Adrian at one month

Adrian turned one month a few days ago and I am amazed at how much he's grown in the last few weeks. Within weeks of him outgrowing his newborn clothes it seemed he was already at the end of the 0-3 month clothes. Can he possibly have grown that much in a few weeks? The answer is yes.

His measurements today at the doctor are as follows:

• 11.07lbs


• 24 inches


• 15.125 hc

Now, I can't remember how big his head was at his appt 3.5 weeks ago but the other measurements were as follows:

• 8.0lbs


• 22.5 inches

He went from 50th percentile to between 75 and 90th percentile. No wonder he seems to have grown so much! Allie's measurements at one month were 11lbs 13oz, 23 inches.

He also tracks movement with his eyes, will lay on the floor for about 20 minutes at a time (long time for a little guy) and eats like a horse (as you can tell from his growth rate). Now if he'd only start sleeping longer at night.

Pictures

This has to be my favorite pictures of Allie yet. She found Jake's cowboy hat.

My Aunt Jackie with Adrian

Uncle Dan with the kids

Multi-tasking is a must for any mom

Cute little guy learning to play on the floor

My Girly Girl

Allie discovered her dresses in her closet this last week and wanted to try them all on. We stopped after four. She is such a sweet girly girl and loves dresses, dolls, jewelry and of course purses. I'm just waiting for her to really delve into the princesses and make Jake learn all the stories with her as she acts them out. Poor guy still can't tell the difference between Snow White and ... well any of them.

This is actually a 12 month dress my mom gave me for Allie. It amazingly still fits her (though the arms are a bit tight).

She wore this one for Easter this year(it matched her cousin Taylor's). It is still too big for her. We need a wedding to wear it to next.

Our friend Audrey gave this one to her and I think it's currently her favorite!

My mom made this one for her and she loves running around in it. Makes me so nervous because I know how much work went into it.

Sick

I haven't had much time to update recently as all four of us have been sick. But of course I got it the worst and Allie who gave it to us the least. We are mostly better now,thank goodness, and are just sniffling a bit.

My family leave tomorrow to go back home to Missouri and they will be missed. It's been a lovely visit and we hope to see them again soon. Dad and Mishael come next for a long weekend October 23-27, and Laura comes for two weeks over Christmas.

Playtime with Daddy

I read somewhere that dads start out as nothing to baby (since they spend so much time with mom), then become a big play toy and later just a wallet. We are definitely in Play Thing stage with Allie. It's my favorite past time to sit on the couch and watch Allie jump all over Jake just about the moment he walks in the door. I think it's such a sweet time for the both of them!

Nana and Aunt Faith Day 1

My mom and Faith are here for an 11 day visit, with my Aunt Jackie joining them for 6 days. We had a great time the first day with them playing with Allie and holding Adrian. It was so nice to visit with them, have my hands freed for cleaning and I even got a nap in. Mom and I even took a break to go shopping for a big girl potty for Al, clothes for Adrian, shoes for mom and Starbucks coffee all around.

Allie with her new doll my mom brought from a friend in Missouri.

Isn't this such a cute outfit? You can see her sweet tights in a later picture. She also has grapes in her cheeks.

Aunt Faith made this Eeyore for Adrian, but Allie has definitely taken a liking to it. She knows all the Winnie the Pooh characters, but of course Pooh Bear is her very favorite.

She just loves jumping on Titi and squeals in delight the moment she walks through the door.

Aunt Faith with Adrian

Nana holding Adrian in the blanket she crocheted for him. It looks like lace and snowflakes.

Allie Pictures

Random pictures of Allie

Jake had Allie helping him with his bike. I think she needs her own tool set and I bet it won't be long before she's taking apart her own bike. (Can we say full diaper?!)


Not sure exactly what she's doing here, but it took immense concentration!

She was having fun occupying Adrian's car seat.

This is mommy's Moby for carrying Adrian. Works great for dolls too. Actually, I found a kids one (obviously a much smaller one then the full size) at the hospital I should have bought for her to carry her dolls in.

This is her baby basket. Apparently a great place to sit and read.

She seems to either be walking around with this basket on her head or she's sitting in it.

Little Pizza, Big Helper

Last night Allie and I had our first real making dinner together time. Since Jake was out riding, we set out to make little pizzas which are really just english muffins, spaghetti sauce, black olives and cheese baked in the over. One of my favorite quick and easy meals... especially for kids.

I put a chair up by the counter so she could stand on it and let her put on the olives and cheese. I think it literally took her 5 minutes just to do one, but it was so fun to watch. She is a HUGE fan of olives like her mama, so of course she'd put an olives slice on, eat 2, put another on, eat 5. This went on until we ran out of olive slices and I had to cut more. Then it was time for the shredded cheese. Put a couple pieces on... eat a couple, put on one more, eat several more.

It was a lot of fun for both of us... until I took her off the chair and put it away because as a rule we don't stand on chairs in our house. She was pretty mad at me for that, but luckily was easily distracted watching the pizza cook.

MOPS

I've been wanting to get involved with a moms group since Allie was born, but never quite took the time (or had the time.. not sure which) to find one. That all changed today... hurray!

We went to our first MOPS meeting held at Evergreen Community Church in Bothell. (Mothers of Preschoolers for those of you who didn't know what it stood for.) I was pretty sure at 2am we wouldn't make it to the first one when I was up with Adrian for 2.5 hours. But, we were all up, dressed and fed by 9:40am ready to head out the door. Mind you, it started at 9:30am and was at least 10 minutes away, but I thought we were doing pretty good to even be going... however late we would be. I think by the time we all got signed in and into our respective rooms it was already half over. But I felt triumphant that we made it at all!

I put Allie in the One Year Old room. She dwarfed every kid there in size and ability. She definitely is closer to a two year old age then one. But, she did great and had a good time as far as I could tell. This is the first time she's made it through a nursery without my being called in because she won't stop crying. I was pretty pleased. What a big girl she is becoming! Next time however, I will put her in with the two year olds. I think they would be more stimulating for her and she can start making friends.

Adrian stayed with me in my Moby carrier. He was sleeping most of the time, but if you know anything about his sleep habits, you know he can be a little distracting. He grunts and squeals a lot while sleeping which is really cute... but a little noisy.

I can't say what went on in the first half of the meeting, as I was not present, but the second half was mostly getting to know the moms at your table and making a crafty name tag to wear the rest of the year.

They divided the tables by women that live in close proximity to each other. We had five ladies at my table and I had already been to a bible study with one of them and had met at least one more at another function. They were all really nice and I enjoyed talking to them.

I'm looking forward to the next meeting and will hopefully be on time for it. It was very rewarding being surrounded by women my age (give or take 7 years) who are dealing every day with the same things I am. I hope to find encouragement, advice and perspective from each of them.

Socks?

Here are some highlights from yesterday.

Allie found these "socks" in Adrian's diaper basket and wanted to put them on his feet. Once I told her they were mittens and not socks she insisted on wearing them herself.

Here's her smiling for the camera... I know... looks more like she's praying then smiling. She's too cute!

Have you ever seen a cuter little guy?! Adrian was awake so long yesterday, it was amazing. Actually, it was pretty tiring. He is at the stage where he doesn't seem to know what to do with himself when he is awake, so after a couple minutes he starts squirming and fussing. We've tried putting the Binky in to buy a couple minutes, but he doesn't seem to like it. Plus, we just end up spending most of the time putting it back in... not sure it's worth it.

Allie was really helpful keeping Adrian occupied while I was trying to cook dinner. She even got upset at me when I picked him up to burp him. She demanded I put him back down next to her so she could keep talking to him.

The beginning

You might wonder at the title of my blog site, The family that makes trash. Well, that is us in a nutshell. We recently were passed down this title from my mother-in-law as the Vars are done with diapers and we've just started over with the birth of Adrian. Two kids means twice as many diapers, boxes and other miscellaneous trash.

Speaking of trash, Jake took all the stuff that had been sitting outside our door (strictly prohibited by our apartment management) for weeks to the garbage area last night. I wish I had taken a picture of it before he cleared it out. Then you'd really understand how much trash we make. It's embarrassing really!

That all aside, the point of this blog is for our friends and family out of state (and in state if you're interested) to see what is going on in our lives. I thought this would be a good way to share pictures and stories as well as an archive for the kids to see what their early life was like. I will try to take pictures more often then I have been so you have something to look at.

Hope we can keep it interesting for you!