The best thing on the internet...

...is this!  Really. 



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Lucas thinks this is his friend Fernando, who we see flying usually on a daily basis.  Don't tell him it is actually a nest in Iowa!  The baby eagles are supposed to hatch very soon.  I can only imagine how excited Lucas will be then.  And, Poppy too, actually.  I kept this video up and running while we ate lunch today and Poppy kept waving while saying "Hi!  Hi!"  She sure loves birds!

Turning Point

When Lucas was a baby, I heard the term "extended rear facing," but honestly never saw the necessity in keeping the car seat facing the rear of the car beyond the required (by law) minimum of one year old and 20 pounds.  Lucas was already over 20 pounds by the time he was six months old and I had no doubt that by his first birthday he would be facing forward in the car.  Then I saw a video that completely changed the way I looked at car seats and car seat safety.


There is a lot of stuff in the beginning of the video that I only half-paid attention to.  What really opened my eyes were the crash tests (just after the 1:30 mark in the video) and what happens to a forward facing-child vs. a rear-facing child.  Holy cow.  I was convinced. 

When Lucas turned one, he stayed rear-facing.  He was 30 pounds and about 33 inches, but to me, he still seemed too tiny to face forward.  I bought a seat that had just come out because it had a higher weight limit for rear-facing than the convertible seat he had been using since he outgrew his infant seat (when he was five months old).  I made the decision that he would ride rear-facing until he reached the limits of the seat, not until he reached a certain age.  Little did I know he would be almost three years old before this would happen!  He still has a couple of pounds to go before he is too heavy to be rear-facing in his seat (Graco MyRide 65, with a rear-facing weight limit of 40 pounds), but he has just about reached the limit as far as height goes. 

So now Lucas has reached his turning point.  He weighs 38 pounds, is over three feet tall, and is 34.5 months old.  And he'll now ride forward facing in the car.  Lucas has lucked out by being the first born.  He got two new car seats, one for the Saturn (a Britax Frontier 85, which hasn't arrived yet) and one for the Toyota.  His MyRide will now be passed down to Poppy as her seat in the Toyota (she also has a MyRide 65 in the Saturn).  The first of his new seats (Graco Nautilus) arrived on Friday and we took him for a spin in his new seat on Sunday afternoon in the Prius.

Checking out his seat for the first time.  I was expecting him to tell us it was backwards, but he didn't.  He did notice it was different, though. 

Adam told Lucas to climb up, but he couldn't quite figure out how.  Poppy was pretty entertained while she watched him check out his new seat!

All buckled up and ready to roll!

Poppy could tell something was different about how Lucas was sitting.  She was very interested in watching him in his new seat.

Lucas enjoying his new view of the world.

I'm so happy that we were able to find a seat that made it possible for Lucas to rear-face for as long as he did.  Coincidentally, the day after Lucas started riding forward facing the American Academy of Pediatrics released their new recommendation that children should remain rear-facing until at least the age of two.  Poppy (who is 15 months old today!) is still rear-facing.  And as long as she doesn't hit an insane growth spurt, I'm pretty confident that she will be able to last rear-facing as long (or longer!) as Lucas.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

For once, I'm on time with a holiday!  St. Patrick's Day is not a huge deal for us.  We don't make any usual green food.  We don't eat corned beef and cabbage.  We're not exactly Irish!  But we do wear green!  That is pretty much the extent of our celebrating.   

St. Patrick's Day, 2009
I dug through my old pictures and found Lucas on his first St. Patrick's Day.  Oh, my chubby boy.  Look at little Lucas!  He was just over 10 months old here.

St. Patrick's Day, 2010

Poppy had joined us almost three months before, so I got to dress both my little Leprechauns in green. 
(Hey, Sarah!  I think that the outfit Poppy wore was handed down from Gabby!)

St. Patrick's Day, 2011

Lucas and Poppy both look so much different than they did last year!  Poppy wore a dress I bought for her just after St. Patrick's Day last year.  I thought ahead and got her the 18 month size and today was the first time she wore it.  It is already almost too small! 

Yes, we are dorks.  We all dressed in green and actually went out in public like this.  Sorry for my ridiculous pose.  I can't handle the pressure of the camera's timer and this was the best face I could come up with.  Poppy was mid-fit because she couldn't hold the camera.  At least Lucas and Adam look good! 

It's beginning to look a lot like...SPRING!

Spring won't officially start until next Sunday, but the signs of the new season are popping up all over our neighborhood.  On our snowy walk a few weeks ago, I noticed that the flowering trees had small buds and now they are starting to bloom.  They aren't totally loaded with flowers yet, but I'm sure in a few days they will be.  It reminds me of Spring in Japan. 

These are the trees in front of our house.  It is hard to tell, but the flowers are there.  Really, they are!

Close up, you can definitely see the flowers on the trees.  If the wind keeps up like it has been, the flowers might end up blowing away before we get a chance to really enjoy them!

Whoever lived here before us planted some daffodils.  They are a pleasant reminder that Spring is on the way!

I'm pretty sure that they have multiplied in the last year.  I don't remember there being this many before. 

I bought a bunch of bulbs to plant in the flower bed outside the front of our house.  In the garage, I also found a couple packs of bulbs that I bought...hmmm...I don't know when.  The package says that they should be planted September-December.  Oops.  Missed the deadline. 

One of the more annoying signs of impending Spring is this: the truck belonging to the landscapers.  Ugh.  Right now they will be coming around every two weeks, but as the weather gets warmer they will start to come every week.  I do admit that it is nice to get all of the grass mowed (except for our backyard, which we do on our own), but, holy cow, they are noisy and annoying for the two days they spend beautifying the 'hood.  Sometimes they start at 7:00am and work all morning, then take a three hour lunch (you read that right, THREE hours), then start back up right when Lucas and Poppy are going down for their naps.  So just about the time my little darlings are drifting off to dreamland, the landscapers start to wander aimlessly through the neighborhood with their leaf-blowers that are even louder than the jets we have to contend with during naptime on a daily basis.  So, yes, this signifies Spring...but it kind of sucks at the same time.

In an attempt to keep the landscapers away from my sleeping babies, I have resorted to breaking out the sidewalk chalk to leave messages such as the one below. 

Unfortunately, it doesn't make a big difference and I end up running outside when I can tell they are getting too close so I can do my "Get back!  Babies sleeping!  Get back!" dance to keep them from waking up Lucas and Poppy.  I do look like an idiot when I do this.  I also look like an idiot when I use the chalk to write my little message.  But I still continue to do both.  Anything to preserve naptime!

Hello, Prius!

Last Wednesday, we made to leap to being a two-car family.  That's right, we now have "Krista's Car" and "Adam's Car!"  But Lucas will tell you we have the "Big Car" and the "Silver Car."  We'd been playing around with the idea of getting a second car for Adam to drive to work for a while.  After looking online at way too many to count and checking all of the different specs, we decided that a Prius would be the way to go.  Especially with the insanity of gas prices (currently about $3.60 here in town)!  After finding a few options in the area (Belligham, Burlington, and Bothell...what is it with all the "B" towns around here!?), we set out with the hope that we would find one that worked for us.  Our first stop was in Bellingham as they had the newest Prius with the least miles on our list of potentials.  And it turned out that it was also our last stop!  We now have a 2009 Prius for Adam to drive.  In its previous life, it was a rental car, so it does have some wear and tear beyond the normal amount for a two year old car.  And it smells like smoke (GROSS), so once the weather allows, I'll be keeping the windows open so it can air out.  But we got a good deal and it is so nice to finally have a second car!

Sitting next to the Saturn, the Prius looks tiny.  I don't notice how big the Saturn is until I look at it like this!  It looks like it is going to eat the Prius.  And yes, the Saturn is still red.  But it is filthier than it has ever been right now and doesn't have its usual sparkle!

Our TWO cars.  Exciting!

(semi) Happy Homecoming

After being gone for almost four months, Adam came home (for a short visit) at the end of February.  Lucas was happy to see Daddy.  Poppy...well, Poppy was less than happy to see him.  She started screaming and crying as soon as he got close to her.  When we drove up, I rolled down Lucas's window so he could say "hi" and that was all it took to get Poppy going.  She was terrified.

Even though she was totally freaking out, Adam was able to hold Poppy (and Lucas) for a quick picture. 

I'm not sure what Lucas was pointing at in the sky, but Poppy was still upset in Picture Attempt #2. 

After his nap, Lucas finally got to go outside and play with Daddy for a little while.  And Adam lucked out that we still had all of the snow that had fallen a couple of days before. 

More snow and Daddy fun, Lucas got to take another turn on the big swing.

Later in the evening, Poppy had warmed up enough to Adam to actually sit with him without going insane. 

And what's this?  A picture of me!?  This is how you know another adult is in the house: someone was able to take a picture of me!  Poppy was being especially cuddly before her bath, and she even gave Adam a smile.  He was across the room, that was probably why she was smiling!

February Snow

We were "lucky" enough to experience snow for a second time this Winter.  Well technically, our first snow fell while it was still Fall, so I guess this was our first Winter snowfall.  And probably last because I don't think we'll see snow again before the end of Winter this year.  But we weren't even really expecting it last week, so it was a surprise to wake up and have everything white on Wednesday morning.  The snow continued to fall for a few hours before stopping.  By then, we had several inches on the ground. 

All of the seagulls looked pretty sad to be sitting in the snow.

The power lines were even covered with snow. 

Later in the day, we went out to take a walk around the block in the snow.  Lucas got to wear his fireman boots and he walked with me while I pushed Poppy in the stroller.

Poppy stayed warm and cozy in the stroller and after we stopped to check the mail, Lucas reached in to give her a high-five.

I don't love snow, but it sure does make everything look pretty!

Rosy-cheeked boy, having lots of fun on his walk in the snow.

The following day, some icicles had formed on the fence in the yard.  Lucas had a lot of fun going around and breaking them off!

This is our tiny snowman.  It took about three minutes to build.  Lucas chose to use the bucket as his hat.

More pitiful seagulls, sitting in the snow.

We all got bundled up to go outside and play in the snow for a while.  Lucas wore a pair of Poppy's pink mittens (with sparkly penguins on the palms!) and one of Daddy's hats since both of his were MIA.  In addition to a long-sleeved onesie and fleece pants, Poppy wore fleece pajamas and a pair of Lucas's outgrown size 3T jeans.  I wasn't expecting them to fit, but they did!

The return of the Ghetto-Sleddo!  Poppy Seed got to ride in style.

Lucas tried out the big swing while Poppy watched from her chariot.

There's the happiest girl in the world!

Poppy's first little injury.  I got her out of the sled so she could crawl around in the snow and she face-planted and got what Lucas called "Snow Rash."  A little fat lip and a scratch on her cheek.  And she never cried!

Lucas running around in the snow wearing Daddy's hat.