Unsightly Thighs - An Allison Update

Would you look at these? Don't you just want to sink your teeth right in...well surprise Allison has teeth too! Isn't she lucky to parade around town with such glorious thighs! Of course she gets them from mommy:) I'm so proud! ally is getting bigger these days...she last tipped the scales at just over 19 lbs. It may seem big to those of you with average babies or even petite little ones...but considering Natalie was over 4 lbs larger at the same stage has me feeling like I need to protect Ally like a china doll...well not really but she does seem smaller....

Here some shots from months 7 and 8...she is getting ready to start her 9th month just after the NEW YEAR!

Snow Day

So what to do with the Day After Christmas? In Canada they celebrate with another holiday, Boxing Day. A day to box up all things Christmas and stash them away. Well, I was not about to spend another day cleaning. I did A LOT of cleaning over the last 3 days and I wanted a day off. So we headed up to our local mountains in Idyllwild. It was a sunny 27 degrees and we had a blast! Natalie took a much needed holiday nap on the way up and we stopped first at the pizza parlor to first fill our tummy. It was delicious. Then we picked up a sled and headed to look for the best spot. Natalie ended up enjoying walking around and eating the snow more then she did sledding but what else would you expect from a 3 year old who only sees snow once or twice a year? I did capture a pretty good sibling picture:) Yeah me! And the one of Ben and Allison...well, she is going through a "I want mommy" stage...we all hope she grows out of it quickly. It may have something to do with the two HUGE teeth cutting through her top gums. We had a blast and hope to make it to the snow soon again!

Taking time to give thanks...

I am giving thanks today. So often I feel defeated by my kids and, by the time Ben gets home I have no energy or enthusiasm left. The last few days Natalie has been "agreeable". She has been happy, napping, eating, dressing and overall enjoying her self as a "free" year old (3 - year - old). She loves school, singing, dress up and helping mommy. I have so enjoyed this new leaf she has turned over! I am gloating because this is my blog and I would be afraid to compliment her out loud in fear she would hear me thus choosing to sabotage the lucky streak.

Allison, even though sick, has also been so easy on me...she is sleeping in a little later, at least waiting for daybreak, she has also really done well accepting solids and only nurses once at night...wow, maybe all I needed was a little bit of sleep. Life on Yellowstone has been good...

Ben has been busy but even we have connected better in the last week...I just had to share the happiness floating around here...it pass through before much longer and wanted to share a "good day" with you all for a change:)

Look at my Shining Star...

I am so proud of Natalie ... her preschool does a Christmas Show and she has been practicing her carols since September. She is a pretty good singer at least with getting the words right so maybe we're on to something. Her class and another 3's class performed 6 songs tonight...her favorite being "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" and her trickiest one, "Away in a Manger" She did so well. We were all seated in the chapel and the class walked in with their teachers. She smiled and waved and yelled, "Hi mommy, Hi daddy, Hi Auntie Jess, Hi Marcy" as she saw each of us in the crowd. Then she took her spot on the stage. She wasn't supposed to stand next to Jillian but it didn't take long for her to move over beside her partner in crime and best friend since birth:) She sang each song and waited to twirl until the very last one - sort of a grand finale if you will. The girls did find it fun to hop off their step but all in all it was a great show (only about 10 min). She was so proud and had so much fun! Yeah Natalie!

Getting ready for Santa

So Thanksgiving is officially over and it is now time to prepare for the big day that Santa arrives...I can't tell you how exciting this time of year is because of my girls. It truly is a magical time of year and we at the Strader house BELIEVE.

We kicked off the season by greeting Santa in Old Town. Santa arrived by sleigh and 'reindeer' (horses) along with carolers, a band and police/fireman escort. We were dead front in line at Santa's parking spot so we had a great view of his arrival.

Natalie and Ally Cash the reindeer...

Here we are waiting...

Natalie and her friend Irelyn

Santa came and lots of kiddos 'rushed the stage' we hung back on higher ground to keep our great view. Then Santa handed out candy canes. Thanks to Taz for snapping this photo...

Santa then hung out in his Santa Shack while kids sat and wished for their presents. That line was long and those families did not have a view so we'll be seeing him at the mall.

We hung out because the kids were enjoying the carolers...then hit a restaurant hard with the "how many?" 8 adults AND 8 kids - wham...didn't see that coming! I waitressed for 9 years it is my turn to pay back now:)

On the way back from dinner we ran into a FREE balloon man, paid for by the City of temecula ( it costs us about 700 a month for a FREE balloon=taxes). the kids got hats and swords, because appartenly princesses need swords to kill dragons??? We will make this a tradition the evening was a success!

Kael and Natalie have a duel....

Happy thanksgiving

Here are a few shots of Ally's first thanksgiving...

Oops sorry, I didn't get many of Ally - she was victim of second child syndrome....watch out it may happen to you...to prevent this from happening remember to take pictures of BOtH children! Sorry Ally...

Check out these shots!

Remember my quest for the perfect sibling photo??? This one almost depicts them perfectly. Ally is going for Natalie while keeping a sweet face pointed at the camera...Natalie is all giggles...she loves her baby sister!

The new Ben's Three girls shot....

My neighbor Stephanie, took us around Old Town Temecula to get some family shots for our Christmas card. We ended up with an eclectic variety with only one GREAT one of all four of us. I don't know how the "perfect" families manage to get everyone (usually the dog too) all looking at the camera at the same time, without a hair in the wrong place??? Clearly my family wasn't meant for professional pictures. My favorites were the candid ones we weren't posing for and I'll try to remember this next year when I plea with my family for a perfect 'family of four' shot.

This one was my runner up shot...

P.S. Stephanie is still learning a lot about photography and keeps her "price" really reasonable. She is saving for photo shop software and a new lens...if you are interested in a photo shoot check out her blog...http://bowdenfamily5.blogspot.com/

Love heals all...

After having a really terrible Sunday last week (did ya read my worst mommy post?) I realize that it was small in comparison to the big picture. After all my friends and family posted and emailed me their support I was calmed down and believing that I wasn't the worst parent out there...my husband even made some really good points and brought to light the fact that since I try my hardest I am at the very least the BEST mommy I can be. This alone is enough for me. perfection can be left for other areas of my life, being Natalie's mommy is a hard job. All I can do is my best...

Ben and I have supported each other a lot lately and I am so proud of how strong we are. Family life isn't always easy in fact it is rarely easy. And in our own funny way, in our quiet moments we are happy, content, and even a little gitty. Don't let the occasional banter fool you - we are both pretty pig headed:) Here is a new shot of us that Stephanie, our neighbor, took of us while trying to get a family picture...I hope we'll gather more wrinkles and loose more hair together...

Riley's Farm

I had this great idea that we would venture up to Oak Glen and it would be chilly and brisk, with an abundance of crisp apples hanging on the trees all around us. We would pick apples until our baskets were overflowing then show Natalie where apple juice comes from as we press our own cider...doesn't that sound lovely?

Well, it wasn't really like that...I did call ahead and was encouraged to come up. All in all I was glad we snuck some family time into our week but Riley's Farm was not all that (sorry Merritt).

Good news is that Natalie had no idea what she was missing...she still picked an apple from a tree albeit it was an old apple...it still tasted better then apples from Stater Bros...

She was fascinated by all the apples on the ground (which was not part of my educational lesson of apples grow on trees) She also enjoyed the animals, and we would have all enjoyed the restaurant but they would not seat us because they were getting ready to close in 30 min. GETTING ready to close, not closed, but getting ready....if they wouldn't seat us would that mean they were closed ALREADY?

We ended up down the street at Apple Annie's which was yummy.

We did buy a 5 pound apple pie which was yum-O, even though Ben grumbled about it being $15 can you believe that? $15??? I should start a pie business...

World's Worst Mommy

In our midst, without really realizing it, are opportunities to boost our parenting or to set us back so far we wonder where it was that we went wrong??? I think for me my troubles lie with teaching over 400 kids BEFORE actually having any of my own. You see, I already had it all figured out. I had selected what type of child I wanted, observed the ones that I didn't, even judged those parents. If they only put him to bed at a reasonable hour. Maybe if they didn't work such long hours...Feed her healthy meals, spend time reading and playing games...I thought I knew just what to do. I was going to be a great parent, I already had "experience". It was going to be a breeze...

Well, I choose to put my career on hold because I thought it would be better to stay home then to use daycare. I buy educational games and search high and low for creative supplies for when we make crafts, we have play dough, a kitchen with play dishes, we play outside with chalk, we garden and ride scooters, we visit educational places to spark interest and curiosity. We read books quietly and dress up like princess, cheerleaders, doctors, kitty cats and mermaids. We take long baths, wash the car, splash in the pool, blow bubbles, anything and everything I can think of...to offer Natalie the opportunities "good kids', "well behaved" kids, "well adjusted" kids SHOULD have...this is where I get confused...

My child isn't what I thought she would be like...ironically she seems to be a lot like I was when I was young. I thought I could prevent her the pain of being as weird as me...she is louder then the other kids, she is clumsier then the other kids, she is rougher, taller, talks more, and otherwise appears more challenging then the other kids....

I can recognize these personality traits as desirable once she is an adolescent, after all I made the best of these quirky traits, but for the next 15 years, it will be a rough road...both for me and her. I want to protect her and make things easier for her, what parent doesn't?

I wish parenting was as easy as choosing what type of child you would you like and then follow a "recipe" to ensure the proper child develops and grows into exactly what you expect. I am GOOD at following recipes...I can even improve them sometimes by adding a special ingredient, sweetening or making it more scrumptious.

So why am I struggling to make my child sweet and scrumptious. It is because I am lost, I wish someone could tell me where I go wrong, why the day starts off okay and somewhere between my sweet kisses at wake up and mid morning snack I'm yelling, cleaning up a messy house, threatening a time out and by nap time praying for sleep. When it is really bad I'm crying and wondering just how much she'll hate me in a few years.

I am really surprised at how one day she can be an angel with impressive manners, those are the days I feel like I have it all figured out, the few moments I feel like I'm not letting her down as much as I thought I was...if I could only savor those moments enough to get me through the other times...

This is a very honest post after an incredibly hard day. I always felt like an excellent teacher, I worked my tail off to succeed. I work even harder as a parent, get less thanks, not even a coffee mug, and go to bed in fear that I have ruined my child...I am building quite a selection of parenting books, although I wouldn't write a single good review on any of them.

I hope tomorrow is better, I hope she is happy and well adjusted, just for tomorrow, I hope I see a glimpse of success, a thank you or even day with no hitting, maybe she'll eat without hassle or play well with friends at the park. I wonder what the moms think of me when they see my child taunt theirs, because sadly I feel less alone and more normal when we get to play the victim...when we are the pair receiving an apology, when we are the innocent ones...

7 months old and on the go!

Ally is 7 months old this month...wow! She is crawling and occasionally pulling herself up...it is time to move her crib mattress down so she doesn't do a fancy gymnastics move and hurl herself over the side. She "plays" much better with her sister now and is very interactive. After all my dismay with Natalie STILL using a pacifier we have a thumb sucker. I am sure that will come with its own stress in time. For right now I am happy we aren't searching for plastic nipple peacemakers at 3am....