Back squares and other things!

Back squares = backwards.
Catherine being "sweet" was a true statement after Jordan gave her a bath with liquid stevia!
Have you ever heard your child say, "Mommy, there's a bird in Catherine's room?'  Mine did!!  We went upstairs and I hear, "Hi, birdie!"  Yap...there was a bird in her room!

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving came so fast this year!
There's a plethora of things I'm thankful for.  Family, friends, and health are what I am most thankful for.  God is so good to us.  We have the best family anyone could ask for.  People that love each other unconditionally.  We have great friends (near and far).  People that will be there when you need them, people that genuinely care about us and love us like family.  Then there's health...something priceless that we have right now.  But I'm truly thankful about all sorts of things.  I think that in life I've learned to value even the smallest things.  I really give God thanks for that!
We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with family at the Geaches.  The food was perfect.  The weather was beautiful.  Everyone was so happy.

We now have the Christmas tree up.  The house looks "merry and bright."  Jordan even had his own Christmas tree this year which he decorated all by himself.

Catherine has been a sweetie pie lately.  (She's always a sweetie pie, but sometimes you just want to eat her up, she's so sweet!).  She smiles, and hugs, and gives people kisses.  Just thinking about it makes me happy!

Jordan has been funny, crazy, loud, sweet, energetic, fast, rambunctious, a smarty pants, etc., etc.  The other day while asking him something where he didn't want me around he told me, "Go cook mommy, go cook," as he waved his hand at me towards the kitchen.
I need to write things down on a daily basis...he cracks me up so much and comes up with so many things constantly that make me smile all day long.
I love my kiddos!

 

Catherine turned one!!

My sweet Catherine is one!  I just can't believe it.  She is definitely still my baby girl.  I can still fold her into a little ball that I can carry around the house.  She still fits in my sling, and eats mostly mashed foods.  So yes, she is still a baby!

She was dedicated at the Collegedale Community Church on Saturday, and had her first birthday party on Sunday.  We had so much fun.  I can't believe all the family and new friends we've made this year.  We are so immensely blessed.  

My parents were also able to come be with us for the grand occasion.  

Catherine was so happy.  I think she knew that that day was all about her.  She smiled and was so excited about everything.  My heart was bursting every time I glanced at her.

I love that little girl so much!

Jordan thought it was HIS birthday the whole time.  I think I told him a couple of times that it was actually Catherine's birthday...he kept on saying, "No, Jordan birthday." I really think he thought it was all about him.  But it's ok...He had a great time! 

He loved having the grandparents around.  He would wake up in the morning and go straight to their room to start his day of fun.  I think I was ignored for 6 days straight.  :(

I'm so happy we got to see them.

We tried to do different activities this time.  We saw the Niña and the Pinta...they were parked (do you park boats?) in a peer in downtown Chattanooga.  When we were there, Jordan decided that it was too boring to be in parked boats, and would rather be in the speedboat next door...so we bought tickets and did a river gorge tour.  It was great.  Old sailboats could not compete with the clean, crisp, white speed boat!

We also road the shuttle bus around Chattanooga (another Jordan request).

My parents left on Tuesday and we've been trying to get back to our usual routine since then.  Did I mention how wonderful it was to have them here?

I'm so excited!

Yes, totally excited!  I just talked to my sister and there's a new member in our family!  Baby Sophie!!  I think that's her name.  Did I forget to ask? :(
My parents are coming in a few hours, there's food in the fridge...you know...just like it should be stocked up for Thanksgiving, and it's Catherine's first birthday this weekend.
Life is good!

I LOVE YOU JESUS!!

We have a rule in this house about screaming.  We don't!!  Not inside anyways and he (Jordan) knows this.  I try to be really strict about it....most of the time.
So what do you do when your 2 yr. old is screaming at the top of his lungs, "I LOVE YOU JESUS?"  I guess you just smile and tell him that Jesus loves him too!!  ;)

Mmmmmhhh...little Miss Personality!

I had run out of bananas...who knows when, but it had been a while!

Side note: This is not a crazy story! No near death experience, but it really shows off how Catherine is slowly becoming a little person!

So, I finally went to Costco, and bought a bunch! (no pun intended! :)
When I got home, I opened the banana and slowly began feeding her little pieces.  She looked at me, smiled so big...her eyes twinkled...her two little bottom teeth sparkled...and she gave me this, "Mmmmhhhhh."  I-love-this-mommy look.  The "Mmmhh" said it all!

Catherine is so sweet all the time.  We've been getting a lot of alone time lately.  We snuggle, play, roll, stand, lift, scream, babble, throw, crawl...you are just moving and doing everything you can to keep up with Jordan.  You guys communicate quite well.  I think you'll be partners in crime one day!

Yesterday, we went to the Aquarium and had a great time.  It was a mommy and Jordan...plus friends kind of date.  So fun!

Another Fall!

I can't believe that as I'm writing this there are leaves falling on the driveway, pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks (and one in my hand), and a cool crisp air that makes me want to make soup and anything with apples.  (That might explain my giant apple purchase at Costco yesterday! :)
Things have been going great around here.  The kids are both doing good.  They are healthy, happy and sweet (a little crazy too...but that's just to spice things up a bit! )
Today Jordan told me he had a "Happy, happy day!"  This was after going to Barnes & Nobles for story time (story, color, glue, CUT, and cookie), a carousel, and lunch with friends!  What fun!
Everyone is selling pumpkins, mums, and anything "spice."
We've been using the playroom everyday!  Jordan even calls it the playroom.  I need to post some pics!
I've been trying to divide the day into activities; worship time, outside time, play time, "study" time, nap time (one of my favorite "times"), sleepy time.
Our favorite song for worship is happy, happy, home.  Catherine claps her heart out!  It's so sweet!  Jordan always requests we go through EVERY member of the family...of course!  So it's a little bit of a loooong song for us!
Catherine is exploring everything.  She loves remotes...or anything with buttons!  (and they are even more fun if Jordan is playing with the object! ;)
Jordan loves to play with Catherine too!
He likes to draw on Catherine, squirt her with floor cleaner, and feed her just about anything he eats!  It's a miracle she is still alive!  All these things happened in seconds!
We are convinced our kids are half human, half monkey!  Jordan is a great climber!  How he ends up in some places? We'll never know!  I think their angels are working over time!!  I praise God he looks after my kids and pray that he'll continue doing that for the rest of their lives!  God is so good!

oh oooh!

Fist you said, "Dadada."  Then you said, "Mamamama."  But your third word, and the one you understand and use most often is...drum roll...oh, ohhh!
Yes...you use this in reference to Jordan usually.  It's super cute!
Jordan is helping you swing from the baby swing as I'm writing this.  I didn't know it swung that far!  You are both laughing and having a good time.  Jordan is taking his job so seriously.
We had a good weekend so far.  Daddy has been on call since Friday, we went to sabbath school, made vegan banana nut muffins (Jordan helped mommy cook), took naps, mommy and daddy went out to dinner with friends (and had a great time) and now we are having a lazy Sunday morning.  Catherine is looking at me and smiling every time I look at her.  It's almost a perfect morning.  Now if daddy was here!

Dadadadada!

You finally said Dada, Catherine!!
Daddy was holding you and just said, "Say dada, Catherine."  And you said dada.   We thought it was just coincidence, so we tried it again...and again you said, "Dada...dada."
That's when I rushed to get the camera!  You are amazing!

one...two...three...fours!

It still completely amazes me how many words you know, Jordan.  Today you were playing with the coasters and lining them up as you counted to four....one...two...three...fours (plural).  It was so cute!
You sing, you count, you say part of the alphabet.  It's amazing how your little brain works!

F$%K!!

I came home the other day and found you and Morgan playing with something...don't remember what.  As soon as you heard me come in, you ran to me and said, "Hi mommy," like only you can say it!
Than you started blabbing and started saying f#$k, f&*k,  f^&k...bla, bla, bla, f@#k.  I looked at you...I looked at Morgan...she looked at me...we looked back at you...we looked back at each other.  Then I asked you to, "show mommy," and the mystery was solved.  You have a little green frog that you were playing with earlier.  Frog = F$%k  I smiled with relief!!!

Singing!

Dear Jordan,
I don't know when it happened...when did you learn how to sing?  It's early in the morning and I'm drinking mate, checking Facebook, and reading the news.  You probably woke up about 10 minutes ago.  I can hear you playing upstairs.  Now you are singing, "Happy home, happy home, happy home." I don't think there's a better feeling in the world than knowing your kids are happy!
I should probably go get you...let this day begin!!!

My no, no, no, no, no day!

My no, no, no, no, no day is your favorite book at the moment (Jordan).  We have reading time everyday.  It's become one of your favorite times.  You even bring me the book.  But lately, you always pick the same book.  My no, no, no, no day.
It's about a little girl that is having a bad day, and she doesn't like anything that day.  She eventually says sorry to her mommy and the next day she has a great day.  I usually add, "Bella prays to Jesus to give her a better day and to make her a good girl," and the next day, she has a great day!  I do add-lib a lot.  My story is WAY more exciting!  You love it.  A naughty girl...maybe you can relate? Hmmmm???
The other day you were having a bad day too...so I knelt down, looked into your eyes and asked you, "Why are you not behaving today?" and you answered, "Jordan, no, no, no, no, no day!" You babbled at first, but after 3 or 4 attempts it all made sense.  You were having a bad day.  Mi amor!!!  So I hugged you and we went to along to have a "better" day.
You are really cute!  You do a million things a day that I want to write about.
You love trains.  You can entertain yourself for (not hours but) a loooong time!  And woe to the person who would mess up and say peep peep instead of choo, choo!!
You have been mastering the art of riding your bike...although you still prefer your "baby" car that makes noise when you ride.
We love you so much!!  You brighten my mornings every day when you say, "Hi mommy girl."

Bibi!

Oh baby girl!!!  You stole our hearts 7 months ago and you just keep getting sweeter and sweeter!  We love you so much!
Yesterday I felt the tip of your little tooth against my finger.  I love your gummy smile, but I don't think we'll be seeing it for much longer.
Right now you are sitting on the floor playing with a million toys around you.  Every time I look your way, you smile; a big, giant smile.  It melts my heart!
We are having a little one-on-one time right now.  We don't get this very often.  Someone (Jordan) seems to always be around!  I guess he'll learn how to have tea parties in the future!
Today you were playing in the playroom with Jordan.  He was playing with his train set.  He loves trains right now.  We even went to the railroad museum last Sunday and we rode a steam engine train.  You sat so quietly...Jordan took it all in and was so excited.  I love seeing your little face get excited as you discover the world.  But back to playing with Jordan...he likes everything neat, tidy and in order.  You want to hold everything.  It was like King Kong stomping (or crawling-like) through New York.
He's a good sport and I helped put everything back together again.
We are sleep training you right now.  It's so hard.  You like to be with us all the time.  Sometimes in the middle of the night, after I feed you, you stay so still and quiet so that you don't wake me up, so that I wont take you to your bassinett.  I think it's my fault it's taking extra long...I fall for all your cute tricks! Yes, I admit keeping you a little longer with us, and holding you extra long.
Jordan just woke up...now we can all play together.

The adventures of "mommy girl" and "Jordan boy"

Wouldn't that make the best book title?  Jordan now calls me mommy girl.  It's a lot better than Bolen and mami bolen.  Plus, I like mami girl!!!
Things have been busy, busy around here.  We've been entertaining friends, going places, cleaning, organizing, having fun as a family and sometime we even get to relax a little (usually this is mami and daddy time after kids are asleep!).
Today I scraped cement for hours!  I shouldn't write this down...I want to forget it ever happened.  My body aches!!  I guess I haven't written that we are building a pool.  We've been doing this for over a year!  Yap...I'll stop right here!  But, here's a little advice...don't build a pool!
Catherine is as cute as can be!!  She is so sweet!  She is sitting up so good.  She is also so aware of her surroundings.
Jordan and Catherine have been playing together lately.  He swings her by her legs, brings her toys, tickles her feet, and today he tried asked me for water and then proceeded to feed her.  It was so cute.  I love when they play together!!
I think it's time to get some rest!!  I think I'll sleep really well tonight!!

Miss Catherine can sit!

You are growing so much baby girl!!!
Yesterday you sat all by yourself!  We are so proud of you!  Every day you do more cute things.  Lately you've been wanting to be held all the time.  You smile and make eye contact and laugh...or giggle...I love it when you giggle.  It reminds me of when I giggle.
You absolutely LOVE your big brother.  Any time he is near you, you have a ball.  He's the best entertainer ever.  Although he can be a little rough with you and I do get scared.  He likes it when you hold his finger and pull his hair...to which he says "Ouch....Jordan pelo" and then sticks his head next to you so you can do it all over again.
He also controls all the battery operated seats you hang out in.  (the swing, bouncy chair, exersaucer, etc.)
We've been having so much fun with you!

Bye, bye yummies!

So we discovered that Jordan really LOVES mangos.  A couple of days ago, I cut a gorgeous mango and had it all ready to go.  I take it to the table, and offer it to Jordan who is sitting nonchalantly on his chair.  He looks at them with big eyes, but I tell him, lets say "Amen," like we do every single time we eat...but today, the little Mr. did not want to pray.  Jonathan then told him...but we always pray before we eat, to which he responded...NO.  So Jonathan trying to exert his "authority" took the mangos away, to which Jordan turn his head and says, "bye, bye...yummies."  It was so hard not to laugh.
I brought the mangos back, took a bite, then Jordan wanted to say "Amen" himself, and ate the whole plate.
 

Words, words, and more words!

Words, phrases, and "Jordanisms:"

Jordan nuk
Mami nuk
Jordan phone (iphone, remotes, cordless phones, bed remote, etc.), daddy phone, mami phone
wawiwu much (I love you very much)
Cat, Ca, Ctrin (Catherine)
mami kiss (this is said before bedtime, it lasts about 5 minutes of kissing from cheek to cheek, back in forth...in an attempt to stall bedtime)
mami white car
bye bye...than y much...chau chau...close door
frio
hot
mami mate
pants
jordan caca (to let us know that you went #2...now if you could just tell us before)

you can sing the "A, B, C" song, the tiny tots song, the kid's time song.
Sabbath school and kindermusik has been tons of fun.

Catherine...3 months old!

Dear Catherine,

Can anyone be as sweet as you?  NO!!!  You are the sweetest baby ever.  Mami loves you so, so much!!!  We are bff you know?
You have such a good disposition.  You laugh and smile all the time.
I love it when you giggle!  You bring a smile to my face every time I see you!
You have grown so much lately.  You are using 3-6 month clothing.  I love dressing you up.
You love to swing on the swing, play on the jumper, and the exersauser.  Jordan loves to entertain you and "help" out.  I have to keep an eye on him constantly.  Sometimes he's just too helpful!
You love to eat and sleep and be played with.  Everyone is in love with you!
You are daddy's little princess and he loves to be with you.  As soon as he gets home from work, the first thing he does is wash his hands so he can hold you...and "chit-chat."
You make the cutest little sounds...it seems like you understand when we talk to you.
Daddy and I love you tons and tons!
mami

Chepuk...Jordan 2 yrs old!

Dear Jordan,

You are two now.  You turned two in South Africa and they threw you an awesome party.  TRAINS was the theme.  You loved it.  Every time you see the pics, you say, "Jordan...Trains..."  You are getting so big.  I know I say this so much in these posts, but it's true.  It seems like I blink and you get bigger.  You are so sweet...intelligent...funny...persistent...adorable!  I love you so much!!
Chepuk, by the way, means ketchup.  Which you want in everything.
You think you are a big man right now.  You can't fully talk.  You are still saying lots of words.  Sometimes in spanish, sometimes in english...but you act as if you talked in full sentences and you move your hands like me.  I love it!
You also love to tell people things.  For example, the day that we were going to South Africa, daddy backed the car up to put the luggage in the back.  You were out and about and it was a little cold, so daddy closed the garage door and unfortunately closed it on the car...nothing happened to the car, but the garage door got a little dented and it displaced the glass, which fell on the floor and made a huge crashing noise.  Well, now you tell everyone, "Daddy...car....pum!!!"
You are also playing with bibi all the time.  That's your nickname for baby sister.
I love it when you play with her.  I want you both to be best friends for life!
You have been so sweet lately.  You also want to be with me all the time...that makes me so happy!
Daddy and you are best buddies!  You love it when he's home and you play together.  It doesn't matter what he's doing...you love being with your daddy!
You are a lot of fun right now...and a lot of work.  It's basically nonstop fun from the moment you wake up, till nap time or bed time!  I get a little tired, but I can honestly tell you that when I go to sleep every night, I can't wait to see you again the next morning!
I love you!
mami

Chickens and other happenings...

All birds are chickens to Jordan right now.  A parrot is a chicken, geese, ducks, cardinals, peacocks, doves...you name it...if you have feathers...you are a chicken!
In other Jordan news...he is going to be very artistic when he grows up!  We have been trying to do activities every day. Painting is absolutely his favorite!
He also enjoys watching "titots" (that's tiny tots for Jesus).  He has been singing along with the kids on tv and praying to Jesus.

Catherine is growing like a weed.  She just started smiling all the time and makes the sweetest noises!  She is absolutely precious!  Her favorite activities right now are swinging, eating, and sleeping!

We love our two babies!!

Happy New Year 2013!!

How did we get to 2013?
I still remember being in Africa for Y2K and wondering if I would ever see Jonathan again.  13 yrs., 2 kids, 1 condo, 2 houses, 2-2 dogs, med-school, dental school, work, life....etc...later, we are in 2013.  I would never have imagined my life to be at this point back then.  We've been so blessed!
This year went by too fast.  Having a one year old (Jordan), expecting another (Catherine), having another one, moving, changing jobs, going to South Africa to see my dad, and the million other things made this year zoom by.
The biggest blessings that made a huge impact in my life this year, and the things that I thank God the most are:

Catherine being born
Jordan being a healthy one year old
My dad having had successful heart surgery
Surviving the move to TN
Having more time with Jonathan and the kids
Being so comfortable in our new house
Meeting new friends that have been so kind to us all
Having old friends who are and will always be there in the good times and bad times
I'm also thankful that we are all healthy
That Jonathan has a good job

There's a million other things that I could name.  God has been so good to us!
This last year I also had to accept that life is not always perfect.  The house can be a mess, my closets disorganized, Jordan might have had hotdogs for breakfast, lunch and dinner one day and he is still ok, and I might forget appointments...but all of that is ok, life will go on.  My OCD has suffered a lot this last year.  Although I don't work right now, with the two little ones I've never been so busy in my whole life.
Right now, Jordan is playing with some black eyed beans...putting them from one container to another. He loves it...I hope it was a good idea.  Catherine is in our room sleeping in her bassinet, and Jonathan is at the hospital working.  The house is a mess, the Christmas decorations are still up, and I'm relaxing on the couch and writing this blog.  These peaceful moments don't come around too often lately.
I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for us!