Quotidian Saunders

Christmas

2012-01-01T20:54:00.008-05:00

We had a great Christmas and it's back to school tomorrow.
We opened some presents at home before heading out of town.

We were with the Saunders family for their Christmas Eve party and Christmas day.

Trying to get a picture of the kids (see previous post)

Owen was very excited about his new truck!

Owen had to sit in all the boxes.

Eliza loved her new baby!

We got to meet the Sorrell's dog Hegal.

Next, we headed to Culpeper to celebrate with the Zierden family.
Elsie Jane enjoyed her first Christmas!

Chocolate chip cookies and new toys!

Bapa read the Christmas story.

Bapa, NanaSue, and the VA grandkids

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Christmas Card

2012-01-01T20:17:00.005-05:00

I love getting Christmas cards each year from friends and family. I don't love making my own Christmas card. This year we had great pictures from the beach, taken by my friend Cindy. I felt like Owen, especially, had really changed since then, so I wanted to use something more recent. So, the stress of capturing the perfect picture began. My friend Cheri tried to take a few one morning, but the kids were totally uncooperative.

So, one day after church, I plopped the kids down in some leaves and snapped away while Steve danced behind me.

Neither kid wanted to sit still...

Owen ate some acorns...

Hazel caught a wiff of something...

There were some smiles looking in the wrong direction...

Hazel was a saint...

And then they were done.

BUT, I had 3 shots that were pretty good. The background was busy with the sidewalk, driveway, and a light post coming out of Eliza's head. So I sent the pictures to Cindy and she did some magic

...and Merry Christmas! (I chose this one because it captures the crazy)

Eliza's 3rd Birthday!

2011-12-20T21:16:00.009-05:00

We celebrated Eliza's 3rd birthday in November with a dinosaur birthday party!

Owen was a little suspicious of Elsie Jane taking up space in NanaSue's lap.

Dinosaur nuggets!

The Cousins 2011

Owen didn't want cake on his 1st birthday, but loved it this time around.

Happy Birthday to our sweet, creative, funny girl!

Thanksgiving and Getting Ready for Christmas

2011-12-13T17:42:00.006-05:00

We spent Thanksgiving Day at NanaSue and Bapa's house with the Adlers.

Then we went to Mina and Pop Pop's house.

Jenny made a ginger bread house for us to decorate!

And we finally got our tree put up after it sat on the back porch for a week.

Carter Mountain and Halloween

2011-11-03T15:29:00.009-05:00

Mina and PopPop came to visit last weekend and we went up to Carter Mountain.

It was their first time there!

For Halloween, we just did our cul-de-sac.
The kids had no idea that there was more candy out there.

Owen was a warm and cozy monkey. (We love Bowling hand me downs!)

Eliza was a Triceratops. (she's way into dinosaurs these days)

All done with pictures, Mom.

Trying on last year's costume.

Cool Carter came over to Trick or Treat with us!
We'll just add these to the collection we can't wait to show at their wedding.

The End

2011-10-23T18:54:00.008-05:00

The weather was perfect this weekend and we headed out to
River Rock Farm on Saturday for a little Harvest Party.
When we told Eliza we were going to a farm, she started talking about Old MacDonald and all the animals we would see. She got ready for the mud with her boots.

This is where we parked. She was delighted.

We got to feed the horses some treats.

The pony was a persistent little guy!

Owen was ok with Bandita at first,

but then, she got a little too close for comfort.

Dr. Doolittle, on the other hand, wanted a hug!

A sandbox with a view.

Owen found the candy.

Daddy and Eliza carved a pumpkin.

Hazel has taught Owen well.

Happy Autumn!

Owen is 1 Year Old!

2011-10-18T13:45:00.001-05:00

This sweet boy is growing up so fast!

We celebrated Owen's birthday with family and friends last weekend.

Eliza, Max, Bella, and Jillian

Aunt Nancy and Max

Bella, the new Big Sister

Owen's tiny new cousin, Elsie Jane (she's named after our Nana)

He wasn't sure about the cake.

Owen's BFF Liam, born 3 days before him.

Liam and "Uncle Ben"

HeaderBean!

The Birthday Boy with NanaSue and Bapa

Bella, the Biker Chick

It was a beautiful day for playing outside!

Time flies when you're having fun!

King Family Vineyard

2011-10-17T19:37:00.003-05:00

October arrived and it felt like Fall for a couple days. We headed out to King Family Vineyards with some friends and braved the wind.

The Mohawk

I'm not sure what you call this hair do.

Liam and Owen have a love/hate relationship.

(We look forward to pulling these pictures out in about 20 years.)

First Day of School!

2011-09-13T20:36:00.007-05:00

Eliza is going to school 2 days a week this year. She LOVES school buses and I'm pretty sure she thought her school was IN a school bus. She moved on quickly though.

Hazel was sad to be left out of the photo shoot.

"Cheese!"

All of a sudden, she was a little nervous.

If I cover my face, they can't see me.

Once we got in to the classroom she jumped right in.

Owen was just ready to go home and take a nap.

Hazel came along when it was time to pick Eliza up.

Day 2

Eliza was very excited about her poster and cried when it was time to go home, because the poster stayed at school.

Mommy even printed out Wonder Pets and Dinosaur Train pictures for it!

No hesitation this time.

Such a big girl!

The first day when I asked questions about school, I got a lot of, "I don't know" and "Nuffin."
In her own time, some little stories have come out, and I'm so excited for how she will grow up this year!

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-09T16:30:00.003-05:00

I ran my first Charlottesville Women's Four Miler on September 3rd. Over 3000 women ran and raised money for breast cancer research at UVA.
These two were woken up early to come cheer us on!

Allison encouraged me to run the race. I'd like to say I ran with her, but I couldn't keep up! She was waiting for me at the finish line though.

Eliza brought her Great Train Race medal for me!

Eliza did a little running on Labor Day on the Monticello Trail

Beginning of September

2011-09-09T16:16:00.003-05:00

Hazel knows where it's at.

Check out the teeth!

Happy Feet

Afternoon Parade

What's going on out there?

Since the summer, Eliza has been into dinosaurs. We went to the library and she asked the librarian where to find dinosaur books. I'm not sure if she gets that we have to return them.

Blue Ridge BBQ

2011-09-08T21:06:00.004-05:00

A few weekends ago we went up on the Blue Ridge parkway with the Adlers and NanaSue and Bapa.

Eliza got to pet some ponies and horses,

play with her cousins,

and make s'mores.

Owen is 10 Months Old!

2011-08-16T18:54:00.007-05:00

It's crazy that Owen is so close to a year!
He has 6 teeth, claps, plays peek-a-boo, waves, climbs stairs,
and loves his sister and Hazel.
He actually throws the ball for Hazel.

So big!

Big Sister tries on Mommy's shoes

She loves Dingo (the dog formerly known as Big Puppy)

And, of course, Hazel

We are so blessed!

Potty Training Part Deux

2011-08-12T15:11:00.006-05:00

A little finger painting as distraction

Hello Kitty Pez standing by as a reminder to stay dry

We gave potty training a valiant effort. Day 1 went as expected with a mixture of successes and oops. I was encouraged on Day 2 by not one, but two,
#3s (1+2) in the potty.
By Day 3 I was ready for an a-ha moment that never came.
Eliza was happy to sit on the potty.
She sat

and sat

and sat.

She would eventually go and get rewarded. She was also rewarded in between when she was dry. BUT, she never told me she had to go potty, so the accidents kept happening.

By the morning of Day 4 the house was a mess and I was weary. After 3 accidents in 45 minutes, I called it quits. I was setting a timer for 10 minutes, doling out candy at the five minute mark for dryness, then cleaning up an accident by 8 or 9 minutes. Something just didn't click as far as her telling me that she needed to go.

I didn't feel like letting her sit on the potty all day was "success". She has to figure out the time when she's not on the potty, and it didn't happen. Maybe I should have given it more time, but with an almost 10 month old climbing stairs, walking behind anything with wheels, and banging cabinets, I was losing my mind.

You know how when you have an infant and you always think you hear crying?
I smelled urine constantly.

So, I was worried that I was committing a huge parenting mistake by starting then stopping, but its like it never happened. I put a diaper on Eliza and she went about her day. She hasn't asked for the candy, hasn't asked for underpants, doesn't seem to care.

Where does this leave us? I don't know. We will start again at some point and I know that some day my child WILL be potty trained. (both children)

These 2 were just along for the ride, getting in the way whenever they could!

Tha Rivah

2011-08-06T20:18:00.004-05:00

We took a little late afternoon trip to the Rivanna River. There's a playground
where Owen enjoyed swinging.

He's 10 months old next week and his hair still sticks up in a mohawk. I love it!

Hazel got to swim a little while Eliza played in the water.

Hazel got a bath when we got home and Owen was sad that she was banished to the porch.

Why I'm not classifying Potty Training Day 1 as a Failure

2011-08-06T19:53:00.003-05:00

I'm exhausted. Who knew potty training would be so tiring? As Steve said, we finally got to a point where Eliza is old enough that we don't have to watch her like a hawk, as we do with Mr. I Crawl Really Fast and Open and Pull Up on EVERYTHING...and today we didn't take our eyes off of her.

So even though she went through 4 pairs of Elmo and Hello Kitty underpants, I feel okay about the day. She peed in the potty 3 times and was *really* close 2 other times. I definitely didn't expect her to get the hang in one day. Heck, I don't even know if she'll get it in one week. I still reserve the right to bag it after a few days.

There was a strong leaning towards labeling the day a FAIL when she sat on the potty for 30 minutes before dinner without going, then ate her applesauce while I watched pee stream down from her booster seat. The redemption came when Steve got her out of the seat and was cleaning it up. She was standing on the door mat and said, "Daddy clean this", pointing to 2 drops on the mat. He asked if she was going, and when she said "Yes" he took her over to the potty. She was able to stop going and did the rest on the potty. Redemption in my book.

So, I call the day a success

*because of the huge smile when she did go in the potty.
*because she went three times in the potty.
*because she was dry a lot of the times when we asked her.
*because she was dry when I checked on her during non-nap and said she needed to go. (but when I carried her down to the potty, she went in the pull-up)
*because she REALLY wants the Pez candy from the Hello Kitty dispenser.
*because the girl will sit on the potty for 45 minutes!
*because we survived the day without giving up.

Now, Day 2 and church...

Eliza's Prayers

2011-07-23T09:20:00.004-05:00

I posted before about Eliza praying at meals with us.

This past week, she has started praying spontaneously. The first time she was coloring on Jillian's birthday card and I heard her saying, "Dear God, thank you for Jillian's birthday."

This morning, she was trying to put Hazel's collar on and was repeatedly saying, "Dear God thank you for Hazel. Thank you that she plays."

What sweet moments.

A couple weeks worth of pictures

2011-07-09T21:17:00.004-05:00

Owen likes books! Often, he's just using them as a drum,
but sometimes he looks at the pages too.

Eliza carries her stool around to wash her hands, help with cooking, and get into trouble.

Playing with Daddy's new Ipad!

Who knows?!

Hazel and Green Piggy taking a rest.

Owen is almost 9 months old! It's hard to believe.
Two of his favorite things are Hazel and remotes...

2011-07-09T21:08:00.003-05:00

Owen needs his morning nap, so we almost always stick around the house until 10 or so. Now that it's nice, Eliza and I can play out side while he is sleeping.

Eliza can even turn sidewalk chalk into an action sport.

Hhhhmmmmm...what next?

She lined up the chalk and called it a fam-a-lee.

Then on to the bike.

Dinner and Bath

2011-07-09T21:03:00.002-05:00

Sometimes dinner is just this good...

and then you need a bath.

June So Far

2011-06-21T20:22:00.007-05:00

Owen is growing so fast that we had to get rid of the infant car seat! We got a new seat for Eliza and moved him into her seat. The best part of it all was the big ole box the new seat came in!

The farm animals had a little gathering.

My Mother's Day presents have bloomed!

It's so fun to see the kids interacting. Owen just loves Eliza and always wants to be in on what she's doing. MOST of the time, she is happy to include him.

The baby pool didn't contain them for as long as I had hoped...

Our sweet Hazel B is such a good cuddler.

Owen pulls up on EVERYTHING. It's made nap time a little more difficult.

He pretty much has a red welt on his forehead all the time because he falls down so much.

He still just has two teeth on the bottom, but is getting the chewing technique down.

Owen is clapping! He gets really into it.

He's got a great mohawk.

The Entertainer

And we love Daddy!

Father's Day with Mina and PopPop

Summer is off to a great start!

Playdate

2011-06-21T20:18:00.002-05:00

Jillian and Eliza ate popsicles...

...and Owen and Liam had their first fight.

Liam won!

Water Colors

2011-06-21T20:12:00.002-05:00

Eliza discovered the joy of painting last week. We started simple and may work up to finger paint some day.

I had to keep reminding her to dip the brush in a color after dipping it in water.

This was a dinosaur.

Corolla, NC

2011-06-11T21:34:00.007-05:00

We got a little beach teaser before Caroline's wedding last weekend.

It was great to have NanaSue and Bapa there with us!

The weather was absolutely beautiful and Eliza thoroughly enjoyed the beach.

Owen didn't get to move around on his own this time,
but I'm sure he'll eat plenty of sand when we go to the beach in July!

Day 2

We can't wait for our two beach trips in July!

A Very Goodrich Wedding

2011-06-11T21:08:00.005-05:00

Last weekend, we headed to Duck, NC for Caroline Goodrich's wedding.
The Goodriches are dear friends from Lynchburg, and I started babysitting for them when Caroline was 2 and Lindsay was 6 weeks old. Tom is the pastor at our church here in Charlottesville, and it's been so fun to see the Goodrich kids all grown up!

Matthew and Mother of the Bride, Mary

Anna

Lindsay

Tom and Caroline

A squirmy 2 and a half year old

Eliza had a blast cutting up the dance floor, all by herself.

The happy parents, who haven't aged a bit.

Ms. Shindig, wedding planner extraordinaire

L O V E

2011-06-11T21:05:00.000-05:00

Making Muffins

2011-06-11T20:53:00.004-05:00

Our friends moved last week :(
and we wanted to take them a treat when we said goodbye.
Eliza helped me make Caroline Godine's Banana Blueberry muffins.
This was the first time that she helped with something in the kitchen,
and as you can see from the pictures,
she had a blast!

This was before she started licking the cinnamon/sugar mixture off her fingers.
At least she waited until the end.

Enjoying the finished product...

Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum

2011-06-11T20:45:00.005-05:00

Owen, 7 months

Eliza, 7 months

More Pool Time

2011-05-31T22:11:00.002-05:00

The baby pool was perfectly shaded this morning during Owen's nap.

Even Hazel enjoyed it.

Summer is Here!

2011-05-31T22:01:00.006-05:00

Our neighborhood pool opened last weekend but it seems like so much effort to get two kids ready to go down there when there's limited time. So, last night we broke out the baby pool.
Eliza was ecstatic and doesn't know what she's missing.
I promise we will get to the real pool soon.

Can you believe this kid's legs?!

And why not have some ice cream when it's bath night?

The cone was a new concept for Eliza. She stuck it in her belly button at one point and tried holding it between her feet.

Mornings around the house

2011-05-31T21:52:00.003-05:00

You never know what time you are going to be woken up around here. It seriously ranges from 6 to 8 am. Either way, it's nice to enjoy the mornings while I'm not working now.
It's so fun to see the relationship forming between these two.

Eliza mimmicks everything these days
(which means we have to watch what we say and do)
Here, she is clipping my toe nails, with a spatula from her kitchen.

And this guy has started crawling ALL OVER, and is even pulling up on things.
Trouble.

(one of these days I will find the cord to connect the video camera to the computer for some real action)

Prayers

2011-05-25T13:12:00.006-05:00

Eliza has recently started saying her own prayers.
The first one was "Dear God, thank you for the Lord."
Each one after that starts the same way, then adds on thanks for something she sees on her plate.
"Dear God, thank you for the Lord. And thank you for chips!"
"Dear God, thank you for the Lord. And thank you for pickles!"
"Dear God, thank you for the Lord. And thank you for Chick-Fil-A!"
Amen to that, thank you for Chick-Fil-A.

Richmond Zoo

2011-05-14T10:02:00.016-05:00

We met the Adlers and Bapa and NanaSue at the Richmond Zoo the other day.
I took a LOT of pictures. So even though there are a lot here, it's narrowed down!

The tiger likes to chew on sticks like Hazel.

Cousins!

We got to see the "giraffeses" up close.

This camel thought the stroller looked tasty.

"He has horns. Beep Beep!"

Feed me!

Baby ostrich

Fun with NanaSue's hat

After lunch, all the field trips went back to school and we hung out with the giraffes again.

Baby lemur

In other news, Owen is 7 months old, getting up on all fours and rocking. He's going to crawl any day! Still no teeth though.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T20:19:00.012-05:00

I love being a mom to these cuties.

On Sunday, we went strawberry picking at Chiles after church.

"We leave the green ones for the birds."

"This is a good decision."

The berries that made it into the box didn't last long.

No berries for this guy.

Eliza had to try the strawberry ice cream

and the strawberry milkshake.

Puppies

2011-05-04T07:59:00.005-05:00

We went to visit the puppies again this week.

Liam enjoying the puppies.

Puppies and Owen

They knew where to find shade!

Liam (Jillian was there too but was hard to nail down for a picture!)

Owen and Liam

Hazel's mom, Annie

Hazel's sister, Lacey

What a good Mom!

Easter Egg Hunt

2011-04-23T12:32:00.006-05:00

Our neighborhood had an Easter egg hunt today. Eliza went last year but didn't really get the concept. This year we talked about how she would hunt for eggs and put them in her basket. She decided that she would hunt for eggs and a bear and a fox. (we've been reading We're Going on a Bear Hunt and Hopper books)

She got to meet the Easter Bunny. She was a little shy at first.

Owen liked his furry hands.

All ready to hunt!

When they said "Go" she took off and almost knocked our neighbor down to get the eggs!

"I'm a bunny."

The bunny says, "Boing!"

We're looking forward to church and going to Nana Sue and Bapa's house tomorrow.
We may get to hunt again with Max and Bella.

Happy Half Birthday!

2011-04-14T20:36:00.005-05:00

I grabbed this doll to catch his attention, then realized they matched. She is my Lolly doll from childhood and I think my brother may have had the blue one like his outfit.

It's so cliche but it's hard to believe that Owen is 6 months old already! He is so sweet and smiley, can log roll across a room, giggles and squeals often, LOVES food, is on his way to sleeping all night (so close), and is enthralled by Hazel and Eliza.

Puppies!

2011-04-14T20:17:00.003-05:00

Our friends are veterinarians and breed their yellow labs every once in a while. When we got Hazel, we got to meet the puppies when they were 2 days old. Hazel's sister had a litter when Eliza was about 5 months old and we went to visit again. She just had another litter and we went to see them today. We are contemplating getting a puppy...but I think we know we should wait another year. Eliza was in Heaven with so many "cute puppies" and kept trying to process meeting Hazel's mommy and sister.

Owen wasn't that impressed.

They are pretty hard to resist.

Life these days

2011-04-14T19:54:00.002-05:00

Eliza has learned the joy of Hide and Seek

She always hides in the same spot, and doesn't stay hidden very long!

She loves helping with her little brother.

Eliza was feeding Elmo and singing "Jesus Loves Me" to him

When I come down to the playroom at night to clean up, I've been finding some funny scenes with Elmo, farm animals, you name it...also, she's into sorting and knows her colors!

The National Zoo

2011-04-13T20:29:00.010-05:00

We headed to the National Zoo in DC last week. It was fun, but we are not convinced that all the traffic and getting lost was worth it! If anything was worth it, it was the lion cubs and Eliza's excitement over the statues. Owen was a trooper in the stroller and Ergo carrier all 4 hours we were there.

Papa Lion

One of the Mamas and cubs

Eliza said they were flying!

"Salamander"

"Pine-cone" (raccoon)

"He's sweet"

"Sweetie"

Eliza wanted to touch (and kiss) all the animals, so the statues were a little more exciting to her!

Some things don't change

2011-03-25T14:54:00.003-05:00

Eliza at 2.5 years and at 7 months.

The Big 3-5

2011-03-10T16:58:00.003-05:00

We celebrated my birthday last week. Mom brought a cake that Eliza couldn't resist.

At this point, she opened a drawer and got out one of her spoons to use.

And we got to go out on a date while Mom and Dad were here!

Friends

2011-03-01T18:02:00.000-05:00

Check this out!

Photo Shoot

2011-02-23T22:22:00.004-05:00

My friend Cindy came to visit this week. She's a professional photographer and while she took some pictures with her fancy camera, she also helped me with some settings on mine so I could snap a few. She got some great shots of both kids that I can't wait to see!

Spring is on the way!

2011-02-23T22:17:00.002-05:00

We've had a couple beautiful 70 degree days. Eliza has been enjoying playing outside.

Lawson and Cindy came for a quick visit this week. The girls had a lot of fun together and played well.

Hazel loves to be outside if we are there with her.

Come on Spring!

Serious Kiddos

2011-02-23T22:03:00.002-05:00

Book worm

Best Buds?

2011-02-23T21:59:00.002-05:00

So Liam and Owen are kinda being forced into friendship since their sisters and moms like to hang out.

Everything was fine until Liam whacked Owen in the face!

Then they both lost it!

We'll try again another day!

Happy Birthday Nana Sue!

2011-02-23T21:56:00.001-05:00

We went up to Culpeper last weekend to celebrate Mom's birthday with the Adlers.

Good cake and good times!

February

2011-02-14T20:08:00.004-05:00

Owen is 4 months old today. He is still so calm and sweet. He grabs toys and chews on them and is trying to roll over. He smiles and coos and is starting to giggle a little bit.

Eliza's vocabulary has exploded. It's amazing the things and people that she remembers. Every once in a while she will start talking about something that happened weeks ago with great detail. She has an amazing imagination and makes us laugh every day with the things she comes up with.

Owen found his toes.

Eliza is really enjoying Owen now. She loves to tell us what he's doing, tickle him, kiss him, and bring toys to him.

Another comparison

2011-01-30T19:37:00.001-05:00

Eliza, January 2009

Owen, January 2011

Like Sister Like Brother

2011-01-14T13:54:00.001-05:00