Trevor at 18 months

This child has a twinkle in his beautiful eyes that means mischief is brewing. He is inquisitive and has excellent fine motor skills. This is a bad combination for an 18 month old. He can pull the electrical outlet covers off in less than a second, has learned how to open the child safety gates, and can unscrew child-proof bottle caps. Trevor loves to play in the toilet (so many unspeakable things with toilet water lately), counts to 3 and jump off the back of the sofa (dee, dee, deeeeee) and just recently he pushed the bathroom stool to the front door so he could stand on it to undo the deadbolt. I don't know why he wants to escape so badly - it isn't THAT awful around here. But I think you get the idea...this one keeps us busy.


It isn't all craziness though. Trevor loves to sing. He actually sings better than he talks. He likes "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Old MacDonald". Talking consists of just a few words we understand like mama, hot, hi-ee, dad, and dog, the rest sounds like gibberish. He gets irritated when I don't understand what he wants. We did teach him some signs and he constantly tells me he wants to eat and have more.

5k

I hate running. I think it all started in middle school when I was forced to run around the track and my asthma was so bad that I was certain to collapse and die. And then in high school when I had to run a mile every Wednesday in under 12 minutes. Even though I was a pretty good athlete these runs were torturous.

But now, after having two babies right in a row, desperate times call for desperate measures. I set a goal to run a 5k before Lincoln turned 6 months old so in early January I started the C25K program. If the babies were napping at the same time, I was on the treadmill training. My training officially ended last Saturday so I downloaded a GPS app for my phone, leashed up Ollie, and hit the "running park". It was really cold so it took awhile to get my breathing right and my legs felt frozen but I ran the 3.1 miles straight (and found that the dog may actually be of use to me!) However, I knew that the race I signed up for was "really hilly" so I was nervous.

But today was the big 5k race day and it was awesome! Well, there are actually better adjectives like exhausting and difficult but overall it was FUN! Go figure. My mom and good friend Julie also ran in the 5k.

The before picture

The kids ran a 1K with Tadj, the babies, and Julie's kids. Hayden took off running and crossed the finish line without anyone so we lost track of him for a short while. Kendall took her time running/walking but persevered to the end.

Red-faced after the 5k (me, my mom, and Julie)

My cheering squad

More of the cheering squad and one sleeping baby

It was a great day!

Lincoln is 4 months old!

I know I created a post about Trevor when he turned 4 months old so in all fairness I should do the same for Lincoln.

At Lincoln's 4 month check-up we got the all-important measurements:
Weight: 16 lbs (50-75th Percentile)
Length: 24.75 inches (50-75th Percentile)
Head Circumference: 43.6cm (>95th Percentile)

He is a very mellow and happy baby and we love to hold him and make him laugh. Lincoln doesn't have a lot of "tricks" yet and that is probably because he is usually in my arms when awake to protect him from Trevor (who likes to point out exactly where Lincoln's eyes are and give him big slobbery kisses on the top of his head). And I have to add that he is by far the chunkiest baby out of the 4. He has roll after roll which makes shower time really fun! We get a lot of comments that he doesn't look like the other 3 but if you push his cheeks together to give the appearance of high cheek bones he does look like Kendall. We think he is adorable! I'll probably post again when Trevor is 18 months!

If I had written a Christmas Letter...

Tadj is working for the same company, has the same job, and the same long hours. In November we were introduced to a medical condition called Bell's Palsy. Tadj's first symptoms were a loss of taste and numb lips. The doctor was finally able to diagnose the issue when it was discovered Tadj couldn't fully close his right eye. Within a couple days he had total facial paralysis on the right side. He had to tape his eye closed at night, couldn't drink out of a glass without a straw (even that was difficult) and the prednizone caused him extreme grouchiness and sleepiness (I called it Tadj's roid rage). It was a long few weeks but he is 99% recovered.

In the spring we had a wind storm and one of the large trees in the backyard came crashing down onto our back fence. This was a major "I told you so" moment since I spent the last couple years trying to convince Tadj to have them removed. So I hired a professional to take down the one and a half remaining trees and Tadj built us a beautiful deck. I'll post pictures in the spring when we finally stain it. But as 2010 comes to a close I am happy to not be pregnant and thankful that Lincoln arrived here safe and healthy.





Hayden is in 2nd grade and still wakes up everyday excited to go to school. He loves all things Lego: Lego Wii games, Lego Universe (thanks to the best Uncle in the world!), and he attended his first ever Lego club meeting in October. He just started his second season of basketball and is enjoying it. Hayden still loves the water and even learned to knee board last August.

Last spring Kendall broke her elbow and wore a bright pink cast for a couple weeks. She loved all of the attention and questions about the incident (a fall that happened while hopping between two stools). She started Kindergarten in the fall and just finished her first tap and ballet class. She was great at memorizing the routines but seemed to do everything in hyper-speed. She is looking forward to swimming in the spring and gymnastics next fall. Kendall learned to ride her bike without training wheels last summer and wants to go riding whenever she can.

Trevor is our mischievous child and keeps us on our toes. He has several nicknames: "The Tornado", "Trouble", and more recently, "Stitch", after a stocking hanger came falling down on his face and left a huge gash that required 4 stitches. He is also our little comedian and keeps us laughing when he mimics the kids by singing songs into a microphone or walking around with a pretend blackberry next to his ear. He still eats everything he finds and really enjoys dog food. I am surprised he is still on the small size (except for his gigantic head!)

Lincoln is 2 months old and has an awesome birthday: 10.10.10. He is a really happy baby and we love his smiles and coos. It won't be long until Lincoln and Trevor are the same size. At Lincoln's 2 month check-up he weighed 13.3 pounds (90th percentile), is average height and, of course, has a huge head.

The year 2010 was full of happy surprises and lots of fun and love for our family. Even though I foresee 2011 as a year of exhaustion chasing around 2 babies we are looking forward to the adventures ahead.