What a Difference a Year Makes!

Kaitlyn had her last day of preschool yesterday and it occurred to me to take a picture to compare to the one we took on her first day. It is amazing how quickly the school year went by and how much she has changed. She is becoming such a beautiful, sweet spirited little girl. I am so proud of her. She constantly amazes me with the things she says and does. How is it so wonderful and so heart wrenching at the same time to watch your kids grow right in front of your eyes?


Sept 2009


June 2010

Catching Up 2010

Since I went so long without posting there are a ton of pictures for me to share and I thought I would make it easy and just do a slide show. Here's a quick glimpse of what's been happening around the Nelson house lately!

I Have a Secret

Being pregnant is like having this amazing secret all to yourself. (Except for the whole expanding belly for the world to see thing) I can feel when the baby is awake and moving, I know when it has the hiccups, there are so many moments that are shared by only the baby and myself. Every movement is like a tiny greeting from this little person inside me.



I love being pregnant. And even though I am at peace with this little addition being the last to our family, I know a part of me will always have that maternal ache to have "just one more." Knowing this is the last time I will do this makes me cherish it that much more. Part of me can't believe we are doing this all over again, and part of me aches knowing it is the last time I will experience this awesome, miraculous experience of growing a person and bringing it into the world. The births of my children have been the most exciting and amazing times of my life. And sharing those moments with my husband has been indescribable.

Sometimes when the baby kicks I tell someone and let them feel it kick, but there are many times when I am content to smile to myself and say a silent hello to who ever this is growing inside me. And when this pregnancy is over I know I will be ready to be done and see who this is, but today, I am holding on to my body, my shape, everything just the way it is, aches and pains included, and just enjoying this miracle for what it is.

Happy New Year!

On New Years Eve we attended an "East Coast" new years eve party!



Hosted by our friends the Lowe family, a bunch of families came together to watch the ball drop at "midnight" east coast time and then head home in time to be in bed at a reasonable hour!



We had so much fun!



Even Lance stayed up to enjoy the festivities...and chew on my teething necklace.



Kaitlyn and her friend Makena ringing in the new year together! They have known each other since they were six weeks old. Man how time flies!



My friend Kate and I. My first Lincoln friend, someone to commiserate with on the trails of daily life as a stay at home mama and someone who watches my children... even when she doesn't want to. That's a true friend!


Kate and Kandice sporting the beautiful tiaras of 2010!


Me and my Lincoln girls. Kandice, Kate and Shannon. So much fun to be together after 5pm! Happy New Year everyone! I cannot wait to see what 2010 has in store for us all. Hopefully full nights of sleep and occasional dates with our husbands. What can I say, I like to set the bar high!

Catching Up and Goodbye 2009!

What an amazing year it has been! 2009 brought both triumphs and trials to our family but overall it was such an exciting year. Lance grew before our eyes and went from tiny newborn to walking, signing and being a busy little boy! Kaitlyn continued to amaze us with her sweet spirit, especially where her brother is concerned, and her drawing skills. (More on that in a future blog) Ben and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with a quick overnight to Napa thanks to my mom watching the kids.

And although it seems like a dream, I did escape to Vegas with some friends for a girls trip. It was the first vacation I have ever gone on by myself without my husband or family and although I did spend a fair amount of time sleeping, it is still a memory I will cherish for a long time.

But back to Christmas...



Christmas brought a huge haul for both my children and I am still reeling at the sheer magnitude of it all. Not to mention where it all will fit! So thankful for all the people who love and spoil my children.


Kaitlyn's two big ticket items this year were a robot and a princess phone. The princess phone was easy enough to find. Then there was the robot...oh the robot. I tried to tell her she's a girl, and it's not the 1990's but she insisted that she really wanted a robot. So she got a Wall-E robot from the Disney Store. It's already out of batteries and will soon be forgotten I'm sure, but she got her Christmas wish, and it was even on clearance...I mean, Santa remembered!



Decorating the tree this year was...an art. Lance immediately showed much more interest in the tree, and the ornaments, than Kaitlyn did at this age. We decided to give up that battle immediately and just put non breakable items on the bottom of the tree and avoid disaster.



Surprisingly, the only one who kept breaking ornaments is my three year old. *Sigh*



We celebrated Christmas three separate times throughout the week and it was wonderful to have time with all our family members. All three of my brothers were there Christmas morning and I cannot tell you how many years it has been since we've all been together on a Christmas morning.





My mom stayed the night the day before Christmas Eve and we had a very special crab dinner (thanks Trader Joe's!) and got to spend the evening together and then wake up the next morning for Christmas #1. Kaitlyn loved having her Oba (Japanese for Grandma) spend the night!



Our Christmas with Ben's parents was exciting as well. Kaitlyn loves playing with her cousins.(and with everyone's new gifts) I think Ben's favorite part was his mom's chocolate pie. It's famous, it's a food group all on it's own, she makes them in beautiful Williams and Sonoma scalloped edged pie plates and then threatens our lives if we don't bring the beautiful pie plates back. It's all very magical, and my husband could eat a whole pie himself if I wasn't there to hold him back. Amen.

What a wonderful blessing to have so many family members so close to celebrate the birth of our Saviour. Happy New Year! I cannot wait to see what 2010 has in store!

Lance is ONE!

My poor December baby. Part of me still feels guilty about his birthday, as if he has any idea what a birthday is, and am afraid he will need lifelong therapy to get over this tragedy. Nonetheless we did have a family birthday party for the little dude and although he was not interested in opening or playing with his gifts whatsoever, the rest of us enjoyed ourselves! Here are a few (alright a ton) pictures of the festivities...


Here's his actual birthday. First birthday breakfast!


Opening his first gift from our dear friend (and mother of his namesake) Melanie.


So excited to have his own silverware! Although he still steals mine as well.

He's Walking

Some days I still cannot believe I am a mother of two. I keep waiting to feel like a grownup. Like someone who has been married for six years and has two children, a minivan, a dog, a mortgage, and two "small businesses."


This little face reminds me though that I do have all those things. When will I be a grownup? I don't know. But seeing my son take his first steps puts everything into perspective. Being grown up can wait until tomorrow...right now I am going to play with my kids. :)

Halloween 2009

Part of what I love about having kids that I'm in charge...shocking I know. :) So when the idea of coordinating the kids Halloween costumes came to me (and I knew this may be one of the only years I would be able to convince Kaitlyn) I went with it! At first she wanted to be Ariel, but finding a costume for Lance to go with that proved to be exhausting.

Finally I suggested she be Alice in Wonderland. She loves the movie and it was the first ride she ever rode at Disneyland, and the one she asked for first when we went back.





Finding her costume was easy. It was cheap and came quickly. Lance's costume, again, was difficult. It didn't come in time to wear to my mother in laws Halloween party but he ended up being an adorable lion! Kaitlyn was excited at the idea of him being the white rabbit, so we stuck with that for Halloween, and I knew his costume would need a few alterations. Most rabbit costumes have a pink belly that doesn't do too much for that whole boy thing. So I bought a red sweatshirt and my mom fashioned something to go over it to resemble the scene where they are playing croquet with the Queen of Hearts.




Halloween was quite exciting for Kaitlyn who knew what it was all about! She told everyone who gave her candy, "thank you, see you next Wednesday!" Alright, she doesn't know quite what it's all about but she's getting there. And she has really nice manners anyway.

Mealtime Triumph

There have been some amazing changes in the last week at the Nelson household. Our three year old eats broccoli!!! YES, you heard me right, a green vegetable! She also has decided she likes grapes as well, but another fruit in her repertoire pales in comparison to the one vegetable she will now eat. :)



One night this week we had broccoli with dinner. She not only tried her broccoli, she ate it all. I was stunned. Then she asked for more. I almost fell off my chair. When she finished her second helping (which was actually my broccoli) and asked for a third, I almost cried. Then I told her there wasn't any more broccoli because she ate it all.

The next day she asked if she could have broccoli and macaroni and cheese for lunch and I was happy to comply! (We'll work on the mac and cheese obsession at a later date) Then we went to the store and she said "Mom, don't forget to get some broccoli!"

So to all you moms out there with picky eaters I say...repetition works!


Just look at that mouthful of broccoli!

And every time you tell yourself you don't want to "waste" a vegetable on your toddler who you just know will not eat it, just tell yourself not to waste an opportunity to be one meal closer to your child actually eating that vegetable. If you don't expose your child to different things, they'll never have the opportunity to try and like them!

*This post is dedicated to Lynne, who has encouraged me about my picky eater for the last (almost) three years.

In Case You Didn't Know...

Boys are different than girls. Even at 10 months old the difference between my son and daughter in attitude, appetite, and aptitude is staggering. When a boy is hungry, he's HUNGRY! So the other morning I was taking a little longer getting breakfast ready than my son would have liked. He took it upon himself to quietly find something to eat and help himself.




While I appreciate the sentiment, I would rather my infant not have Ritz crackers for breakfast...although I guess it could be worse!