Krista and Iza!

I went to the gym tonight to discuss the plan for next season with Krista's trainer and the head of the club. Iza is Krista's beloved trainer and is very unfortunately leaving our club. We are SO sad about this. Iza is an amazing gymnast herself (from Georgia, a country where rhythmic gymnastics is practiced at a very high level) and is such a talented coach as well!! We were SO spoiled this year to have such dedication from Iza. She spent so much time and effort this season training Krista and the results were clearly visible! The progress Krista has made this year is amazing and it is thanks to Iza. Tonight I took a few photos of them together. It would be a miracle if for some reason Iza decided not to move. Oh how I have my fingers crossed for this!!!

Let me put this translation up for Iza...Who knows if it will be logical since it is an automatic translation....

Я пошел к сегодне вечером гимнастики обсудить план на следующий сезон с тренером и головкой Krista клуба. Iza тренер Krista любимый и очень несчастливо выходит наше клуб. Мы НАСТОЛЬКО унылы о этом. Iza изумительный гимнаст себя (от Грузия, страна где звукомерная гимнастика напрактикована на очень высокопоставленном) и такая талантливая карета также!! Мы были ПОЭТОМУ баловали этот год для того чтобы иметь такое посвящение от Iza. Она потратила так много время и усилие эта тренировка Krista сезона и результаты было ясно видимо! Прогресс Krista делал этот год изумитен и спасибо Iza. Сегодня вечером i приняла немного фото их совместно. Было бы чудом если по какой - либо причине Iza решил не двинуть. Oh как я имею мои перста быть пересеченным для этого!!!

Evan at 4 Months

Here's the little man at 4 mos. So far he's off to a good start! Last night he slept 6.5 hours in his first stretch, followed by 6 hours. This seems to be the schedule lately, so I'm happy with that :) He's grabbing toys and putting ANYTHING and everything into his mouth now. He's also drooling up a storm so I think we'll have an EARLY teether on our hands. I took these photos a few days ago. He's getting to be so fun now with everyone- laughing and smiling. We don't have our next dr's appt until June, but on my baby scale he is weighing 8, 150 g so he's one BIG guy!

Kaitlyn's 3 Year Portraits

I did a little 3 year photoshoot of Kaitlyn... Here are a few shots!

Long eyes!

I just updated Evan's 3 Month report (a few posts down) so you can read that if you're interested. I'll be posting his 4 Month report soon considering he turned 4 months on Friday!

Today Krista headed off for a 2 day field trip to the mountains with her class. We bought her a sleeping bag and rain boots a few weekends ago so she was all set for this a.m! She is really looking forward to her field trip. The will be back tomorrow night, so tonight it just the three. She took her new camera *an early birthday present, so I'm sure we'll have some wonderful pictures when she returns!

The "long eyes" is a funny story. Kaitlyn keeps saying how Baby Evan has such PRETTY, LONG EYES!!! She'll come up and say "Look at his LONG eyes Mommy, they're so pretty!".... So I decided to take a few pictures of his long eyes. He has the longest eyelashes for a baby his age. When he was only a few days old he already had long lashes, but there was ONE single eyelash that was at least twice as long as the others..it was really funny. Now that they've darkened they are really beautiful. I tried to get a few close ups while he was sleeping.

CLICK photo to see for yourself!!

Newborn Portraits

These are some of my favorite newborn poses of Evan. I've been going back through my January albums this week and reminiscing a bit. I took these when he was 2 weeks old. He is SO small and new in these pictures. I have taken so many shots that it is hard to find my actual favorites, but from this particular day these are my top pics. I SO enjoy shooting newborns! I will post more if I find any that I can't resist sharing.

Weekend activities

I'm just having so much fun with Evan now. He is my savior at the moment!! I have Erik and Krista who are at each other's throats for 1/2 the day, then Kaitlyn who is entering the "Terrible Three's" and then my SWEETHEART Evan!!!! Ahhh. He is really my sunshine...all dressed in yellow too....and I forgot to mention, he pulled 8.5 hour night-stretches all weekend. HOOORAY for sleeping babies! :)

We had a nice long weekend here in France, although it wasn't Mother's Day here yet. I believe Mother's Day is the 1st of June this year, so it is coming up. Frodau was Victory Day (1945 over Germany) so it was another long weekend here in France. I think 3 out of the 4 weekends in May are 3 day weekends. We managed to get the yard in shape (mowing trimming, sweeping), get some clothes shopping done for the kids on Saturday, and yesterday Toomas put in the new fancy lights up for the entry-way. They are the same post lights that we have on the terrace. The electrician's passed by on Thursday to put in the lines. They look great!

Evan is a SITTING boy!

The little Evan man loves to sit up now, just like a big guy! Amazing to me that he is striving to do this already. Wasn't he just born? (like last week???!!!). Anyway, he has been doing these little crunches for about a week now. He'll be in a semi-lying position (on the boppy or bouncy seat) and he will crunch up to try to sit. In his bouncy seat he will grab the bar and pull up to sit. I put him on my boppy pillow yesterday (lying on his back) and he pulled himself right up to sitting. He's so happy now!

Blog Book and Labels

I'm really really happy to have found a wonderful site that will help me turn my blog into archival books! Blog2print.com is just the EASIEST thing under the sun. It will upload all of the contents of your blog into a book in minutes. You can then choose paperback or hardcover. I LOVE it. I've been wanting to have a keepsake of my blog and now I can easily do it!

Currently I'm in the process of adding Labels to past posts also. It is a fun way of going back and reminiscing the last few years. It is in the left hand colum-bar for those interested. My blog's THIRD anniversary is coming up, believe it or not!!! So far the fun labels include: VIDEOS, PORTRAITS, as well as holidays. It will take me awhile to get it finished, but it will eventually be up-to-date. For now I'm working on 2006 memories.

As far as the blog printing goes, I am compiling books for each year of blogging at blog2print. If you are interested my 2006 blog book will look something like this!

Click link below to see my 2006 blog book:
2006 Blog book

Evan- 3 Months

Evan at 3 months is a total JOY! I love this little baby to pieces :) Evan is learning and growing so quickly now. It is amazing how subsequent children seem to breeze through all of their developments much faster than firstborns (or secondborns!). This month he has started to crunch up to a sitting position. He is working those little baby abs pretty hard :) When you sit him in the swing or bouncy seat he will try to pull himself forward. He has NO interest in tummy time. AT ALL! He hates it actually and at this point (near the end of 3rd month) can only lift his head up about 45-60 degrees...and then he starts to fuss and I come to his rescue.

Evan does not like movement either. We own 2 baby swings...one full size and another travel swing. The travel swing has only been used a few times. He does not like the position of his legs in it so he immediately lets us know! For the big swing, he does enjoy sitting in it, but just not moving! I'm happy about this because motion can be an addictive thing. This guy is laid back!

At his 3 month exam he got his 2nd round of Infanrix (Polio, DPT, Hib) and this time escaped with only a very slight induration (small, hard swelling). No redness or pain on the leg this month thankfully! He weighed 7.6 kg and was 64 cm. He is again topping the charts on weight. The doctor was mightily impressed. ESPECIALLY since Evan doesn't eat at night. Evan goes to bed at 9:30 and will wake up (on average this month) at 6 a.m for his first feeding. Then he will sleep again until 10:30 or 11!!! His average eating time is 18 minutes (I have an Itzbeen). Somehow the little man manages to maintain his solid weight on such few feedings. During the day though there are times where he will eat twice in 3 or 4 hours. This doesn't bother me as long as we are home..and when we are out he seems to forget he is hungry!!! He LOVES being out and about, and LOVES being in his little baby carrier seat. This is favorite (non human) spot. Being in the stroller on his carseat! Absolutely tops! :) He is SO transportable, this little guy. I can take him anywhere (as opposed to his 3 year old sister who I can take anywhere, but end up regretting it! )

Smiles and laughs. Evan loves to smile, but not as much as his big brother Erik! He is a little more posessive of his smiles and you really have to beam at him to get one in return. But when he does smile he is a heartbreaker!!! He also can't resist laughing when you lift him up into the air...that is too much fun!

So I think I've covered it...nursing, sleeping, shots, weight, likes/dislikes...Stay tuned for his 4 month report which is JUST around the corner seeing I've delayed this post for way too long :)

More Birthday Photos

Here are a few more birthday photos. I still have not downloaded the evening birthday photos, but I'll share those soon. We are enjoying the last few days of vacation before the kids start school again. TWO weeks is a long vacation. I hope we'll get back into the swing easily. We've been enjoying later nights than usual with Krista and Erik lately. "Movie night" has been a lot of fun. So far over the vacation we've watched 2 new movies: the new Disney "Tinkerbell" (last night) and Disney's "Cars" last weekend. I must admit I really enjoyed both of them. The weekend before that was the new Barbie movie "Thumbellina" which was honestly really great! I think the Barbie films are up there with Disney/Pixar these days and the kids love them! Speaking of movies, on Friday Erik went with his friend Quentin to see "Monsters vs. Aliens" at the cinema. He absolutely LOVED it! I've pre-ordered it on Amazon and that will be on our family movie night list too. Now that the kids are older it is fun to stay up late with them (Kaitlyn is still too small) and make popcorn and watch a movie together. It is almost as good as going to the theatre!

Me with little Evan-man. He is getting to be so much fun these days. I keep getting comments on how he is looking more and more like Erik. We'll have to wait and see if their 'brotherness' will show or not. I tended to see him as looking more like Krista at the start, but now I'm seeing more and more of Erik...

Kaitlyn's 3rd Birthday!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY Kaitlyn!

3 Years of happiness!
12 seasons of wonder!
36 months of laughs!
1096 nights of sweet dreams!
1096 days of joy and blessings!!

Kaitlyn is THREE today! How exciting for a little girl to be three!! Today she awoke to a beautifully sunny day (blue skied and warm!). My good friend Alexandra sent Kaitlyn a birthday gift last week (I peeked last night and knew it had to be the first gift she would open today). It was a BEAUTIFUL summery, strawberry dress which was a perfect match with her Strawberry Shortcake birthday theme (THANK YOU ALEX)! She looks like a princess in this dress with the flared, full bottom and feels like one too! She twirled and spun as she put the dress on....Excitedly she sped downstairs to the birthday room .Krista and I were awake until midnight last night decorating the family room with balloons and streamers and setting out her gifts. Her big gift this year is a princess bicycle! Her FIRST bike with training wheels. She loves it...although for the moment it is Krista and Erik who are pushing her around on it but I know it won't be long until she pedals on her own. Infact, after her nap today we'll head out and see if she can do it by herself. I predict by the end of this weekend she'll be a pro on it!

After she played on her bike, we opened a few more gifts..She LOVES puzzles so she got about 4 puzzles and of course her Barbie doll from yesterday. Toomas made her pancakes for brunch and she ran around ( or was pushed around on her bike) all morning. She was exhausted and is soundly sleeping now. This afternoon we'll open a few more gifts---A Strawberry Shortcake bedding set which will accompany her in her transition into her BIG GIRL bed in the next few weeks, and a few coloring books and reading books left to open for tonight. We plan on taking the bike out later today too and then ordering...you guessed it--PIZZA for dinner! And for dessert cake and ice cream! :) A fun day for a big girl! Happy Birthday Sweet Kaitlyn!!!!

Here's her big girl bike!!!


A video of Kaitlyn opening her new dress from Alexandra and Gabriel!

Shopping with Kaitlyn

Today we loaded up in the car to prepare for Kaitlyn's big birthday party tomorrow. It is our family tradition that the birthday child can pick out a toy of choice on their birthday (or a day early)... Kaitlyn was an easy shopper and knew exactly what she wanted. BARBIE! Her love for Barbie and animals melded together in one plastified pink, glittery package. She chose a 'Barbie washes her dog' set. Complete with two dogs. Well...it is HER birthday afterall. A girl only turns 3 once :) She also got to pick out a cake of her choice in the bakery section of the store. She picked a double chocolate mouse cake. Yummy! She has good taste ;) Here are a few photos of Kaitlyn's special morning...AND a small video of her selecting her gift! :)

Springtime fun!

I'm so glad the weather has "sprung"! Although today is chilly they promise more spring-like weather for tomorrow. We had a fun weekend in the yard. Toomas set up Erik's electric t-ball toy that he got from Santa. You step on the footpad and it feeds the ball onto the hanging tee...pretty fun! It is height adjustable so even Krista can play. We also planted flowers. I think I planted over 40 geranium plants around the house. Most are in planting boxes on the window sills...but I planted a few in the rock wall in the back yard. We went to a special botanical store, and since we had accumulated a lot of fidelity points from our purchases over the last few years we got a free gift. Krista selected a little strawberry planting garden. We'll see how they grow! :)

Tomorrow is Kaitlyn's birthday! THREE already! Wow. She is still a baby in so many ways, but 3 sounds so big. I'm proud to say that daytime potty training is accomplished (with the occasional accident), but we are nowhere near nighttime trained. She is wearing pull ups now which are thin and help "just in case" when we are out. Night time training isn't on the horizon. Kaitlyn is a grand sleeper and I want to keep it that way. She is still in her crib and loves it!! I'm happy to have her there since I know she will stay in bed for 12 hours. She is known to wake up asking for a drink, so with a full bladder it would be impossible to stay dry that long! She also drinks a lot of milk before bed (a habit we're trying to wean her from). When I was 7 months pregnant with Evan, I got a box of free newborn "trial" items from a French store and inside was an Avent bottle. Kaitlyn was 2 1/2 and had NEVER had a bottle in her life...well until that day! She snapped up the box..complete with a pacificer and bottle and has begged to use the "baby bottle" ever since. Yes, I caved in and gave her her FIRST bottle at age TWO and a HALF years! I thought she was joking in wanting to use it but she loved it. It is sort of a joke now but she honestly wants it. Erik was nursed for 3 years and never had a bottle in his entire life (not a single one). Kaitlyn nursed until 18 months and went directly to a real cup (not even a sippy)...then at 2.5 years old, the bottle arrived in the mail! Since I never bottle fed either her or Erik, I found it amusing at first..now I'm ready to pitch them. Trust me Evan will NOT see a bottle.... EVER! :)

More Finished Landscaping Photos

CLICK on picture to enlarge for detail.

Here are a few more photos of the complete project. Can you tell we love it! I'm including a few close ups---the mailbox, the planters etc. I will try to get to a day by day recap..but with Kaitlyn's 3rd birthday coming up this week it will have to wait. We're really looking forward to Thursday! I can't belive Kaitlyn will be THREE. We got a surprise package from a dear friend, Alexandra and her son Gabriel who is Kaitlyn's age. Kaitlyn keeps carrying it around saying it is for "my happy birthday". We're looking forward to opening it on Thursday, Alex!!! She already picked out the menu for her "happy birthday" too. She said "I want to have eatballs on my happy birthday!". We all love when she says "eatballs"...she means meatballs. It is too funny! We also got a package today from Vanaema and Vanaisa! THANKS so much everyone :) Enjoy the finished product photos!

The Landscaping Project!!!

IT IS DONE!! We've been waiting for this for over two years and it is finally COMPLETE! It looks SO wonderful and feels so great to have an actual finished entry at last!

The landscapers worked NINE FULL DAYS on this. It was a HUGE undertaking. They were here each day at 7 in the morning and finished at 5 pm. They only took 30 minute lunch breaks...nearly 10 hour work days!! There was a lot to do..They stipped down the makeshift stairs and compacted the land leading up to the door. Our front door is about 1.35 metres higher than the street level so there was quite a distance to go up. The entry starts at the bottom of the driveway and consists of 4 levels and 10 steps. The levels make the entry feel gradual and on both sides the of the project there are plants held in by granite block planters. There are 4 large retention areas, one of which is a hiding place for the trashcan! Small granite decorative stones fill the planting areas. There are at least 20 different plants on each side...The finishing touch is an integrated door mat at the front door which has been carved into the granite tiles. Of course the entire driveway had to be paved as well. First the land was compacted and bricks were layed ONE BY ONE. The entire 125 square meters is composed of handlayed bricks. We selected an antique paver by Kronimus that just looks fabulous with the house.

The reason why we waited to do this project is two-fold. Firstly it costs a LOT of money...and the tax in France is nearly 20% if you make renovations during the first two years. After the two year period, the tax for house renovation drops to only 5%. This in itself saves a lot of money so we decided it would be worth waiting the 24 months. In the fall when we reached two years we were ready, but the landscaper had a full schedule.. I'm so glad he waited until now to do it though. With spring here it just feels so wonderful to have a fresh and new exterior, plus he was able to plant all of the decorative plants at the same time as doing the driveway and entry.

The materials used for this project were massive. HUGE and heavy slab blocks of granite were used for the steps, and granite tiles of 40 cm by 40 cm square, were used for each landing area. We chose light grey granite for the steps and a very dark grey (anthracite) color for the landings. I'll do a step by step of the project, but for now here is a before and after picture! You won't believe the difference!!

BEFORE


















AFTER!

BEFORE (Ariel view from our window)

AFTER ( same ariel view from our bedroom window)

The house!

Gosh, I have really gotten behind on my blog these last few days! Things have been busy here so that's my excuse! :) We still have the landscapers here. I think today is their 8th or even 9th day of work. They have been SLAVING but the results are huge! Luckily we've had bright sun for all but one work day. I can't wait to post a little progress blog on the house. I've taken a zillion progess photos and will be putting together a little video for Vanaisa (Toomas' Dad), who is always interested in the technical steps. TODAY is the big day we "receive" the project. The boss will be here this afternoon for inspection and we should see them clear out today. You can't imagine how much the house has changed. It has gone from feeling like a building site to a COMPLETE package. Our house really sells itself with the lot, the location and the external beauty. It isn't an ordinary design (many houses are simple boxes) so it stands out...now with the gorgeous driveway and entry it is SO highlighted and complimented. I always nurse Evan in my bedroom by the big bay window. I sit there muliple times a day for about 25 minutes each feeding. I've already seen two cars drive by to take pictures. I've also seen countless people walk or drive by to look at the project. Sundays are infamous for people walking by and now it is non-stop! Our neighbor yesterday approached me and said "Everyone comes to see your house on Sunday!". She is German and really liked the landscaping project which is very German in style. It is wide and elegant. I can't stress how much this has changed the house. Amazing! Stay tuned for a step by step! :)

Sharing a little Evan Video...12 Weeks

Here is our little Evan. He is just so cute now and I'm just so IN LOVE with him (but I'm not biased! :)) He has been so fun these last few weeks...He is so attentive and alert and just SUCH a great little boy! I can't believe how blessed I have been with him!! He is my DREAM baby! Absolutely, hands down, my best baby. He has been on a schedule since 2 months (it took me 6 months with the other kids). I don't know how I got so lucky this time...but things are WORKING! Evan goes to bed by 9:45 or 10...and wakes at 10 in the morning (and wakes either once or twice max). Ten may sound like a late wake up but it is working so well for me right now. It gives me time to see the kids off to school and then have a few moments to myself before Kaitlyn wakes up. I have time to get her fed and dressed and then it is Evan's turn to wake and eat. Having everyone a bit staggered like this is very manageable. I'm just SO thrilled that when I go to bed at night I'm almost guaranteed 6 or 7 hours. This is just AWESOME for me!!! I feel SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO blessed (and actually, honestly rested!!). This last month has been wonderful. One night he even slept 10.5 hours (that was painful for me)...but amazing. So here is my little superstar. I just love him to pieces!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Easter!!

We had a really nice Easter this year with the kids. Toomas took the big kids to the Easter vigil mass on "Easter Eve" (it was at 8:30 pm and lasted until 11 pm!). The church was dark and lit only by the candles that were held by everyone. There was a small procession outside in a single file line, with everyone holding their candles. I know from previous years that it is indeed very beautiful. I was sad to miss the mass, but I knew how long it would last and my concern was over Kaitlyn. Evan is EASY. I could have taken him for sure, but 8:30 is about Kaitlyn's bedtime and Toomas said that it was even hard for Erik to stay up *and attentive* for the whole 2.5 hours!

The kids and Toomas got home after 11 and crashed. Everyone slept in until 8:30 on Easter morning which was nice. This was just after I had fed Evan so the timing was perfect. We all headed down at about 8:45 with Evan content and sleeping.

Kaitlyn was really excited about Easter this year..but she kept forgetting her basket. She would go find a chocolate egg and just put down the previous one she had found. The Easter bunny left a few small gifts on the couch for the kids ( new underwear sets for all 4 kids, a book for Krista, a few Pokemon cards for Erik and a puzzle for Kaitlyn...and a DVD for everyone "Open Season".) It was a GORGEOUS day and we hunted outside for easter eggs after brunch. Kaitlyn was less interested in hunting outside only because she wanted to play on the swingset so badly. She had already collected her share of eggs in the house I guess. Erik and Krista had a lot of fun finding all the eggs outside...but Krista said it was "too easy"!! I guess the Easter bunny will have to step things up a bit and be sneakier next year!

We were really blessed with the gorgeous weather we had on Easter. It is STILL beautiful infact.. This is perfect for the landscapers now who are diligently working on our entry project. I'll have PLENTY more photos of that in step by step action! :)

I'm also thankful for the weather because Erik has his week long "green class" this week where they will be spending every day on a Farm this week. The weather really couldn't be nicer! Okay...I'll be back with the landscaping pictures shortly...