favorite photos from our retreat

thomas and dylan posing outside our cabin. and below, i asked thomas to go between the two baby girls and put his arms around them. he just didn't want to do it! really funny that he is starting to not want to hug babies. instead he ran over, gave us this super cheesy smile and then ran off as soon as the picture was taken.

personally, this was one of the best retreats i have ever been too. i think it has been 7-8 years since i have been to a retreat where i left feeling spiritually challenged and renewed. Pastor Loren Chong came as a guest speaker and none of us were expecting the amazing workshops and sermons that he gave us. I'll have to post more later, but it was awesome and reminded me of the reason God came into my life, and what I can do to be better, just when I was starting to get really burnt out and emotionally downhearted. God is always walking beside us, even when we are not spiritually in tune enough to feel Him there. That's an awsome security blanket!


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Labels. one of thomas' other obsessions. he loves to put labels on everything, including himself. sometimes, he'll run around pointing to everything he wants a label on and the entire house will have stickies everywhere. so funny!


yesterday as william was leaving for work, he said "hey thomas don't grow up so fast. we want you to stay small ok?" we often say this to each other when thomas is asleep, but on a whim, william said it to him directly that morning.
thomas quickly replied, "no i want to grow biig like daddee and mommee!"

we usually pray for him, that God would help him to grow strong and tall, among other things. also, when we try to get him to eat meat, william always says "don't you want to grow tall like mommy and daddy? if you eat this yummy chicken, you'll grow big and strong!" of course, he has learned that growing big is desired. haha... it was from us. and some day soon, he'll be 5 feet tall and realize that i'm pretty darn short. :p

practicing mandarin

couldn't resist posting this one! his grandparents have gotten more involved in trying to teach him to speak mandarin. last week they brought a few cute books, flashcards and DVD's. One of them has some basic characters along with the tones. thomas actually likes to watch it, but doesn't go along with what he is supposed to say. he just kind of makes up his own sounds for the character he is looking at. pretty hilarious!!






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thomas with the gang

this was outside the Lindsey Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek. It was a great museum for toddlers! the animal exhibits are very close up so the kids really get to see the birds and some of them (esp the eagles and owls) are very big! they also have a toddler playroom (almost like a preschool room) that is great for 2-5 yrs old and a nice park outside where we had lunch and took this pic. the thing i love about the playground is that it had an area with structures just for 1-3 yr olds! thomas had a blast!

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here is the latest Wiggles dance that thomas is working on perfecting. something about the side to side and leg slaps makes it SOOO funny. william and i always crack up when thomas starts dancing this one :)

dog pile

thomas learned how to dog pile someone last week! we were at a playdate with some moms from my group and the mom on the bottom, Polene, is our resident "fun mom." all of our kids love her b/c she is so animated and playful. she was trying to teach the boys how to dog pile her, but look at that one, chad, in orange. he is just loving on her!!

some updates:
- loves to say "no i do it" (whenever we try to do something for him that he wants to do himself)
- "No it's MIiiiiNE" really loud
- says his own prayers now :) super cute
- has a fascinatingly good memory (really annoyingly accurate sometimes)
- tries to stall bedtime all the time
- getting really good at bargaining (thomas you have 5 more minutes. "no 10 more minutes!" thomas you can have 2 more. "no 3, no 5 more!")
- learning the concept of "maybe" (Thomas do you want to go out? "um yes, no, yes, maybe...")
- finally watching something other than the Wiggles! "Harold & the Purple Crayon"
- weighs a little over 28 pounds and still a little under 34 inches
- when he knows i am mad with something he has done and am coming to get him for a time out, he gets frantic and starts saying anything he can think of to get out of it. i.e. " i be ok mommy", "no i stop", "no no no", "no mommy, i happy now" etc...

Thomas meets Cliford and can't keep his hands off him!

we went to the Pleasanton Main St. Fair wednesday evening, and our booth was right next to Carden West School. They had a person in a stuffed Clifford suit and Thomas couldn't get enough of him. at first, he just stood there with his mouth open. then he went up for a hug. after the initial shock of seeing Clifford, live and in person wore off, thomas just kept going back for more. he couldn't keep his hands of him! repeatedly touching his paws, poking his belly, petting him all over, touching his knee, touching his snout, going for more hugs. it was so cute and funny. we got some video i will try to post up later. thomas has only watched Clifford a few times, so i was surprised the response was so positive. funny little guy...

What do you do when they say "sorry"

Cute pic from today's playdate with Betty & Trinity, friends we met at the library last year:



Climbing the daddy tree. thomas loves to pretend william is a tree and climb as high as he can. only, his feet are kind of sticky, and when his little toes dig into your muscle/bone, it actually hurts! the look on william's face is not really a smile, it is a grimace :p


"sorry mommy. sorry mommy. are you ok now?"

In the last couple months, thomas has started saying "sorry mommy sorry mommy" when he knows he has upset me. this month, he started asking "are you mad?"
if i say, "no i'm not mad." then he asks "are you nno-yed?" his way of saying "annoyed" (ha ha, yeah, in the back of my head i am laughing too).

currently, say he does something bad. i say "thomas what did i just say?!? i told you not to do that!" very exasperated tone. he says " sorry mommy, sorry mommy" very hard to resist. then in the next beat "Are you ok now? mommy are you ok now?" btw, this also happens after i give him a timeout for something he does purposefully. he will actually say sorry to try to get out of the time out, cries, then when the TO is over, "mommy i be ok now. are you ok?" (I know, so sweet...)
this has been hard for me, b/c depending on the mood i am in (or how little sleep i have had the night before :o), i am either ready to forgive him right away, or i want him to know i am still mad, even though he gives me a genuine, contrite sounding apology. part of me always wants to give him a hug right away and tell him, it is ok now. but every once in awhile, i just want to stay a little mad at him for making extra work for me (and a few times i have even shot him an evil eye look to let him know i am still mad). i know, i know.... he is just a toddler!! but is it ok to stay mad at your kids even when they've given you an apology? what do you do when that sad little face is looking at you so expectantly to see if everything is ok? my most frequest response is, "i am not happy right now with what you just did, but I still love you very much. But no, I am not happy. " etc etc... ugh...

Cool oven - it chills and cooks!

I love my home magazine cause i get great ideas from it that I can try converting from platinum ($$$$) to ATM ($) or to check out new products. This new oven has a pretty cool feature: tmio oven

You call it from your cell and it will go from chilling what you put in it that am, and start cooking. Dinner ready when you walk in the door! And goes to keep warm when the cooking time is done. Also has a timer you can use if you know exactly what time you want it to start cooking. Pretty nifty... except that it costs almost $4k, but who knows, in 10 years they might have a $500 model available :)

Oh this one is just for Dylan's mommy, Naomi, who keeps her facial creams in the kitchen refrigerator: a refrigerated vanity medicine cabinet, that has a cooler built-in to protect all of your expensive facial creams and serums from heat during the summer. Also supposed to be a benefit to your skin to have refreshingly cold cream applied. what will they think of next!

check out your sunscreen

if you haven't seen it already, click here for a comprehensive list of sunscreens and how effective as well as chemically safe they are for you: cosmetics database

Great for finding out if the sunscreen you use is effective AND safe. also rates lots of popular cosmetics brands. my Aveeno SPF70 is actually bad (effective but chemically toxic) but my Oil of Olay sensitive skin SPF 15 passes the test. sucks b/c i slather the Aveeno all over thomas' little face and body... thinking that it was baby safe. stupid me for falling for their marketing!