBAGE CAN!

Or the time I laughed at my mom because she told Whitney she needed to wear a dickie.

Or the day Tat had Avy's booster seat & the extra car seat in his car, & I had to run errands, so I just let her ride in the car with a regular old seatbelt.

However, I did birth another little elfkin this year.

That's gotta count for something, right?

So, this is top priority on my wish list:

An "A" would be appropriate.

You can get it HERE.

Make sure to choose the "A" from the 3rd photo down.

& feel free to throw in a 24in chain that can be found HERE.

Mucho Thanks.

Choo-choo...Linc is 2!

2011-12-07T14:17:00.001-08:00

I realize I'm blogging about Linc's birthday party almost a month late.

A month late is actually impressive.

Life with 3 tikes is busy.

Party was a success.

Our Scott cousins were here from Utah and Uncle Jakey came all the way from Germany,

just to celebrate

(well, maybe he was here for some dental stuff, but we'll pretend he just loves us that much).

The beautiful Atwood sibs:

Jake, Tyler, Jodi

Jennie & Georgia posing for a pre-party pic:

We went with the train theme for the big 2.

Chickety-check it:

The food:

Ty-Ty the hot dog guy:

Dane & Avy on candy patrol

The fun:

the reds have LOVED this train creation!

they are still playing with it a month later.

boxes & paint = cheap & fun

Of course corntoss was going on over on the other side of the tracks:

The signage:

The pinata:

Let me just say that making it out of boxes is the way to go.

If you'll remember correctly, I made Avy's pinata

old school out of paper mache & the like.

This here train is a giant frosted mini wheats box, a multi-grain cheerios box, and an oatmeal canister.

There is nothing a little crepe paper & my hot glue gun can't accomplish.

Ta-da:

The only downside of the box pinata is that it took a million years for the toddlers to break it open.

Fortunately we had cuzzy Dru there to tackle the beast:

The cake:

Rice Krispie treats.

Brilliant.

So easy to work with & what kid doesn't

love a good ol fashioned RK treat?

I know I already mentioned this, but this kid is so

stinkin lincoln cute & was so hilarious as he said,

"OOOOOO!" for every gift he opened.

Priceless.

Of course Auntie Whit-Whit came for the shindig.

A gathering doesn't become a party until she arrives.

Austy chose Central America over us.

I think he fled because he knew I'd try to pull one of these on him:

Wouldn't he make a lovely Sir Topham Hatt?

The party was toot-toot-riffic.

Thanks to all who came to celebrate from near & far!

quick pics

2011-12-03T23:39:00.001-08:00

The R's&B (reds & blondie) are about as cute as they come;

at least that is my completely unbiased opinion.

(yes, all the same pics as on fb, sorry to the readers who are getting a double dose of atwood babies)

big weekend for all

2011-11-20T22:13:00.001-08:00

Last weekend was filled with good times for all little Atwoods.

Oldest to youngest:

AVY

First Primary Program at church.

You were a doll.

Wore your new dress that spins

(bc that's the first & foremost requirement for you when it comes to a dress)

& said your entire line into the microphone.

Such a proud mom moment.

Way to go, Aves!

LINC

Turned 2!!!

Happy Birthday, Gus-Gus!

Lucky little devil had cousins in town to celebrate with you.

This is you & the boys having a slumber party on your bedroom floor:

Every present you opened you would say "OOOOOO!" so excitedly.

It was adorable.

Here are some of the ooooo faces:

You had a rip-roarin Train Birthday Party, which will get its own post in due time.

What a fun guy you are, Mr. Linc.

You keep us laughing & always entertained.

For example:

You love your Baby Ashby & always tell me she's "So Cute!" or that she needs "milk."

You are too smart for your own good.

This morning when you woke up, I told you to go find the juice in the fridge.

You found the juice, but seemed to still be rummaging around in the fridge for something.

When I came in for a checksie, I found you trying to scarf down a cupcake before you got caught :)

You love any sport that has to do with a ball.

You love to play cars.

You are incredible at knowing your colors & blew away Dr. K when you responded that the sucker was purple.
You go homeboy!

It isn't uncommon for us to see your bedroom light on in the middle of the night & hear you playing with your toys.

Just last night I heard you playing with the screw-driver & dump truck Gma & Gpa gave you for your birthday.

And tonight I heard you playing with the penguin game your Carter bros gave you.

We just leave you & you eventually go back to sleep.

You still love your monsters & take very good care of them.

The week of your birthday, we finally decided enough was enough with the paci.

We only had to tell you once that the pacis were going to stay on your bed & couldn't leave your room.

You never threw a single fit over it!

Amazing!

We will often find you running into your room, jumping up on your bed, taking a few quick sucks of the paci, then throwing it back on your pillow & running off to play again.

You throw a mean tantrum.

And you have "determination" & "persistence" like I've never seen before.

My favorite thing in the morning is to say, "Good Morning, Linc! How did you sleep?"

& you always respond with a high pitched,

"Good!"

You're the best little Gus Guy in the world.

We adore & love you!

ASHBY

Had your blessing day at church.

Your dad did a beautiful job.

Uncle Steve & Uncle Jake stood in the circle too.

As always, you looked and acted like an angel.

Seriously, you are the baby with the most patient, happy, loving disposition that I've ever seen.

Thank you for being so kind to me.

I dread the day you learn that the squeaky wheel gets the grease around here.

But until then, we'll bask in how perfect you are.

Rain?!?!

2011-11-03T23:43:00.000-07:00

I was sweating like a hog this morning.

Then, all of a sudden, the winds of change shifted & I was freezing my tootsies off.

My kids begged me to let them hit up the puddles.

How could I resist?

Peace out, Halloween!

2011-10-31T23:13:00.000-07:00

We had a good run this month, my dear friend Halloween.

Lots of food.

Lots of friends.

Lots of festivities.

Here goes the documentation.

Is 53 pictures too many?

Let's do this thing.

Thursday brought The Annual Toddler Halloween Bash:

making a spider web out of yarn

spider in said web

dancing like a witch

not wearing his costume, & not participating in organized games,

but running out the side door,

around the backyard,

through the back door,

back in the house...over and over again.

making monster art

decorating spooky cookies

Friday rang in The Annual Codexis work Halloween Party:

Pumpkin carving contest between different departments

eating treats & gathering goody bags

posing for the camera

awesome balloon making

(hello kitty)

(penguin & plain old balloon)

oompa loompa making cotton candy

running through the halls all hopped up on sugar

after the par-tay, we headed to Palo Alto for some shopping & food

Saturday was celebrated with a friend's birthday party

& The Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest / Grudge Match

princess b-day party...avy was in heaven

Pumpkin Carving / Grudge Match
but let's start with how beautiful Kaari's & my hair looks in this pic

Tat working on our punky.

We had to carve a pumpkin that looked flummoxed.

We just carved the word over & over.

He did a great job.

Then came the annual arm wrestle.

My husband completely annihilated the competition.

Hmmm...Dave, you look a little flummoxed as to
how incredibly strong Tyler is.

But no worries Dashby, your wife kicked my trash

even after I tried the age-ol cheat trick of bending my wrist.

She's one tough cookie...even weeks right after giving birth!

Sunday brought on some GOOOOOOOOD grubbage.

But before we went to dinner, Tat & Aves did some pumpkin carving:

Then came the GOOOOOOOOD grubbage.

My friend Alie had the awesome idea to have a

Halloween dinner, where EVERYTHING had to be Halloween-ish.

I made these cuties.

Fruit salad jack-o-lanterns

Apple & almond zombie mouths

Beans & hotdog worms in dirt (with chips)

candy corn pizza

(this is how it was supposed to look,

but mine didn't turn out quite as candy corn like as these)

Alie made mashed potato ghosts

Eyeball salad

Bones (scrumptious chicken)

Ghost milkshakes

Candace made this awesome

Snake Sandwich.

Mac & Cheese brains

What a delicious way to celebrate Halloween!!!

And now on to Monday.

Started bright & early with the Preschool Parade

Moved into the afternoon with some yummy cupcake decorating & delivering.

oh yes, and eating

I later came into the kitchen & found Linc laying on the floor

LICKING all the sprinkles up.

guh-ros

Then came evening

We headed over to a friend's house for some

dinner & then trick-or-treating with friends

Linc the Spider...finally

You'll notice this is Linc's first time in costume.

All week long, he would have nothing to do with his spider get-up.

Avy the Rex Dinosaur

She thought it appropriate to be a witch at school because

she could move around easily in a witch costume,

and then Rex at night so it would keep her warm.

Genius.

Ashby the Caterpillar

The bigger kids were several houses ahead of the toddlers...

...because the toddlers had to stop after every house to check out the loot,

& in Linc's case, take a bite of every piece of loot

After fun with friends, we went home to hit up our own hood.

Austy came over & manned our house while we went out.

Linc ditched the costume (surprise, surprise),

& Avy went back to witchery.

Rex was way too cumbersome.

Whit Whit & Valentino came over to party with us too.

Or shall I say, Sandy & Danny.

Ashby wanted to be like the bigs, so she cocooned her way

out of her caterpillar costume & transformed into a mummy.

And the best part about Halloween?

It was in the 80's all day & 70's at night.

PERFECT WEATHER!

Oh yeah, & I'm about to go steal all the candy out of my kids buckets while they're asleep because, well, it'll just rot their teeth.

Hasta la vista, Halloween!!!

Moola

2011-10-31T00:03:00.000-07:00

This is just a jiffy post about the fundraiser we had a week ago.

Since many of you donated & have inquired about how it went,

here's your answer:

We made $700!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

october...thus far...

2011-10-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

has been busy.

and fun.

and busy.

It started with my, & other costumed, hooligans trying to escape music class.

& while the olders were on their way to freedom,

Linc chased around the Halloween hotties.

We scavenged the hood for the perfect Spooky Halloween Tree

limbs & rocks, then went to town painting.

Ta-Da!

The Atwoods cruised on over to Half Moon Bay for our annual pumpkin picking.

Avy on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin.

Linc at the patch this year.

Linc at the patch last year.

You've come a long way, Buddy.

We went to Great America for Trick-or-Treating with

Snoopy & the Gang.

This little bean is such a dolly.

We love her to bits.

It's impossible to pick her up & not kiss her chubb-ed cheeks over & over.

And why is it that getting my 4 week old to smile

in a picture is easier than getting the other 2???

Tat & I went to Kaari's annual Halloween Bash.

This year the theme was Heros vs Villians.

We were originally going to be a ghost & a Ghostbuster.

We got lazy at the last minute, & I have a feeling Tyler has just been dying to find an opportunity to wear his camo in public, so this is what we rolled up to the party as:

(yes, I wore this a few years ago.

Like I said...we got lazy.)

There was a spooky eating contest.

I joined the ranks for the green slime-goo competition.

It was straight sweetened condensed milk.

Does NOT go down so quickly.

I didn't win.

Now that I think of it, maybe this is why my stomache has been having issues the past couple days???

Kristine, Tyler C...you with me?

Kaari was a sweet friend & sent me home with

some cute Halloween kitchen towels.

I'm sure it's to prep me for bringing home

the grand prize come Cookie Competition 2011.

feeling the love???

2011-10-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

My friend/neighbor Ashley had the genius idea.

She felt that since it impacted our neighborhood too,

she wanted to help raise money for the families of the victims of the Cupertino Quarry shooting.

So she & I are collecting baked goods & donated items for a garage/bake sale to be held at her house this Saturday.

Here's where you come in.

We need treaties & your junk!

If you have anything you'd like to donate, please let me or Ashley know!

The more people are involved,

the greater the impact we can have!

It's October?!?!

2011-10-14T23:52:00.000-07:00

What I failed to blog about in September:

Miss Thang started dance again.

This time, however, it's real dance, as she has let me know.

She wanted to take a tougher class that has costumes & a recital, so we found one in San Jose.

It's cute.

Linc has been being a whole lot of Linc.

He's a boy.

A boy who's sandwiched between 2 sisters

& all the girlfriends that come along with that.

He looks like one of the Village People.

Oh, but see, he IS trying to maintain his manhood.

He has a bat.

Ashby met the man she can't marry.

His last name is Ashby.

But what's name changing when you're in love?

Check it out, their left hands & arms are in the same exact position.

I think it's meant to be.

Whit-Whit's Surprise birthday party:

Her boyfriend & his family threw her a Wild West party.

Her roomie made these DELICIOUS cupcakes.

& I mean scrumptious.

& they were adorable.

All different flavors.

Snickerdoodle was my fave.

I may have eaten several.

Can you tell I loved them?

Gus-Gus didn't want to wear Western gear.

But opted for his hot necklace & fire hat instead.

The CA fam.

Minus Austy who was traveling.

& don't confuse the lady on the left with a mammoth.

It's me.

I gave birth days later.

Cut me some slack.

Beautiful Birdie ladies, yes?

So fun!

The next night, her real birthday day, we had her over for dinner & cake.

Chef Aves opted to go the pudding cake route.

Good choice.

While we sat & chatted for a while after cake, this little sneak helped himself to the leftovers up at the counter.

And again with the necklace???

Happy 21st Whit!

We love you.

Lunch with my friend Crystal:

You know my friend Crystal.

She's the one who has given me several shots at television fame.

But she unfortunately quit her job with abc studios, so there goes my star-studded career.

But that's okay. I hear Bravo may be making a Real Housewives of Silicon Valley.

But I digress.

Lunch with Crystal.

It's tradition to meet up for lunch days before I pop out a bebe.

She's a doll. I always love catching up with her.

After lunch, we swung by Dad's work since it was on the way home.

Who doesn't love a little snuggle & swipe from the candy jar after lunch?

Avy's birthday.

I already covered all the highlights, like the party a few weeks earlier, & the small detail of baby being born on her birthday, but here are a couple more pics from present opening:

This is her face when she realized she did in fact get her "Louie Dolphin Pillow Pet" she's been begging for since July.

Her cousin Dane has one, named Louie, that Avy fell in love with when we went to Oregon with them this summer.

She has asked for one almost every day since.

Happy Birthday, Aves...

again & again.

Big Red's first pedicure:

For mine & Avy's birthdays, our friends Alie & Maddie took us out for some tootsie pampering.

It was lovely.

But the highlight was watching these 2 cuties have such a fun experience:

It was a fun one, September.

Onward & upward to October.

Living in a gangsta's paradise

2011-10-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

I'll set the scene for you:

Last Thursday morning the kids woke up around 6:45.

I was in the bathroom around 7 when all of a sudden I heard what sounded like gun shots not too far off. I thought it was strange, but didn't think anything of it, assuming it could have been a million different things, & assuming I don't live in the ghetto.

Seconds later I heard a myriad of sirens!

Then about 1 minute later I heard a swarm of helicopters.

I looked out the window but couldn't see the helicopters, so I went out to the front yard.

There were 3 helicopters all flying right around our neighborhood!

My next door neighbor came out & said he was just told there was a shooting a block away!

He hopped in his car & was gone for about 2 minutes, then came back & told me to get the kids back in the house because the gunman had gotten away & was seen running into our neighborhood.

Holy smokes.

I wasn't really scared at this point, but more excited, because I assumed the cops would be chasing him down any second.

We turned on the news.

My neighborhood was on the news.

Next thing I knew our friends' house was on the news & the SWAT team was searching through their backyard.

Our neighborhood was on lockdown...there was no going in our out...ALL DAY LONG.

The hood was covered with law enforcement from all over searching backyards, the park, inside some houses...it was seriously intense.

Look closely & you can see a SWAT team guy on the grass of the neighbors across the street from us.

While the neighborhood was completely barren of any residents (because they were locked inside their houses as instructed to do), Tyler the rebel decided it was the perfect day to change the oil in my car.

His words exactly, "Well if I'm going to be home all day, I may as well be productive."

Oh, Tat. Where do you come from?

It was at this point that a cop came over and asked to use our bathroom.

I'm pretty sure the helicopters noted some suspicious activity going on in the only open garage door in a 20 mile radius and suggested the cops check out our joint. So they used the john as an excuse.

The SWAT team made it to our house later in the afternoon.

I started to get a bit nervous around this time.

I had originally assumed they would catch the guy hours ago, so now it was getting a little scary to think that this guy could be hiding out so close.

Another Tat highlight came at this moment:

As 2 SWAT fellas came into our backyard, it was like the movies.

They stealthily crept so quietly and strategically with their massive guns pointing everywhere they turned. As they were taking this so seriously, Tyler slides open the sliding glass door, not quietly I might add, & startles one of the guys. He turns directly towards us and thank heavens he didn't shoot us!

He says to Tyler, "Sir, close the door and get back in the house!"

Tat: "Can I just take a picture of you guys?"

TYLER!!!

SWAT: "Get back in your house!"

Here's one walking around our front yard.

Evening came & the gunman was still on the loose.

Our neighborhood was off lockdown around 9pm-ish & the cops & everyone else started to leave.

The news reported that law enforcement was pretty confident the man wasn't in our neighborhood since they had searched it so thoroughly.

This made me feel a bit more safe, but still on edge since he hadn't been caught.

It was a pretty restless night for me.

On to the next morning.

Tat & I turned on the news at about 7am to see if anything had transpired over night.

Right after we turned the tv on, we heard a ton of gunshots...which seemed to be right outside our house.

I froze. Honestly, my heart stopped.

I prayed this meant the cops had just found him, & not that he was running around my neighborhood shooting.

INSANE.

Again, seconds later we hear the sirens, followed by the helicopters.

Tyler wanted to run outside to see, I said ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!

We turned on the news & they were saying reports were just coming in about the shooting & speculating that it was the cops shooting the gunman.

Then we see our neighborhood on the screen, this time we see the houses right down the street!

We went outside (after we saw on tv that the cops were out) and this is what we saw from our driveway:

Our intersection blocked off because the cops had just shot the gunman moments earlier only houses away from ours.

Awesome.

Although nobody knows for sure where he was hiding out all night, whether in an evacuated house or in a yard, all I know is that it was within a minute walking distance from our home.

Wow.

This craziness has been called the biggest manhunt Silicon Vally has ever seen.

& it happened right in our backyard!

I'm so grateful nobody in our neighborhood was hurt.

& I pray this NEVER happens here again.

Thanks to everyone who checked up on us throughout the day & kept us in their prayers.

So much to catch up on...

2011-10-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

... but this is about the most funny/creepy thing that needs to be shared at the moment:

Linc sound asleep with a nakey Barbie on his pillow.

Ashby...1 week

2011-10-03T14:57:00.000-07:00

Well, technically I guess she's a week & a couple days,

but now that she's fluffed up a bit,

I feel it only necessary to share some glamour shots.

While Avy was at school this am, Linc, Ashby, & I went hogwild with the camera:

I know this one is an awkward angle, but it showcases 1 of her 2 adorable little dimples.

Cutest little mole I've ever seen

2011-09-27T23:30:00.000-07:00

Remember way back in January when the Dr. at Urgent Care told me I had a molar pregnancy & would have a d&c later in the week???

Well thank HEAVENS we have a real doctor that clarified...

no mole, real baby.

Here she be:

Ashby Atwood

She's perfect.

The name:

So we were planning on the name Harper.

But in my mind, Harper was identical to Avy.

She had awesome red hair.

So when she was born, & didn't look anything like we imagined Harper would look like, she stumped the chump.

We were without name.

We were staring at a beautiful blondie who needed the perfect name.

We had orginally liked Ashby too.

So we toyed back & forth between the 2 names & several others for the whole hopsital stay, & then finally agreed upon Ashby.

It fits.

The stats:

September 23, 2011

(yes, Avy's birthday too)

8:53 pm

7lbs 6oz

20.5 inches

The delivery:

I woke up Friday morning with some contractions, hoping & praying this was it...

finally!!!

I had contractions off & on all day, & then they started to get more regular & painful towards the afternoon.

We decided we should get moving to the hospital, but had to celebrate a certain little someone's 4th birthday before we took off.

Even 6 minute apart contractions won't stop me from downing me some cake & ice-cream.

I'm a die hard.

We got to the hospital around 3pm & got all checked out.

I was only a 3. Hmmph.

They said, well, you can go home & labor, or since we have you all hooked up & here in a bed, do you just want to get things moving along & have that baby?

ummmm.....YES!

I had an induction scheduled for the next day.

I was trying to avoid the girlies sharing the same birthday, but realized that this baby would likely be coming on the 23rd whether I went home & sat in pain & anticipation, or whether I labored in the hospital with the comfort of my friend the epidural.

So I got the epidural & pitocin at 5pm.

Felt the need to push about 3.5 hours later, got permission from nurse & dr,

pushed through 2 contractions and out came Ashby.

I hope to not curse myself for any possible births in the future, but really,

this one was easy breezy.

Less than 10 minutes of pushing...I'll take it.

In fact, the Dr. said,

"They shouldn't even pay me for doing this. This one's too easy."

You know Tyler took note of that.

The reds:

In love.

They can't get enough.

Linc is constantly asking, "Where's Baby?" in his own verbage, of course.

And everytime he sees her, he says, "My Baby!"

Exactly what I predicted...very protective of "my baby!"

Avy is so helpful & just adores Ashby.

She can't get enough snuggling & is already

trying to teach her the fine art of patty-cake.

They couldn't be more sweet.

The dad:

No shenanigans this time.

Really, none at all.

With Avy's labor, he slept through the majority of it.

Poor guy just couldn't please me when I needed him to rub my hand.

With Linc's labor, he went out to get himself some dinner & stopped by the car dealership before heading back to the hospital.

And, also with Linc, if my memory serves me correctly,

I asked him at one point to go get the nurse, & he pretended to go do it bc he didn't really think I was ready to push.

But it's all good. I know he meant well.

Ashby...he was fully present, both physically & mentally.

He rubbed my hands at the perfect pressure when I got the shakes.

He was very attentive when I asked for water.

He retrieved our nurse at the moment I asked.

He wins the Labor & Delivery Husband of the Year award.

Thanks, Tyler!

A few more random pics:

So there you have it.

Ashby is a bundle of love & we are soaking up every moment of her.

Thanks for all the well wishes & congratulations you've all given us!

We feel very loved & blessed.

Oh wait!

Hold the phone!

I almost forgot to mention one of the most AWESOME parts about the past few days.

Let the picture speak for itself:

That's right, folks.

I somehow scored not 1, not 2, but 3

of the coveted hospital water bottles.

I got one a few days before from the false water breaking alarm

(see previous post)

And then after Ashby was born I dropped mine on the floor at the hospital so the nurse told me to throw it away and she would get me a new one.

Heck no.

She got me a new one, but you better bet your bottom dollar we kept the fallen one as well.

Heading to the Hospital!!!

2011-09-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

YAY!!! The moment I've been waiting for

since, well, all year.

Although I think it's labor time & all I want to do is get to the hospital,

Tat suggested we hang out for a few minutes for one last photo session.

Last family picture of just the 4 of us:

(Avy is mad she has to be in the pic bc she wants to be playing with Blakely)

Last big belly picture before the belly is just jelly with no baby in it:

But wait...FALSE ALARM.

So it was a super, super hot day in our house yesterday.

So hot that one may or may not sweat excessively enough to be tricked into thinking their water broke.

Here's the story:

I took a nice long nap with the kids.

I woke up feeling like my temperature was about 150 degrees.

I went to the bathroom.

After I pulled my clothes back on, I noticed that my pants were soaking wet.

Like SOAKING wet.

I thought, hmmmm...maybe, since I'm due to have a baby in 4 days, I should call the Dr. to see if this could be it.

So I left a message & explained my situation.

I was quickly called back by the nurse & told that yes, in fact it does sound like my water broke & I should head to labor & delivery right away.

I called Tat.

He answered & said,

"Are you in labor?"

I said,

"Well, I think my water may have just broke."

He immediately announces to EVERYONE he's in the meeting with,

"Hayley's water broke! I gotta go!"

I hear cheering & excitement in the background.

I said, "Hon, it may have, I don't know, don't get too excited.

Just come home & take me to the hospital."

Meanwhile, Kaari & Blakely come to save the day to sit with the reds & then Whit Whit showed up later to take over.

So we go to the hospital.

Get admitted.

They check me out, do a swab test to check for amniotic fluid,

& then report that my water has not broken yet.

They sent us home.

You can only imagine at this point I've got both fists aimed up in the air screaming

"NOOOOO!"

BUT...

There were several silver linings to the night:

1- I got a coveted water bottle from the hospital, which means I'll get even ANOTHER one in a few days!

2- Since Whit was with the tots, we went to Xahn.

Holy smokes.

I can NOT get over how delicious that joint is.

Tyler & I pretty much embarrassingly licked our plates clean.

3- We went to Pinkberry.

I got the pb & chocolate swirl. YUM.

4- We came home to sleeping kids & a clean house.

(Thanks, Whitters! Your birthday post is coming next)

Ah, the lengths I won't go to in order to get some pampering.

T-TOT Post

2011-09-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

Tyler informed me that at work they hold

T-TOT meetings, which stand for

this, that & the other.

I love that phrase, but can only imagine how painfully & ridiculously boring they must be.

So from now on, when I have no witty title & just a bunch of Atwood biz to document,

it'll be considered a T-TOT post.

So here's a bit of this, that, & the other of the past week.

First & foremost, I had a great Dr's appt yesterday.

I've been having quite a few lil contractions at night time the past week, & she said the babe has dropped a bit, so she really could come any time!

However, I'm doubtful.

The fact that I've never been early or even on time with the reds leads me to believe we still have a long, hearty 2 weeks ahead of us.

BUT,

I figure if I announce the possibility, red #3 will feel social pressure & show her beautiful mug soon.

In other news about myself,

I was scared out of my pregnant pants last night when I heard a mass crowd of screaming ladies in my front yard.

I asked Tat, "Are the young women here for something????"

I went out to check & there were a few Bieber crazed friends singing & dancing to a little

"Baby, Baby, Baby, OH!!!"

(my favorite song)

on my grass.

They had Bieber signs & paraphernalia, including the singing toothbrush, & were congratulating me on the upcoming arrival of my baby, baby, baby, oh.

A close-up of my Bieber toothbrush, just in case you want one too:

They let me fancy up a bit & took me to dinner at XAHN...the most yummiest joint in the Bay Area as far as I'm concerned.

The majority of the table ordered the Bun Thit Nuong dish.

Gotta love the name, but gotta love the flae-va-flave even more.

Thanks ladies! You're sure a fun bunch of trickers!

Lumber Jack Joe has turned his latest youtube infatuation into reality.

He has pruned & skinnied up our backyard trees to the bare bones.

And it looks so much better!

Since he had piles of wood & burning piles of wood in your backyard isn't allowed in the city limits, he has taken to the idea of a wood chipper.

He bought one.

He's been chipping wood & spreading mulch all over our dirt patches.

It's lookin goood!

& these tots have been loving all the quality time in the backyard with Dad as of late:

Avy started school this week.

Blech to starting school.

I already miss our lazy summer days of Curious George in the morning, sunny California adventures & play in the afternoon, & unlimited ice cream in the late nights.

Back to life...back to reality.

She's loving her class though & has a pluthera of friends in there.

So I guess we will stick with the idea of educating our children.

She has also been so well behaved lately.

Hope I'm not cursing her phenomenal behavior by stating that publicly, but she has really been a sweetheart as of late.

She shares with Linc.

Says the sweetest things.

Wakes up so happy.

Always asks what she can do to help me.

It's beautiful.

A few weeks ago, Linc was being a pill & she said to me,

"Mom, I love you. Is it so hard to be the mom of 2 cute kids like us? Do we make you exhausted?"

She's a funny one.

And Linc colored a picture the other day & was so excited to show her.

She told him all excitedly,

"Wow, Gus! This is so great! You are the best little artist!"

Ahhh...nothing more refreshing than 2 red-heads making nice with one another.

She has also been quite the photographer.

Check it out:

Nice work, eh?

Linc has been eating me out of house & home!

All of a sudden this kid is sprouting.

Well, what with his 3 hour naps all week & his 2,000 calorie daily diet, he should be sprouting!

At his 18 month appt, his dr was a little concerned that he was plateauing in his growth curve, so she asked me to bring him back at the end of summer for a quick growth check.

In 3 months he had grown 2 inches & gained 3 pounds.

(pic also taken by Avy the budding photographer)

You go homeboy!

Well that's about it for our first T-TOT meeting.

You now know how incredibly boring these future posts will be unless you are my spouse, my kids' grandparents, or a Justin Bieber fan.

Meeting dismissed.

rAh..RaH..sis boom bah!

2011-09-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

I don't scrapbook.

My cooking is average.

I play no musical instrument.

I don't turn old sidewalk furniture into vintage-y, fabulous decor.

But I'm down wit dat, because really, where I shine is throwing my kids a mean party.

I'll toot my own horn on that one loud & proud.

And let's be honest, what's more important than teaching my kids that life is all about the party?

Avy's Cheerleading Party has come & gone.

It was squad-tastic!

Here are all the deets.

The invites:

The adorable cheer uniform my mom made for Avy:

Could it be any cuter?

Could she be any cuter?

The decor:

I love my popcorn tub from the $ store.

The activities:

pom-pom making

sports bounce house slide

obstacle course

balance across the hose

flexibility through the tunnel

agility up the ladder in the bounce house & down the slide at the end

Some of the guests:

The entertainment:

I dread the day my party-throwing committee won't give into my ridiculous demands anymore.

They were phenomenal!

They danced.

Did cheers.

Taught cheers.

Stunted the party girl.

Led the tots in a rousing rendition of pass the pom-pom.

Congratulated the squad hopefuls on their making the squad at the end of the obstacle course with bracelets & tattoos.

They are the dream team.

The cake:

I know. It's fabulous.

My life-saving friend Kim offered to make it & did an outstanding job.

This is white chocolate that she colored & painted...all edible!

AMAZING!

The cupcakes:

Again, another life-saving friend Andrea offered to make them for the party.

Pink raw sugar atop homemade frosting & white cupcakes.

Beautiful & YUM!

And I have to also mention the other life-savers who made loads & loads of rice krispie treats for the party:

Erin, Alie, Kaari, & Lindsay

THANK YOU!

The less I had to stand up & bake for this gathering the better.

You all have no idea how much this helped me out.

The pinata:

Yes, it's homemade.

What a fun project!

I highly recommend making your own!

It cost me a whole $1, if that, & was so fun & easy.

Sister Brooklyn gave me the genius idea & got me started.

Here's how to do it if you're interested:

-mix 1 cup flour w 2 cups water

-drench strips of newspaper then squeeze off excess paste

-completely cover balloon with mache & do a few layers for firmness
(leave a bare circle big enough to fit candy inside)

-let completely dry for a couple days

-pop balloon
-we put b-day hats on to make it a star shape

-cover with crepe paper & decorate

-oh yeah, & hire this pinata engineer to rig a handle.

SOOPA EASY!

A few extra post-worthy pics from the par-tay:

tots spying on the cheer squad before their grand entrance

the lovely Jacobs ladies

(love this picture!)

the pinata gents

some cheer babes

Gus-gus scouting out the cheer babes from afar

he must have found the cheer babes

after-party bounce house fun

birthday girlies posing for a pic

exhausted, finally clean, & glued to curious george after a long day of partying

And my ALL-TIME FAVORITE memory from the cheerleading party...

drum roll please...

wow. about all i can say. wow.
He said to me later,
"I was surprised at how easy it was to do that jump!"
And you did it so gracefully, dear. We were all so impressed.

So that was the party.

& yes, it was held 3 weeks before the real birthday of Ms. Avy,

but, as Tat kindly reminds me,

the ol' gray mare...you know the rest.

I figured if we were going to have a bash, it needed to be while I could still stand up & semi-bend.

So we held it on my birthday.

That's right, now let's make it all about me.

29, folks!

One more year until I throw myself my own monster party.

What a great day I had.

Surrounded by friends & family.

Tat & I went out for some Greek food for dinner.

YAY!

Whit-Whit made me a cake.

YAY!

Tatty surprised me with a new laptop!

YAY!

I got a couple pedicure certificates which are a rounded,

pregnant gal's best friend.

YAY!

& last, but not least, I woke up to this freshly made paper flower bouquet & a swoon-worthy love letter from my guy.

He may seem cave-man like at times, but overall, he's a romeo & youtube how-to junkie at heart.

Thanks to everyone who made Avy's party & my birthday so special!

The Wild West, Lizards, & Babies

2011-08-13T15:06:00.000-07:00

We'll start with the Wild West.

Austy has had Monterey & Mission San Juan Bautista on his to do list for the summer.

When he told me these desires of his, I obviously invited myself & my reds to join.

And, naturally, I sent out an invitation text to Whit too.

And, knowing that we have plenty of room in my car, Whit invited her friend to come too.

So what was originally Austin's plan of spending a few hours hitting up some sites, ultimately turned into a full day of our tourist vehicle cruising the Wild West.

First stop, Mission San Juan Bautista.

When Austy arrived at our house in his cowboy gear, Avy immediately decided she HAD to don her Cowgirl Jessie get-up.

So we rode off into the mid-day sun of SJB.

I always feel so much better being warned that the building I'm about to enter may collapse on me if there's an earthquake:

Austy & Aves spent most of the time doing their Cow-folk thing:

(yes, trusty steed Bullseye made the trek with us)

Linc spent his time trying to catch the wild roosters that were running all around the gardens.

This is a man on a mission (no pun intended):

After we had enough of the 1800's & after Austin put a card of St. somebody up on my rearview mirror to protect us for the rest of our journey, we cruised over to beautiful Monterey.

And what good is Monterey if you don't stop for some fresh sea-foodie?

(& why did nobody take the time to let me know I should change

out of horizontal stripes before leaving the house?!?!)

We had dinner at Louie Linguinie's & then headed across the street to Dippin' Dots for dessert.

I'm not gonna lie...I don't love Dippin' Dots.

In fact, I don't even like them.

The few times I've tried them, they always leave me feeling barf-a-riffic.

So I settled on this beast instead.

And don't go thinking I didn't pound the whole thing myself.

Thanks for not inviting us on your journey, Aust.

It was a blast!

Lizards

This should come as no surprise to you that Tat knows how to make a lizard lasso.

He starts with a long piece of grass, ties a special lasso knot, then has the kids keep occupied on our hike by searching for lizards.

After one is spotted, he assumes lizard lasso-ing position,

and BAM! That lizard has no idea what hit him.

He then pridefully shows the kids what a stud-muffin their father is:

Unleashes Lizzy from from lasso torture:

Let's them give Lizzy a pat or 2:

And then hands her over to the kids to hold:

My kids are definitely their Dad's children when it comes to animals.

No fear, & no thought of possible bacterial contaminiation.

Oh well, they were in heaven.

After lizard lasso-ing came to an end, we finally made it up to the barn stage where Avy put on her usual show, this time with Tat as her special back-up dancer.

Linc was running around to the back of the stage so I could introduce him like I was doing for Avy, & he clotheslined himself right into a wood railing.

Knocked him right down & left this little shiner above his right eye.

No biggie. Dusted off his britches & popped back on stage.

Babies

Here goes:

6 weeks left folks.

Let's hope for a smooth, painless, piece of cake delivery...because heaven knows this pregnancy sure hasn't been.

(No, I shouldn't really complain too, too much. This 3rd one has just taken a toll on the ol body. As tyler likes to remind me, the ol' gray mare...she ain't what she used to be.)

But speaking of babies, Linc has taken a liking to babies of his own.

He organizes them before bed so they are right next to him.

He makes sure they have a "nite-nite", or a blankey, on them.

& he even occasionally feeds them.

It's precious, really, it is.

Thanks for tuning in for the adventures of the
Wild West, Lizards, & Babies.

Atwood Summer Guide

2011-07-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

I know, I know...I disappeared again.

A quick re-cap of how the summer started:

Tat had bronchitis for 2 weeks ~ yuck

I backed my new beast machine into a pole ~ wah

Linc was sick as a dog for almost 2 weeks ~ boo

He had a high fever for several days, odd rash that looked like cheerios or bulls-eye targets, 3 rounds of lab work, 1 trip to the ER, several trips to Dr. K, 2 tests for diabetes,

1 trip to the pediatric cardiologist, an ekg, chest x-ray, heart ultrasound, and I think that's it

~mega, mega, boo-hoo...but no worries, he's fine.

Turned out to be some nasty bacterial or viral something rather that passed after antibiotics & much prayer.

I got rear-ended in beast machine ~ grrrr

And I think that concludes my list of summer grievances.

Finally, let's get this party started!!!

Here's the Atwood Guide to Mega Summer Fun.

& I mean major guide.

With lots of pictures.

Here goes:

Get as dirty as possible

Eat as much ice-cream as your pint-sized body can handle

Play as hard as you can until you can't keep your eyes open anymore

Have lots of backyard bbq's & corntoss matches

Play with as many germ-infested animals as available

Visit candy shops all along the West Coast

Visit farms & farm stands all along the West Coast

& then use those hearty pioneer-stock skills to turn farm fresh produce into delicious jam & smoothies

Compete with some buddies against the young bucks

in the National Cornhole (Corntoss, as I prefer) Day tourney in SF

(stole your pic KG, thanks)

Log many hours in the car on road trips

(Idaho, Pismo Beach, Oregon Coast)

Hit up every amusement park in a 50 mile radius

Swim, swim, and swim some more

Visit cool places

Do lots of camping

(pretty sure the Tatwoods (mostly the reds & Tat himself)

have spent more nights in the tent than in beds this summer)

where's waldo?

Hit the beach whenev possible

Play with family & friends from near & far

Wreak havoc in stores when weather is either raining or too hot

Rock your body, yeah...(very pregnant body, that is) at the NKOTBSB concert

(stole some pics KJ, thanks)

Hike lots

Snuggle close to the summer hotties

And let us not forget on our to-do list this summer...grow a human.

32 weeks down, 8 more to go.

(if you're into seeing large preggo shots,

I'll update this post once I shower & look presentable

with a picture of the growing babe)

Hooray for summa, summa, summa time.

Who? This guy?

2011-05-14T00:26:00.000-07:00

Could this cherubic little angel possibly be the one responsible for:

a- stuffing so much toilet paper into the pot that it not only clogged but overflowed

b- proceeded to jump in the overflowed bathroom puddles in his socks

c- was responsible for making me drop the

canister of sugar all over my kitchen floor

Needless to say, I did some pretty heavy floor mopping

-kitchen & bathroom-

by the end of the day.

It appears my Spidey senses...

2011-04-28T14:56:00.000-07:00

were correct.

Hello, World. We meet again!

2011-04-23T00:51:00.000-07:00

I'll just go ahead & be a tad bit narcissistic,

I've really missed myself.

I am really an awesome person when playing the real me in real life.

But when playing the role of wretched, pregnant lady, good golly it's a bad show.

If I had to describe the past 4 months in 3 words, I'd use:

first and foremost...#1- barf

I got so annoyed with ralphing, so bugged by it that even though I knew I'd feel better sometimes by letting it out, I held it in just because it was inconvenient and annoying.

#2- sensitive

I'm pretty thick skinned. I pride myself on never taking offense. I'm pretty good at letting rudeness towards me roll off. Not the past 4 months. What's the deal-y-o?!?!

#3- exhaustion

I tried to coax my kids into lots of tv, to quote Ashley, "A Disney channel-induced coma," but no dice.

Avy can only watch a few shows before she starts to let out weird screams & shrieks.

That's her subconcious way of telling me she needs to get a life.

& Linc, well, I have $100 to the first person who can get him to sit down & watch 5 mintues of a show.

Needless to say, there is no sit down time, not even for a tired, green, ol' hag like myself.

Before I move on to the more uplifting, rivetting portion of the post, I do need to give some shout-outs to the folks who have made my existence survivable the past bit.

Obvoiously Tat is first, but I'll get to that in a sec.

But thanks to the friends who have brought dinners, stopped by & stolen a kid from me to give me a free afternoon, & to those who have offered help in many other ways.

How blessed I am to have friends to care for me & my family when I sure as you know what couldn't do it.

But enough about me, let's talk about the rest of the Tatwoods.

Tyler J:

He had a birthday! Yay!

Like a fabulous wife, I threw him a raging party & bought him lots of gifts that he's always wanted.

I spent 3 days baking & decorating him the most perfect cake.

& I wrote him the sweetest, most romantic note in his card.

NOT. It's all a lie.

I was a terrible wife for birthday number three-four.

There was no party.

No presents.

His "cake" was cookie ice cream sandwiches that I made from cake mix & Safeway brand ice-cream.

I didn't give him a card.

However, Avy saved the day.

She threw together a little party for Pops by making him a pinata, wrapping up kitty & some other fave guys, & drawing him a picture.

Bless her party-girl heart.

In other Tat news, he got a promotion at work, he's slowed down on hobo-stove making & become addicted to researching gas mileage & how much our car depreciates in value with every mile we drive, but most of all, he's been the world's greatest dad & hubs the past few months.

Honestly.

No lie.

He has pulled more than his own & my pregnant weight around here.

He gets up at night with Linc the stink, he wakes up early so I can sleep in.

He doesn't complain that there have been many, many cold cereal type dinners.

On a lucky dinner night he gets oatmeal...with toast!

He's listened to my many moans & groans about how sick I've been, & hasn't once told me to,

"suck it up, we all have problems," as he often likes to say.

Thank you, Ty Ty. You're the greatest.

Avy:

She's been up to the usual 3.5 year old antics.

-You know, the ones where she collects special treasures & brings them all into my house.

(these are just from today)

-She's been busy at preschool, gymnastics, & soccer.

I'll be honest, she's awesome at gymnastics.

She can hang on to the rings like it ain't nobody's business.

But soccer, well...she struggles.

She no likey.

There are often tears during soccer.

Thank Heavens it's over after next week.

We won't be signing up for several, several more months...if that.

-She got her first real flower bouquet from a boy.

Her sweet buddy Collin wanted to get her flowers. So he did.

Thank you, cute Collin! My kitchen table looks radiant!

-She still says the darndest things.

Me: Aves, I'm going to Target while you're at school. What kind of toothbrush do you want, Dora or Princess?

Avy: It doesn't matter. Just get me whatever's on sale.

Go girl.

Me: You need to eat more veggies Ms. Avy. I think it's been weeks since you've eaten anything green.

What's the deal?

Avy: Mom, I would eat them but you don't buy them anymore.

Touche. Veggies made me vomit for months. I steered clear.

I did finally buy her some zucchini the next day & as promised, she ate every last bite.

That's good parenting right there, folks.

Linc:

-Bumping & bruising his adorable little body everywhere we go.

-He's obsessed with any kind of ball. Many nights he will even request a ball to sleep with.

(often a baseball, Grandpa Bird, you should be proud)

-He loves our morning walks. He always needs to have a "wower" (flower) when we pass the yellow flower bush, & after I give it to him, he always requests, "Mo! Mo!" So he gets 2 flowers on every morning walk.

It's adorable. I'll be sad the day he stops asking for mo wowers.

-He's taken a liking to using the big potty.

Trust me, I am in no rush to potty train that lil lad, but when he became obsessed with wizzing all over the house every time the diaper came off, I thought why not stand him on the toilet & see what comes.

Low & behold he went. & he goes everytime I put him on there.

He always wants to wear Avy's unders, so I threw these hotties on him one afternoon.

Much to Avy's chagrin, they didn't stay dry long.

-He loves babies lately. Like really loves them.

More than Avy ever has.

He says, "behbeh" & goes straight for the eyes.

Best Baby ever Cousin Georgia:

Adorable Friend Holland, but no pic of them together because he needs a hovering adult near him when he's by her...he really likes to reach at her:

#3 in the womb:

-Even though this little bean has caused me much awesomeness since January, I still love it & am getting more & more excited.

-This one's a mover & a shaker.

As I type I feel lots of kicking & dance dance revolution type moves going on .

-We find out next week what's in there!

My bets...99.99% sure it's a girl.

I always leave room for the possibility that I'm wrong, but I'm pretty convinced it's a litl lady.

My gums bleed

I've been repulsed to veggies

The pukes

The frequent urination

Already feeling the heartburn

All the good stuff I remember while pregnant with Avy.

-So for the purpose of documenting this strange, long story, here's how we found out we were pregnant in a very unusual way:

I had been having some weird stomache aches mid-January.

Nothing alarming, but unusual enough to make me go to the doc.

I went to urgent care one Monday morning just bc I didn't want to wait for an appt & Tat had a few hours in the am that he could be home with the kids.

Anywho, at the appt, they took some urine, blood...all the exciting stuff.

The doc came back in the room & said,

"hmm...you're tests are showing up positive for pregnancy."

Me, "Come again? Impossible."

So I called Tat all surprised & excited.

The dr. wanted to do an ultrasound just to make sure nothing else was causing the pain.

I sat in the waiting room after the ultrasound for a long time.

I then went into a room to wait for the dr; one of the rooms that is just behind a curtain.

As I'm waiting, I hear the dr yell right outside my room to another dr,

"Hey Doug, how would I explain a molar pregnancy to a woman?"

So there I am sitting in a room, finding out that I have a molar pregnancy, whatever that is, & anxiously waiting to hear what it is from a dr who doesn't even know what it is.

He came in the room and his first words were,

"You have a molar pregnancy. That's when instead of a baby forming, a mass of benign tumorous tissue forms in its place. It's not malignant, but it needs to be removed promptly. You will be having a d&c in a few days & can't get pregnant for a year. That's about all the information I have on it."

I suddenly felt really dizzy & thought I was going to pass out.

I laid down on the bed & called Tyler, & told him all I knew about it.

I went home & on the way home called my mom in tears telling her I needed her to come help because I would be having a d&c in a few days & was scared & needed her stat!

After I got home, we researched the crap out of what a molar pregnancy was since I had NO IDEA still what was going on, & the highlights of what I found were things like this:

-although it's not initially cancerous, the tissue can quickly become so.

-the tissue of molar pregnancies has been known to spread throughout the body & often cause different cancers in the lungs.

-after a d&c from a molar pregnancy, you need to have your hcg levels checked every week for close to a year to make sure the tissue doesn't grow back.

-in the inistance where the tissue does grow back, chemotherapy is often used to kill all the tissue.

You can imagine how fabulous I was feeling at this point.

I remember laying in my bed, crying, serioulsy thinking that I was about to face a huge battle to save my life & I could possibly die. I kept thinking about Tyler & the reds & how I just wasn't ready to leave them yet. I know that sounds utterly morbid, but when I had no clue what in the world was going on, it was easy to jump to the conclusion.

GOOD GRIEF!!!

Thank heavens for my fabulous mom who flew out at 7am the next morning & my fabulous ob/gyn who has a brain.

She called me the next day & said,

"I'm not going to schedule a d&c just yet, because your hormone levels aren't off the charts like they should be with a molar pregnancy. Come see me tomorrow."

So we visit the heaven-sent Dr. Hua the next day.

She said there were no definite answers yet, but she wasn't fully convinced it was molar. She said it could be molar, it could be a miscarriage, or I could just be pregnant.

Holy cow, so now, again, there's the possibilty that I'm just pregnant.

She asked me to do 2 different blood tests throughout the week to track my levels & then by Friday she would know what was going on.

So I made lots of trips to the office the next couple days.

On that Friday, she said all my tests were showing levels of a normal pregnancy so she did an ultrasound.

Sure enough, she saw a tiny little start of a baby in there.

She handed us some ultrasound pictures and said,

"Congratulations on your amniotic sac!" :)

Wait, what?!?! So now I'm pregnant again?
No mole?
No tumorous tissue taking over my body?

How the mistake?

She was trying to be very "professional" about the other doctors' HUGE mistake, but it was obvious she was totally disgusted with them.

So in the ultrasound at urgent care, the doctor & whoever else looked over the images saw what looked like a bunch of grapes, which is what a molar pregnancy looks like, but they failed to notice the amniotic sac in there too.

Dr. Hua said the "grape-like" mass was just blood cells, & she couldn't believe that they would have told me it was a molar pregnancy, etc...

So...needless to say, it's been a crazy pregnancy since January.

I am anxious, & in all honesty, given the odd-ness of how it all started out, very nervous about the big ultrasound next week.

So there you have it.

That's the story of #3.

In other news of the past month since I've blogged,

-I'm driving my trip to London & I love it.

Although I would have loved to go see my Heather friend, with Tat's work sched & the weirdy pregnancy, it just wasn't working out.

So instead I begged & persuaded Tat into a new car.

-As if I were in a heavenly dream, Brookie cookie came to visit last month.

We hit up the zoo

(mesmerized by the giraffes)

Hobee's

candy store

ice cream

Happy Hollow

dinner on Austy

It was so great to have her here!!!

-We went camping a couple weeks ago.

It was freezing cold at night, & I mean insanely free-to the-zing.

Other than the potential for frostbite, the rest of camping was really fun.

-We took a trip to UT & spent a night in Viva Las Vegas.

Tat's parents are now on a mission at Cove Fort in Utah, so we went for the farewell.

It was so wonderful to be there.

I love my in-laws. I really do.

What a perfect weekend.

(cruising in the Rhino)

(catching water skeeters)

(tat's dad asked him to prune the apple tree before we went home.

you can imagine how serisouly he took the task.

all youtube vids of apple tree pruning have now been viewed at least once)

-The day I started feeling like myself again, I promised Avy I would take her pony riding the next day to celebrate us all making it through the depths of my horridity.

We drove down to Half Moon Bay & the farm was closed.

Uh-oh. I had to think of something fast.

So I made it sound like pizza at Round Table & playing at the beach was as good as winning the lottery.

The reds bought my line & we had such a fun time.

-Avy has been wanting to have an Easter Egg hunt so we had a few friends over for a hunt.

Linc was so SO SOOO proud of the 2 eggs he found all by himself.

The serious look of accomplishment on his face was an image engraved in my mind forever.

It was priceless.

So there it is. The catch-up post of all catch-up posts.

But wowzie wow-wow it has never felt so good to feel so good.

It's nice to be back.

Hope you took notes bc there will be a quiz.

so much to catch up on...and a puzzle to solve

2011-03-04T17:01:00.000-08:00

Disney on Ice, Ice Baby.

It was awesome.

This Uncle Austy is any 3 year olds dream come true.

He g-chatted me one day & said Buzz Lightyear & the rest of Disney would be in town,

& he wanted to take Avy.

He ended up taking the whole Tatwood family.

What a dude of an uncle.

Anyone who knows this little red should have some inkling that she has been obsessed with Toy Story for several months.

Anywho, her face was priceless when the Gang came out.

Thanks Austy!

Avy finished her ballet/tap class with a bang.

This class went much better than the one she took when she was barely 2.

I was worried. I was concerned that my own daughter, my own flesh & blood had no love for the performing arts.

But this time around she proved me wrong.

She's a rockstar.

I know EVERY mom says this, but by far she was one of the best ones in the class.

She does that alligator walk across the floor like it ain't nobody's business.

Her teacher, Ms. Christine, told them to invite a few friends and family to their last class to watch them perform.
On her list were her dad, mom, Linc, Uncle Austy, Auntie Whit-Whit, Kaari & Blakely, & my friend Michelle.
Here's Avy's cheering section:

Blakely came ready just in case someone got stagefright & they needed a back-up:

It was sweet.

Minnie & Mickey Mouse at Santana Row

Before they appeared on ice, the ol' ears couple spent some time at the Row.

Kaari, Baby B, myself & the Reds went for a quick meet & greet.

Oh, & the kids made a new friend, Donna.

Donna would have taken them home & raised them like her own had I let her.

Exploratorium in SF

Maybe I should have titled this post "Catching up with Kaari & Blakely" because we have sure logged some fun hours with those 2 lil ladies this past week.

It was a rainy, rainy week last week.

The babes & myself were way done with being inside our house.

I. had. to. bust. out.

I decided to trek up to rainy-er SF & play at the Exploratorium.

It was fun.

This guy would have stood at the little house & stared at the train going round & round the track all day if I would have let him.

The kids were free b/c they are under 4, & my ticket was 1/2 off since I'm a Happy Hollow member.

So the trip only cost me $7.50!

Not bad, right?

Wrong.

We decided to eat at the cafe.

My kids shared a mini pizza & I had to have a hot dog.

the meal cost me almost $14!

Lameski on the cafe.
But yay-ski on the museum.

Hasta la Vista Mista Jeepsta

Sorry to all you potential buyers out there, but it's sold.

That's right.

Gone.

Out of my driveway & out of Tat's life.

But don't mention it to him.

He may cry.

I considered calling the HR team at his office the day he sold it, just to have them check in on him every few hours to see if counseling was necessary.

That was his baby.

He reminded me ALL DAY about the great memories in that bad boy.

If you're feeling kind, don't bring it up to him.

If you're feeling like a good laugh, listen to him list all his good times with the Jeepy.

So long Jeep. We will miss you.

(but not too badly)

Did you solve the puzzle?

If not, here's one last clue:

Last week my kiddos & I tossed some cookies,
I mean we tossed some ingredients into a bowl, to make some cookies.

Did all the highlighted words bring something to mind?

I don't know...

maybe something like this:

That's right folks, our little Red #3 is currently adorning our fridge and my body!

Not that you can ever see anything in an ultrasound anyway, but this was taken at 4 weeks, so that's why it's really, really unclear.

Why at 4 weeks?

That's a weirdy story to be documented in a whole other blog post.

Anywho, we are 11 weeks & due in September.

Are we surprised?

Yes?

Sick as a dog?

You know it.

Ready for bed by 7pm?

mmmm-hmmm.

Excited?

Very!!!

In the words of Miley...

2011-02-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

...it's a party in the USA.

Or for you old schoolers out in Blogville,

maybe you prefer the likes of this:

I don't wanna work, I just want to bang on the drums all day.

What I'm trying to say is that it's been all play and no work around here the past week and a half.

Party after party after party after party.

Here's the itinerary:

Avy's preschool Valentine's Day Party.

I was the snack mom for this.

I took Big Red to the store & she helped me pick out all things Valentine for the party:

Pink Lemonade

Red strawberries

Pink sprinkle heart cookies

Purple berry rice cakes

So I may or may not have gotten into it a bit with a fellow class mom who didn't agree with me that purple is a Valentine's Day color.

Hear me out.

She's from another country.

A country where heart day is not celebrated.

She told me she's never heard of purple being a V-day color.

I politely educated her on the colors of V-day (red, pink, with purple as an accent).

She continued to tell me she didn't agree with me that purple belongs.

This went on for several minutes.

The conversation ended with me saying,

"Listen, Lady.

I happen to be the Valentine Queen, and purple does indeed belong with pink & red.

If you're going to continue to challenge me, I will swipe those purple berry rice cakes off your plate so fast you'll never know what hit ya."

Just kidding.

But I was so bugged by the conversation that I continued to poll people the rest of Valentine's week.

And, just as expected...I was right.

The rest of the party ran quite smoothly.

Kids made cute candy jars:

Avy gave Mrs. Vargas her handmade crafty card:

She had me write inside the smaller card attached to the bottom,

"To Mrs. Vargas. From Avy and Avy's Mom.

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy New Year."

The class walked a few blocks to the nearest mail box to mail Valentine's cards:

I love this picture. You see the girls in their lovely feminine party dresses spinning around, & then you see Avy and the boys in the background discussing the finer points of Buzz Lightyear & Woody-dom.

Kids took turns passing out Valentine's to one another:

The 6th Annual Atwood Valentine Shindig.

Always a fun time.

Lots of food.

Lots of lovers licorice racing to the heart.

Lots of awesome white elephant gifts.

Ashley was the winner with her Valentine's Card that Kaari is modeling:

She took home this booty:

Kids Valentine's Day Party.

Hold it.

This was NOT a party.

I made it very certain to classify this small gathering as a playdate.

Linc was struck by Cupid:

Avy REALLY wanted to have a Valentine's Day Party for her friends.

I can't say no.

Seriously, it would be blasphemy for me to deny a request for a party.

But I had to technically call it a playdate.

Here's why:

1- Tat-man would never have approved the budget for another party in February.

2- When I party, I like the guest-list big. The more the merrier.

Not this time. My house can only handle so much in one month, so I told her she could only invite a few little friends.

3- When I party, I want the food to be worth driving over for & the activities to be worth taking a seat for.

Classifying this one as a playdate,

a) left Tyler feeling very positive about the kids utilizing their social skills with other children

b) gave me no guilt in informally asking only a few friends to bring their kids over

c) let me feel that throwing pretzels & leftover weekend party treats out on my counter was totally substantial

The playdate-goers took the job of passing out Valentine's VERY seriously:

As per tradition at the Tatwood household, the Valentine's Fairy stopped by for her annual drop & run visit:

Lindsay's Baby Shower.

My friend LY is having her baby girl in a couple weeks!

Woo-hoo!

Friend Whitney & I threw her a fondue shower.

Y to the U to the M.

YUM

We did a swiss/gruyere blend for the cheese

(thanks Kaari for manning this station all night)

& a peanut butter chocolate blend for the chocolate.

I was too busy stuffing my face with 30,000 calories all night to take any pics of the fondue itself.

Oh well.

Take my word for it that it was finger-licking good.

Here are the dipper tables:

Cheese

Chocolate

What a fun night with great people.

So I guess it's back to work around these parts.

My kids need a detox from sugar.

My house needs a deep clean.

Tat wants to count pennies with me.

Wish me luck!

Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

2011-02-15T16:08:00.000-08:00

In my life, I have never met a little person that can melt my heart one minute,

& then the next minute leave me thinking that

a visit to the looney-bin may be just the vacation I need.

He had his 15 month check-up yesterday.

The report is that he is one of the most active, determined 15 month olds Dr. Kandel has seen in a long time.

He won her over when he frantically scoured her cabinet drawers looking for her lollipops.

When he found them, he first let out one of his famous shrieks

(you know, the one you hear every Sunday in Sacrament meeting & are left thinking,

"Who is the lameski mom that can't control her kid!?!?!")

but then he quickly changed his tune, started smacking himself silly with his "Please" baby sign & excitedly yelled, "PEE! PEE! PEE!" over & over until she gave him a sucker.

She then told me that the 2 goose-eggs & black & blue legs of his let her know that I'm a good mom.
That was proof enough that I don't let him live in a bubble or padded room.
I challenge anyone to put him in a padded room. I guarantee he will gnaw his way out.

& last but not least, she was very impressed with his accuracy and strength. She dodged toys he threw at her. Her pen somehow got swpied out of her hand & hurled to the other side of the room.

Here he is a few days ago.

He shoots:

He scores.

And that concludes my bragging session of Linc.

Happy Anniversary

2011-02-01T22:48:00.000-08:00

What are we celebrating?

It's been 1 year since our sweet little buddy Cooper passed away.

A year ago.

Yes, it's been sad.

And at times it's been hard, confusing, & even scary.

But overall, Cooper's death and reflecting on the one year mark brings me happiness.

First & foremost, I am happy for my beliefs, nay, knowledge, on this life and the next.

I love that thanks to a loving Heavenly Father, Pat & Lindsay are promised an eternity with Cooper when their Earthly life is over.

I am happy that I got to be a part of his life & have him in our life.

Happy I got to host his baby shower & celebrate his life even before he was on Earth.

Happy I got to visit him in the hospital when he was born.

I had to fight a couple g-mas, but I finally got to hold him.

Happy I was in his presence for so many moments of his short life.

Happy I got to be present for his first meeting with Santa George.

"Remember, Santa George loves you."

Creepy.

Happy I got to meet up with him & Linds at least once a week for our Rancho hikes when he was a wee-babe.

It didn't take him long to learn that someone else's snacks will always be better than yours.

I quickly learned to pack 2 of everything.

Happy I got to see him right after his return from 4 months in Germany.

He was no longer a baby, but a toddling toddler who was in heaven with all of Avy's toys in our backyard.

Happy we got to celebrate special holidays together.

Happy my last memories of him are watching him sneak behind Linc's bouncey chair, pull the music toy, then, with a very serious face, bounce up and down while the music played.

He then ran off to play with the Dora kitchen & would eventually make his way back to Linc's bouncey for the music.

Honored and happy that Tyler & I had the opportunity to attend his Burial.

As heartbreaking as it was, it was also one of the most peaceful, spiritual moments in my life.

I hope to never forget those feelings.

Blessed & happy that I got to spend time with Lindsay the day after Cooper passed away.

We were getting pedicures, looking out the window, & rather than a complaint or frustration, she said,

"Cooper would have loved this sunshine today. I wish it were sunny rather than rainy the past few days so he & I could have enjoyed them at the park together."

Happy his mom was crazy enough to agree to train for a 1/2 marathon right after he passed away.

Her doing this is what got me into running.

Honestly, I didn't want to run at first.

I just wanted to drink up every opportunity to spend time with her & learn from her.

I decided to run the 1/2 marathon literally at the last minute, only because I knew Lindsay was doing it for Coop & I wanted to be a part of that.

When I crossed the finish line & saw my kids & Tyler there, I cried.

I knew Cooper was there celebrating Lindsay too.

I'm happy these 2 have chosen to be positive & impact so many lives.

I'm so happy for the upcoming arrival of Cooper's baby sister!

I'm happy I get to have such good times with this crazy lady:

But most of all, I'm happy these 2 are happy.

(they will cringe when they see that i've publicly announced how much they secretly LOVE singing karaoke & dancing)

Happy Anniversary, Cooper.

Thanks for touching our lives!

Check out Lindsay's blog for more awesome pics & info about Mr. Coop.