Nicknames

My Baby Love is back! His stint in the "terrible two's" didn't last long. He still can get frustrated, but for the most part he is his usual happy-go-lucky self.


He has adjusted to having a new baby in the house very well. Whenever Teague is crying in the other room he tells me, "Mommy, Baby Teague's crying." If Teague's crying in the same room as Gavin, Gavin will always run over and pat his head and try and comfort him. Gavin's yet to let me take a "posed" picture of the two of them, but I love this candid one I caught of them. Gavin always loves to give Teague kisses, and Teague loves it too. I tell all 4 of my kids they will always be my babies, but now that we have a big brother, little brother, and middle brother in our family, I think it's time for Gavin to graduate from his "Baby Love" nickname. I've thought of a few others for him: G. Love & Special Sauce (after one of my favorite bands back in college), Tippy Toes (as he is always walking on them), and Mr. Sugar Kisses (as he gives the best lip smackin' kisses all the time now).


I've also been thinking of some nicknames for my new little one: Sir Leaks-a-lot (as he's always spitting up and pooping- I can't believe the loud burps and toots this little guy can make too), Fuzzy Peach (as he has the softest little head I love to rub with my cheek when I'm snuggling him), Baby Jaws (as nusing is still so painful at times), Slippery Frog (as he is SO slippery at bath time) and Mr. Sweet Cheeks (they're just so chubby I'm kissing them constantly).


Kaleb is still my Sunshine Boy. He can be cranky (especially with his sister), but for the most part he is a very kind boy. He's also: Coppertone Kid (as in the summer his skin tans to such a lovely golden color), K-K (gotta love his initial), and he's also Mr. Why (as he has a million questions for a million topics, I love his inquisitiveness).


Noe is our only girl (who still asks for a sister) and is our Princess. She is a girly-girl who loves all things Princess, Ballerina, Fairy, and Mermaid, but she has a touch of Tomboy in her too. She's also: Freckles (every summer she gets more and I've already noticed more from this season), Boski (thanks to Auntie Erika- it's stuck), and Miss Tootie (she had a pair of tights with that written on the bottom and it just fits her).

Enjoy some tunage with "My Baby's Got Sauce."

Mini Staycation

The kids didn't have school on Thursday (for the dragon boat festival) so we gave them a little surprise on Wednesday. As soon as they got home from school we loaded everyone up in the car and took off for a long 20 minute drive to the Grand Hotel Taipei. We had stayed at the Grand Hotel in Kaohsiung 2 years ago, but hadn't stayed at the one in Taipei yet, so we figured now was as good a time as any. After we checked in, we toured the grounds, had a fabulous dinner in their lounge, then hung out in our room for the rest of the night watching "Friends" re-runs on TV.


The next morning we had a fabulous buffet breakfast that was included with our stay. We brought our swim suits, but the pool is only open in July & August, so we hiked for a couple of hours around Yuan Shan Mountain and finished up at Jian Tan Park. It was a fun little get-away and I took almost 150 pictures. Here's a few of my favorites.


The huge orchid bouquet in the lobby (yes they're real!)

The big kids posing in front of the Golden Dragon Fountain which commemorates the original Japanese shrine that survived WWII.

I have to include a shot of my little one too!

The pretty fish pond in the back.

The Grand Hotel also has 2 annex buildings. This was part of one of them and it looked like a cool hideaway to me.

I love the attention to detail in traditional Chinese architecture. This is one of the ornate posts on the stair case that leads up to the Grand Hotel. The tree behind it is one of my favorite species, but it is originally from Australia.

A cute little ting.

This is the kind of mountain hiking I like to do with kids- stairs, hand rails, and they even had street lights with electric cables strung through the canopy of trees for night hiking. Don't let Gavin fool you though, most of the time he was on Daddy's back during the hike (cute little stink!)

Kaleb and Noe were our scouts leading the way. Of course, sometimes they got too far ahead and we had to rein them in.

Gavin was exactly where he wanted to be- in Daddy's arms.

I carried little Teague again, but I prefer it in the snug sack- tee hee!

We saw a few crazy flowers we had never seen before. This one looks orange, but up close you can see the petals are actually yellow, but the huge red veins give it the orange tint. We also saw old stone arches, several temples, a tree growing out of an old moss covered wall (very Indiana Jonesish), lizards, and even a huge horned beetle being eaten alive by an ant army. There were also tons of butterflies everywhere.

The final leg of our hike commenced at this circle arch. Our path was right next to Zhong Shan Road and I've wanted a picture of this arch for the past 4 years. I've finally got it. We had a fun 21 hour vacation and were able to put another check mark on our list of Taiwan's To-Do's before we move!

What color is your belt?

Kaleb has really enjoyed Kung Fu this year and wants to continue his lessons in Canada.


From white...


...to yellow...

...to blue, we're so proud of you!!!

Nutcracker March

Noe performed in her third dance recital, "Dance So Close To You" with her ballet class in the number, "Nutcrackers March." She was a good sport and let me take lots of pictures of her in her cute tutu before hand.

The girls played lots of hand games to occupy themselves while they were waiting in the "green" room. When I took this picture, Noe either flashed the Taiwan peace sign or gave herself bunny ears- she's a crack up!

There were 12 adorable ballerinas dancing around the Christmas tree. Noe is the 4th from the right. You can see pictures of her in her first recital, "Sing a Song" and in her second, "Teddy Bear's Dream" and see how she's grown!

Milk and Cookies

Gavin had his last Kindermusik class this week. Do you like the necklace he made?


Daddy, Mommy, and Teague joined him this week. He had fun playing the jingle bells with Daddy...


...and playing "washing machine" with Mommy.

He loves playing all of Mrs. Julia's interesting instruments...

...and all her fun games! We will sure miss Mrs. Julia and all of our friends there!

SO Fast!

My new little one is growing so fast!

Here he is on his birthday-


One week old-

I just finally mailed out his birth announcements today that my cr8-tive friend Chris made for me-


Two weeks old-

With big brother-

And big sister (couldn't get one with middle brother)-

Three weeks-

Which was also his due date-

Four weeks-

One month already!

We sure are loving this little guy (with the super chubby cheeks!) He is a real sweetheart and has us all wrapped around his little finger.

Cheerin' for the Underdog!

He did it! Congratulations to Kris Allen! I'm having deja vu again. Last year I wanted David Cook to win, but was totally expecting David Archuleta to, and was happily surprised when Cook pulled it off. Again, this year I wanted Kris (after Danny) to win, but was expecting Adam Lambert to, and now I'm happily surprised Kris won it. Way to go! Look forward to hearing your songs!

The Lion v. The Lamb

So I am so sad that Danny Gokey was voted off last week, I really wanted him to win from the beginning. But now on to my thoughts of the final two. Adam seems like a nice guy and he can sing. However, he sounds like a girl screaming to me and is a bit too much of a drama queen for my taste. Kris was the contestant in the beginning that I kept forgetting about, but he has grown on me. I still thinks he looks like a little puppy howling at the moon when he sings, but puppies are cute! His singing style is more of what I like. I can't vote as I'm in Taiwan, but if I could I'd vote for Kris. I hope he wins- his CD is the one I'd buy!

Decorating Dilemma

Earlier in the year I wrote this post showing the bedding I bought for our new master bedroom and for Noe. This weekend I was finally able to purchase the bedding for the 3 little boys now that we know their sleeping arrangements in our new house. Kaleb will get the red and blue set shown, and now this post is about my dilemma with Gavin and Teague's.

I was inspired by the beautiful colors in this crib set- turquoise, lime, brown, and tan. However, I couldn't find any twin bedding to coordinate with it.


Next I tried Etsy. I found a girl who makes custom crib bedding and she would make up a coordinating twin set for me too. I loved the paisley & stripe patterns and the brown chenille. Unfortunately, the cost was about double of what I had planned to spend.

I decided to check out Penney's again (since that's where I bought everything else, and they were having another amazing sale).

I found this darling Jungle Tales crib set that has the lime and turquoise in it, so I still should be able to paint the walls in those two colors. I could also paint up a giraffe for Gavin and a tiger for Teague with cute polka dot and stripe borders.

Now came the hard part- trying to find a coordinating twin set for Gavin. I looked at every single quilt, comforter, bedspread, etc. in the kids and teens and found nada! I was about ready to give up when I thought I should check the adult bedding. Voila! I found the following and it comes in twin sizing.

Since it was on sale and I had a coupon to use on top of the sale prices I went ahead and got the above two sets. I thought they would coordinate fairly well together- they both have the green, blue, rust, and tan. However, now I'm not sure if I have buyer's remorse. The colors in the twin set aren't as vibrant and I think it's a little too grown-up for a 2 year old- I like whimsical stuff when they're young. My husband told me that he thinks the room will look great when I put it all together and that I should be happy because it's one less thing to worry about. I am worrying more though! I just love the stuff I got for Kaleb and Noe and I want to love Gavin and Teague's just as much. What do you think? Should I keep it, or send it back and try again? Do you know any good places to find coordinating crib and twin bedding? (I've already tried Target, Wal-Mart, Zeller's, Pottery Barn Kids, Garnet Hill Kids, Land's End, Company Kids, Land of Nod, Overstock.com, Burlington Coat Factory, Pine Creek Bedding and Bombay Kids-ugh!)

*On a happy note, after 9 days my husband will be home shortly before midnight tonight- yea! I'll then be able to upload pictures again and get caught up on here.

My friend Lois suggested I make throw pillows for Gavin's bed with the animals from Teague's bedding. They sell wall art made out of fabric that will be perfect for me to just applique onto some little pillows. I'm excited now!