Aubrey

Picture of the Week

So this is the deal. I need pictures of Danijela AND Tata. Lately I simply have more opportunities to capture Luka because we spend time alone when Danijela is at school. This week I'm going to work hard at getting that sweet girl.

Jack

Jack turned 3 & had a cool party last weekend. This means we went to Ellis' African party on Saturday & Jack's train party on Sunday. It's no secret that I'm no Martha Stewart. I just don't have it in me. Not even an inkling. It overwhelms me. So here we were surrounded by trains. Yes, even train cupcakes. And not just a miniture toy train on the cupcake. Nooooooooooo. It had to be trains designed from various types of candy & gel frosting atop the miniture cake. See for yourself, people. How on God's green earth will I ever live up to this? You are right. I WON'T.

I turned to take a picture of Jack over my shoulder. I'm not sure a single other person saw him do this. He's eating his cupcake hands free! Now we're talking my kind of party. Eating cupcakes like you are bobbing for apples. That is how a kid party should be.

Danijela was eye-balling the cupcakes. Once she got her hands on one she worked carefully to eat the art project. My girl loves her some cupcake. That's why I was surprised she stopped midway. It was just too much. She & Neveah hooked it to the bounce house for the remainder of the partay.

Caught

Big girl. Little guy. Fast crawler. Longer legs. Caught. Belly laughs.

Roger that.

I'm absolutely going to steal Devra's clever response to an impatient child. When Ellis asks for something Devra says "Standby." She's teaching Ellis to say "Roger that." They did this a couple times today & it cracked me up. Devra is NEVER short on clever words. The girl seriously makes me smile & often.

This morning we hooked up with the kids. You can't see Cara but she was there too. You can't see me either but I'm there. Promise. I have to say that for myself this is a rare sighting. We have three toddlers & one infant in relatively calm dispositions all at once. Devra was reading about Noah & the girls were surprisingly engaged. They also played so well together all morning. Ellis received a cool play house for her birthday. With a little intervention they all three enjoyed a tea party. And get this. The adults were able to exchange words in full sentences among themselves.

I'm home.

Yesterday Luka & I were in the bedroom where I was taking some pictures. I snapped this just as Tata came home & walked into the room. Luka lights up for his Tata.

Celebrating Ellis & Africa!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ellis! The celebration rocked with live African music. Even the special people in Ellis' life dressed in cool African clothes. The musical group, Boitumelo, got the kids involved in singing, dancing and instrument playing. The vocalist also had individual children come forward & point to their favorite animal. Ellis picked the monkey. I was shocked when Danijela was called upon & walked to the front by herself (she picked the elephant). Our girl doesn't do well in big crowds. She typically sticks close to Tata & Mama so I was thrilled when she stepped out of her comfort zone. I hope to see this happen more.

Window Washer

That's our boy! I plead guilty to allowing him to lick the apartment windows. There's no telling what is now roaming through his body.

Showered

Jennifer hosted a baby shower for Melanie a couple weeks ago. I'm not sure what drug she was on when she had the thought I might be of help. I'm the least 'Martha Stewart' person I know. Seriously inept. I've failed to post because I've been waiting for time to put it together. I'm still waiting by the way. So here are a few pictures from the morning. Hang in there, Mel. You are in the home stretch. I plan to post images of the actual people that were there too!

Two Things

#1) Told you it was going to be BLUE! You may not have believed me, but here's proof. It was a little shocking for me at first, but I do like it. We're still working on the trim color, but either way you slice it the house is some serious blue. I'm sure the neighbors are talking.

#2) My parents gave us their Toyota Camry! Like our Honda Civic it's 10 years old. It, however, hasn't been wrapped around a tree or had any hit-and-runs. Adjusting the mirrors doesn't cause all the doors to lock either. Oh, and it doesn't make any random hissing or grinding noises. Another cool fact is the Camry has 30K less miles on it. How cool is that? Our family of four now has more room & we are incredibly grateful for this gift. THANK YOU!

Slow

I am slow at posting because I'm much more a picture person than words. Time continues to be elusive though. Plus I've been taking & learning about camera RAW images. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to this type of thing & I'm driving myself crazy. I don't know much about digital cameras & files. My limited experience is with black & white film. In college I could easily spend 8 hours in a darkroom without blinking. This digital world is pretty new to me so I have a lot to learn. I have quite a few things to post about so keep your eyes open.

Martin Luther King

Danijela participated in her first Martin Luther King Day march in Austin yesterday. Margaret is home schooling her children & has been educating them on Martin Luther King. They planned to participate in the march yesterday. The only problem was the freezing cold weather & rain. Margaret hesitated going but Andi really wanted to go. Margaret, Poppy, Andi, Sam & Danijela got all bundled up & headed out. I hung back with Luka.

Standing

Luka is pulling up & standing at times for a few seconds. He is a willful little bugger too. He can smile from ear to ear & melt your heart. However, when that boy doesn't get what he wants you know it pretty quickly. He is also very fond of his Tata & Mama. He crawls incredibly fast when he sees us in the distance. Oh, he is also getting two more teeth. If anyone is counting we have 7 now.

Zoo

Bite Me

Man, I love this picture. I took it with Sundee's fabulous new camera yesterday at her house. This is picture perfect Luka. You get to finally see how he squishes up his face. You also see evidence of his dimples. And you finally get to see his teeth. I, unfortunately, get to feel them.

Boot Camp

This was the weekend we finally potty trained Danijela. It has been a long time coming. I had the best of intentions when I found out I was pregnant with Luka. Then he arrived & it just lost its urgency. Some friends in the hood used the 3-day potty training method recently & it actually worked for us. However, you have to understand that Danijela was pretty close to being trained in many ways. It was just a matter of "putting a foot down" & doing it.

The entire weekend Danijela & I stayed home together while Tata cared for Luka. We rented Cinderella, painted our fingernails & toenails, drank lemonade, played house (I was baby Luka) & generally clung to each other. The first day she had one pee accident (on the couch!). Today, day three, she had a pee accident during her "nap". I use the word "nap" loosely. Girl is about to kick it. I believe she actually called to me when she was about to go & I just didn't get it. I had been struggling with her actually falling asleep for an hour. My bad.

Tomorrow we enter the real world where we venture out. She has Mother's Day Out. This will be the real test of how the potty training has stuck. I'll let you know.

House

I haven't spent any significant time at the house in weeks with the holidays & random sickness. This is a shot from the street. The electrical & pluming are complete. Most of the siding is up. All the windows are installed. Some drywall has been hung. The framing inspection should take place this week & then all the walls can be closed. We anticipate being in the house by March or April.

Luka's 1st Christmas

Merry Christmas, buddy. Tata & Mama love you very much. Your sister does too although it would be fair to say she's still getting used to you. You are all boy. You crawl faster than I ever remember Danijela crawling & you want to be in everything. You have both upper & lower teeth making an appearance. You also like to talk. And by "talk" I mean yell sounds very loud. One of my favorite things you do now is clap. You smile from ear-to-ear most of the time. You definitely get fussy when you are tired or hungry. At night you find yourself sitting up & aren't sure what to do except scream. That is our least favorite part. Love, love, love you.

Baby Luka(s)

Danijela received two new baby dolls this Christmas. She has quite a collection. The one Cabbage Patch doll is called "Big Baby". All others (and I mean all) are now referred to as "Baby Luka." It can be quite confusing for both me & her brother.

Kitchen Help

Tata helped Santa assemble the kids' new play kitchen on Christmas Eve. This was the first Christmas that Danijela understood the concept of Santa. We tried to down play it & talked about how Santa is imaginary. I'm not sure she got that part. However, she definitely wanted me to tell Santa not to eat all the cookies. She was very specific.

The kitchen is a big success. We've had lots of good playtime together & all parts are infant friendly. Grammy & Poppy gave her the baking set from IKEA. She already had IKEA pots & pans plus the kitchen came with some awesome wooden items.

The day started with cookies & milk. Yes, the breakfast of champions. Within an hour Danijela had managed to shove lots of chocolate in her mouth as well. The girl has her Tata's sweet tooth. It was a wonderful morning together as a family without any meltdowns.

Letter to Danijela & Luka

Sweet Danijela & Luka,

Thank you so much for the moon cookies. That was very thoughtful of you. You are both wonderful children & it is a joy to bring you gifts. Always remember that the greatest gift of all is Jesus Christ. It is His birthday that we celebrate by giving gifts to others. Giving is much greater than receiving.

Please love each other & share. Show kindness to others. Remember that God is Love. Love others as Gods loves you.

Merry Christmas,
Santa

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

Please eat the moon cookies. We also left you some milk. Hope you like them. Please don't eat them all.

Danijela

Whiskers

Oh, sweet Luka, how can a baby reek complete havoc on two grown adults? Tata's been amazing in helping me cope with the lack of sleep. I'm still an ingrate mind you. I try not to be, but sometimes it just spews itself all over him in the wee hours of the morning when I'm suddenly looking at 10 hours solo with two kids & no sleep. Everyone that knows me knows I'm married to a (almost) saint. I know. I know. He's not perfect. But I'm reminded often both by other people & by my own witness of how wonderful he is.

Luka is almost 9 months & still wakes three times a night. Danijela is closing in on 3 years & wakes sometimes two times a night. My saint husband snores (love you, honey). I've been sleeping on the couch for 8 months to avoid Luka baby sounds & Tata snoring sounds. I want my life back ... whatever that means!

Henrietta

Both Penelope & Henrietta have beautiful red hair & blue eyes like their mama. This girl loves the camera & the camera certainly loves her.

Happy Birthday, Jesus

For the second year in a row Melanie hosted a birthday party for Jesus. The obvious intent is to teach our children that Christmas is the celebration of Christ's birth. There are different versions of the cake but Melanie did brown (sin), red (cross), green (all things new) and white (purity) layers.

Attempting a party of any kind with toddlers & smaller siblings is a little nutty. This was no exception. If I'm counting correctly there were 14 children and a couple on the way. Their attention spans are almost nonexistant unless cake is involved. It was amazing how quiet the house became when they were served. Hum. Next year we should probably read to them while they are eating. I don't know how Melanie does it, but I better figure it out because I volunteered to host in 2008. Here a few cute mugs.