cabinets

when we first moved into our current apartment building, audrey discovered the lower kitchen cabinets. she would just crawl inside and sit. this led to jack playing this odd game and pretty soon, they both would just sit in the cabinets and laugh and each other. we never got the joke, but i guess it wasn't for parents:) sammy thought this game was just fantastic and wanted so badly to join in, but he could never figure out how to crawl in. well, after two days of trying, sammy did it! he was so pleased with himself, he wouldn't stop smiling:) now all he has to figure out is how audrey and jack close the cabinet doors when they're inside...

big kid potty

now that jack potty training, we needed audrey to start sitting on the big potty. she loves it, especially since she gets more chocolates for sitting on the big potty:) it all started when jack got two chocolate eggs one day, one for sitting on the potty and the second for actually peeing into the potty. audrey was only getting one, and she didn't think that was so fair. so, i told her that if she sat on the "big daddy potty" she could have two, too. ever since that day, she's been on the big potty every time:) she even flushes and puts her little potty seat and stool away:) of course, she's rewarded for this with THREE chocolate eggs:) life's pretty good when you're three:)


this is audrey showing me what "mommy and daddy do on the big potty":) after i took this picture, i laughed and laughed and laughed:) note the betty and veronica comic:)

pockets

audrey and jack recently discovered their pants had pockets. jack thought this was great and would walk around with his hands in his pockets:) we tried to convince him pockets were also for objects, but he's happy with hands. audrey's obsessed with pockets now. she thinks everything has a pocket, even when there isn't one. then she discovered that she could stick things into the waistband of her undies if she didn't have real pockets:) apparently, that's a pocket too:)

pretty sure his hands are stuck

they stayed like this for at least 10 minutes. weird little kids:)

this is her newest pocket- her undies. who knew undies could be multi-purpose?:)

sammy and the strollers

audrey and jack love their doll strollers. we bought audrey's for her second birthday and jack liked pushing it around so much that we got him one, too. then they discovered they could sit in the strollers and push each other around or pedal with their feet. sammy thought that was hysterical and would follow them around:) now that sammy's starting to walk, he's shown and interest in the strollers, as well, much to the delight of the other two. they'll sit in their strollers and sammy will push them around. he can't steer very well, so they help by steering with their feet:) i'm just surprised sammy's strong enough to push jack! audrey's much lighter- sammy's already close to her body weight:) i guess sammy wants to pay audrey and jack back for all the stroller pushing they do when he's sitting in his big stroller:)

this is when we had one stroller- they took turns being pushed:) it was audrey's turn to sit:)

jack's turn:) audrey had a really hard time manuevering the stroller with jack in it:)

now, sammy's turn to push! sammy had a great time and so did the older two. audrey keeps asking sammy to push her in the stroller now:)

audrey's first haircut

so, a week after jack's haircut, i went for one. audrey thought this was great and kept saying she wanted one, too. we thought that after watching jack cry and fuss all during his, she wouldn't want one for a loooooonnnnnnggg time. boy, were we wrong:) just goes to show, as a parent, you never really know what's going on in your kid's head:) audrey had her haircut all planned out- she wanted to go to "the place with the pony and sit on the pony and get my haircut just like guy(jack)":) when we got there, she did sit on the pony, until she told me, "the pony not safe mommy- i sit in the flower car" and ran over to this really girly car and asked, very politely, to be put in. she played until it was her turn. she didn't seem to mind the water being sprayed but she froze when the clips were put into her hair. she was great during the haircut; she sat still, looked down when the stylist asked her to, and happily read curious george books. it was the blow-dry that kind of scared her. then jacob handed her some hair clips to look at and that solved the being scared problem;) she chose two orange butterflies for her hairstyle:) then she and jack both got candies, which made jack happy since he DID NOT want to go inside melonheads:) when we got to the salon, jack just turned around and walked away. it was pretty funny:) jacob had to take him and sammy for a walk while audrey and i were in the salon. guess the salon is going to be a mommy-daughter thing;)

sitting on the "not safe" pony:)

audrey LOVES this car

getting ready for the cut

choosing her hariclips- it was a really difficult decision!

so proud of herself:) she talked about nothing else for the rest of the day- "mommy, i got my hair cut and TWO butterfly clips":)

jack's first "successful" haircut

last saturday, after a week of jack brushing his hair out of his eyes, we took the kids to melonheads, in the mall, for jack's first haircut. it's a really cute kids' hair salon, where the kids sit on cars, trucks, ponies, and rocketships for their haircuts instead of chairs, and they get to play with toys, watch tv, get scented water sprayed into their hair and colored hairspray. i think the stylists have more fun than the kids:) we thought this place might be good for jack's first cut since he always liked going in just to look around. we were sooooooooo wrong. he was fine with sitting in the thomas train and was having a blast "driving" it, until the nice girl started spraying his hair with water. he kept pushing her hand away. then she started combing and that wasn't too bad:) then the cutting began and jack was not a happy boy. he was okay with it at first, a bit squirmy, but he didnt' mind the back being cut. when she started on the front, that's when things got really bad. jack tried climbing out of the train. eventually, i had to hold him while the girl cut his hair and jack had to hold rar ( his stuffed lion), the toy school bus, and the new stuffed yoshi daddy bought him all while the poor girl walked around and around trying to give jack a decent haircut. poor kid. at least his hair isn't in his eyes anymore:) he had to walk off the trauma of the whole event around the mall:) the girl did say he wasn't the worst they've ever had:)

jack sitting in the train, happily playing

wondering what the stylist is doing

daddy had to hold him after awhile- jack's heavy!

walking off the trauma in the food court

this is what his new hair looked like after his nap:) pretty spiffy:)

confirmation

it's official!! we're having a boy! we knew from the moment we found out i was pregnant- personal revelation is a wonderful thing:) still, it's nice to have the ultrasound photos:) richard joseph turner is a happy and healthy little boy who apparently likes to roll around A LOT!! he moved during the entire session:)

snow day

the weather was FINALLY perfect for us to take the kids out to play in the snow:) they loved every minute of it, especially making footprints and snow angels:) poor sammy couldn't really play, but he seemed quite content with daddy's gloves instead;)

sammy liked the leather, plus his little hands were warm:)

he was really apprehensive at first- audrey just took off:)

jack really enjoyed making footprints. he kept saying "footprints" over and over again

she's been wanted to do this FOREVER. the only thing is, she couldn't get up afterwards:)

on the swings- she was so bundled up she couldn't move:)

potty mouth

whenever jack sits on the potty, i tell him to "push his wee-wee down" so that he aims into the potty bowl. audrey's been paying close attention to what i say, and sometimes, she'll tell jack the same thing:) naturally, she's also noticed a few anatomical differences between boys and girls. we had to clarify the difference when she said that she had to "push her wee-wee down so the yellow stays in potty"(yellow is her word for pee). so, we told her that boys have wee-wees and girls don't, and that jack and sammy are boys like daddy, who also has a wee-wee, and she is a girl like mommy, who doesn't. she really liked that she was like mommy:) yesterday, when daddy was sitting on the potty, audrey went into the bathroom and said, "daddy, did you push your wee- wee down?" we busted out laughing and laughing and laughing:) then, just today, audrey told me, "have fun making yellow on the potty mommy!" i love being a mommy!

just for fun!

he played with this lockbox for an hour on the big bed!

coloring with markers for FHE- jack LOVES markers:) thank goodness they're washable markers!

"riding" the animal blankets nana and papa ou got them for christmas

jack's alligator:) he loves that it turns into a blanket!

some things i can't explain, but they make for funny pictures;) they couldn't get out afterwards:)

licking the plate after her first klondike bar:)

i made a ring toss game- little did i realize that i was wrong! it's not a paper ring, it's a halo:)

always the little lady:)

cuddling with daddy:)

audrey and jack are helping sammy stand up:)

i know it looks like he's holding on, but he's in the middle of patting the car slide

he's standing all by himself!! yea!

sammy learned too quickly what oreos are:)

wearing what daddy calls the "fire mario" hat:) check out that tooth!

weight lifting

my new vacuum cleaner only weighs 15 pounds. sammy weighs 22 pounds and after this growth spurt, i'm pretty sure he's verging on 24. my baby weighs more than my vacuum!!!

oddity

yesterday, i was picking up some stuff off the floor underneath the kids' table when audrey told me "mommy, i like your head." yes, my head:) i love being a mommy:)

it's a marshmallow world

now that audrey's fully pottytrained through night and day, we've started with jack. until now, he's been pretty reluctant to sit, even though we offered him treats. it's odd that he doesn't want to because he sure wanted to sit when audrey was being trained. he'll even drag the bag of potty treats over and ask for one. we would always tell him that he could have one if he sat on the potty, to which jack's reply was always no:) then we bought marshmallows. that kid will do ANYTHING for a marshmallow- they are his new favorite treat:) the first time he sat and got a reward, he "accidently" grabbed two marshmallows. yeah, that's never going to happen again:)audrey was SOOOOOOOOOOO mad at him:) she kept telling him, "no guy, you only get one to sit on the potty!" it was pretty funny:) jack just looked at her and smiled his "i'm provoking you and it's pretty funny" smile- it's the same thing my brother does to my sister. it's funny to watch, but i had to put a stop to it otherwise jack would think he gets the entire bag of marshmallows every time he sits on the potty. i think audrey's learned a few things from jack. i caught her trying to sneak three marshmallows yesterday:)

oh my kids:)

lately i've been teaching the kids gender...audrey is a girl like mommy and jack and sammy are boys like daddy. we use pictures of our family and point out boys and girls. they really like holding the pictures and pointing at everyone. this escalated to jack and audrey collecting all of our old health cards and drivers licenses and bringing them to us, saying, "picture of mommy" or "picture of daddy":) i thought, okay they're starting to recognize certain traits about mommy and daddy- hair color, eye color, whether the person wears glasses. boy was i wrong. last night, jack pointed at an ad in a magazine and said "picture of mommy!" the model was blonde with blue eyes and short hair. jacob's response to that was "that's not even close to being mommy":) i laughed and laughed and laughed:) at least jack gets that mommy is a girl:) i guess i expected too much. the kids i used to babysit didn't realize i was chinese until the day i got married! meredith and roxcy came up to me when i was wearing my traditional chinese outfit and asked if i was korean or something. up until that day,they used to draw pictures of me with blue eyes and blonde hair:) how's that for not noticing ethnicity?;) i guess i should be grateful that little children, unlike some adults, can see past skin color and inherited ethnicity to what ACTUALLY matters- like the person underneath:)

cool kids

they think they're just so cool with the sunglasses on:) little posers:)

the ol' swimin' hole

while nana was here, we went swimming as often as we could in the hotel pool. sammy was too young for us to take him swimming this past summer, but he did get to go in while nana was here:) he loved it!! we'll have to get him a floaty for this summer:)

audrey's become a really strong swimmer. she swam the entire length of the pool three times without my help! pretty good for a three year old:)

jack was just happy to have his "backpack" back:)

sammy's first tooth:)

sammy's first tooth came in and it's soooo cute!! not to mention HUGE!!! he's working on the second tooth right now so he's extra drooly:)

i love being a mommy:)

the following clips are a glimpse of what my days are like at home with the kids:)they make every day so much fun! i wouldn't trade being a stay-at-home mommy for anything:)

this first one is of jack- it doesn't take much to get him laughing like crazy!

jack FINALLY learned how to play the harmonica! it's been a work in progress for a couple of months:)

this is audrey going inside candyland. nathan and becca gave it to us for christmas and it's been her new obsession ever since she opened it:)

the funny things kids say:)

today, while audrey was taking a bubble bath, she made jacob sit next to the tub and "talk" to the giant rubber ducky we have. this is a normal occurance, us talking to her toys. it is not normal, however, for audrey to talk to her knees or to ask us to talk to her knees:) yes, her knees. she was sitting on her bum and popped her knees out of the water. she then told jacob that her one knee was asking the other one if it wanted to play. apparently, her second knee didn't:) at this point, jacob was stifling laughter:) audrey then started bumping her knees together and said, "look, my knees play together!" i didn't know knees could talk, nor did i know that knees could play...oh, the funny things kids say!

woohoo!!

we're pregnant with our fourth little monkey!! we are so excited for our new addition. this baby will be about 15 months apart from sammy, which is a lot for our family:) hopefully, the due date is accurate this time- july 18!