Birthdays and Stuff

I hate titling blog posts. Just so you know.

So, this post isn't really in order. First off, birthday stats. Ginny and Isaac both had their yearly check-ups today (because I was too lazy to get Ginny in closer to her actual birthday, and at this age it doesn't seem to matter as much).

Isaac:
Height: 43 1/2 inches, 96th percentile
Weight: 42 lbs, 90th percentile

As you can see, he is growing really well!

Ginny:
Height: 51 1/2 inches, 90th percentile
Weight: 58 lbs, 75th percentile

Somehow, Erik and I have a couple of tall children. It will be interesting to see if these percentiles continue to hold. Both Ginny and Isaac have been in the 90s for height since they were wee babies.

Here are a couple of pics of Isaac's birthday:

Ezra had to stay home from school one day because of a bad cough, but as you can see, he was still feeling energetic enough to be Thor for the day.

We went with Annie to the Queen's zoo one day. You can see the parrots in the background. It was a lot of fun. We have had so much fun with Aunt Andrea and we are going to miss her when she leaves us!

Erik going to the doctor because he is sick is such a rare event that I had to document it. As you can see, he was in good spirits, but he was as sick as I've ever seen him in our married life. Turns out, he had mono. No fun! We are a couple weeks past this, and he is feeling much better.

Erik and I decided to do an experiment. Get a car for 6 months, and see if it's worth the cost/hassle. So far, the jury is still out. But I have been getting a lot of practice in driving in Queens and in parallel parking. I still have yet to venture onto any freeways, or out of Queens, but I am feeling fairly comfortable in my own neighborhood. It's nice being able to grocery shop this way! The picture is because I had to document the very first time I parallel parked completely on my own. I know it looks like I had a ton of space, but that is because of the camera angle. Plus, I was on a steep hill, and it was really hard! I accidentally bumped the car behind me. Thank goodness that's completely normal in the city, and nobody even bats an eyelash. It was still a little embarrassing for me. But for my first time doing it without help, I was pretty pleased.

That's about all the news up to now. We've been getting back into the routine of school, and having fun showing Andrea around and hanging out with her. It's been so nice having extra help, and getting to go out once in a while. Erik and I have been able to go to the temple, and out to dinner a couple of times, and we even got to go to the Regina Spektor concert, and see The Lion King when I won the lottery! So yes, we are definitely going to miss Andrea. :)

Philadelphia Temple Open House

In the middle of September, we drove to Philadelphia to attend the open house for the new temple. It was beautiful! And a great opportunity for the kids to see inside a temple again. This open house was really nice because we weren't rushed at all. In each room, they let us sit down, look around, and ask questions. We were led through in small groups, and really had a chance to observe and teach and even answer some questions from a couple of non-members in our tour group. It was a wonderful experience!

Afterwards we were able to spend the weekend with Kaylyn's family. They were kind enough to let us stay the weekend before they were moving to Utah. It was so great to have some time with them before they moved beyond driving distance. We enjoyed a relaxing evening, and the spent Saturday on the beach. It was so much fun and our kids love playing with theirs. We are going to miss having them so close!

Kid Moments

We were playing statues for family night last week. Statues is where one person turns their back on everyone, and tells them what to make a "statue" of with their bodies. Then he/she turns around and chooses the person who makes the best statue. When it was Ezra's turn, he directed us to "act like Aunt Loralee telling us to stay out of the cookies at grandma's house!" That must have been a memorable moment for him this summer!

During scriptures one night, Isaac asked me out of the blue "Mommy, why did they put Jesus in a cocoon?" I explained the different between cocoon and tomb, and then he asked "Mommy, why did they nail Jesus to a cross? Was he a bad guy or a robber?" I'm glad he's thinking about these things--I clearly need to do a better job explaining!

Another question Isaac asked me (again, out of the blue, at school pick-up): "Mommy, who took care of Adam and Eve when they were babies? If they were the first people, they didn't have mommies and daddies? So who took care of them?" I love all the thinking Isaac is doing about these kinds of things!

This is how we lived this summer. Two bedrooms condensed into our living room, while we were renovating the two back bedrooms. 

This is how Ginny's bedroom looks now, minus the bedding and curtains. It's a little crowded and mismatched, but it opened up some space for her to do her homework and move around a little more. She got new carpet, curtains, and baseboards, as well as a new bed, desk, baker's rack and a bigger dresser.

And here is our bedroom. It looks a lot nicer with the new paint and baseboards and carpet! Now we just need to deal with the walls, and maybe figure out some new curtains.

After school one day, Ginny decided to play hospital. The boys came to the hospital with various injuries, and Dr. Ginny patched them up using paper and tape. It was pretty entertaining to watch. :)

You know that song "5 in a bed and the little one said 'roll over'?" Well, I always think of that song on mornings like this one. I'm the one that falls out when they all roll over. Someone teach me how to get these boys to stay in their own beds!

Kid Moments

We were playing statues for family night last week. Statues is where one person turns their back on everyone, and tells them what to make a "statue" of with their bodies. Then he/she turns around and chooses the person who makes the best statue. When it was Ezra's turn, he directed us to "act like Aunt Loralee telling us to stay out of the cookies at grandma's house!" That must have been a memorable moment for him this summer!

During scriptures one night, Isaac asked me out of the blue "Mommy, why did they put Jesus in a cocoon?" I explained the different between cocoon and tomb, and then he asked "Mommy, why did they nail Jesus to a cross? Was he a bad guy or a robber?" I'm glad he's thinking about these things--I clearly need to do a better job explaining!

Another question Isaac asked me (again, out of the blue, at school pick-up): "Mommy, who took care of Adam and Eve when they were babies? If they were the first people, they didn't have mommies and daddies? So who took care of them?" I love all the thinking Isaac is doing about these kinds of things!

This is how we lived this summer. Two bedrooms condensed into our living room, while we were renovating the two back bedrooms. 

This is how Ginny's bedroom looks now, minus the bedding and curtains. It's a little crowded and mismatched, but it opened up some space for her to do her homework and move around a little more. She got new carpet, curtains, and baseboards, as well as a new bed, desk, baker's rack and a bigger dresser.

And here is our bedroom. It looks a lot nicer with the new paint and baseboards and carpet! Now we just need to deal with the walls, and maybe figure out some new curtains.

After school one day, Ginny decided to play hospital. The boys came to the hospital with various injuries, and Dr. Ginny patched them up using paper and tape. It was pretty entertaining to watch. :)

You know that song "5 in a bed and the little one said 'roll over'?" Well, I always think of that song on mornings like this one. I'm the one that falls out when they all roll over. Someone teach me how to get these boys to stay in their own beds!