Laundry Train

Here's a video of the girls playing "laundry train". It was too big for me to upload so I had to go through photobucket. I'm proud that I figured it out but I couldn't make it be inside the post with all the other Tati stuff. I'll have to practice being more technologically saavy.

Am I just "no fun" anymore?

So go watch this video and then come back and read the rest of this. Greg was all excited for me to watch it and also told me that Chloe loved it. Whenever he uses the old, "Chloe loved it" jazz on me, it doesn't really work because well, she's 4 and she just doesn't really get the grand scheme of things. First off, I couldn't believe it. It had to be fake I kept telling myself. Then I just got so angry. Do these guys have families? How dumb and selfish can you be? I just think, "How dare you risk your life just to get your jollies?" (ok, and side note, do they just throw those skis away in the beginning? Does that mean they are crappy skis or are they wasteful as well as stupid?) So am I crazy? He tried to tell me he and my brother, Stephan, would really like to do this together. I mean if he thought he'd have a tough time convincing his wife to jump on board of this coo-kooery, I'd love to see Stephan telling Marnie about this idea and her taking him seriously. Can you believe this Marnie?

The thing is I can totally see all the men in my families totally watching this like, "woah! rad!" and dreaming about how they'd love to do this too. Is it just a girl thing that this bothers me so much or am I really just "no fun" anymore? Tell me what you think.

Daddy/Daughter Date

Believe it or not things have really been warming up lately. We had a bunch of snow melt and it was even in the 40's! I was really starting to get excited and proud of myself because I thought we had survived winter. I even could be heard saying things like, "Well, that wasn't too bad." or "Guys, we did it! We survived Winter!" but alas, I was premature. Looks like winter, round 2 is starting. This morning the temp. was 5 (not too cold) but the windchill was -35!!! Yikes. While things were "warm" though, we took advantage to play outside well at least Daddy and Chloe did. I don't last very long "playing" in the snow.

First they wrote in the snow which was pretty exciting because she could see it from our window.



Then they made a fort in the backyard. Chloe started out strong and was having a grand ole time. I don't think she realized what all her dad had envisioned. Then we ran out of snow in the backyard and I was like, "Um, Greg how are we going to close this thing up?" then he pulled out the genius idea of the umbrella.

Normally when people have a snow fort in the backyard, it lasts for a few days and melts. This one is likely to be around until June. We'll be sure and report when it finally disappears. Good job Daddy!

Milk's Favorite Cookie

Tati is now done with homemade milk so I thought we'd celebrate by treating her to an Oreo. She LOVED IT! Well, seriously what is not to love? We smuggled a pack of double stuffs back with us from good ole America. So delicious. The Oreos here are funky and greasy tasting AND no double stuffs! I think I will cry actual tears when this pack is done.
So in honor of homemade milk, normal milk and of course, the beloved chocolate milk, I say unto you in the words of my uncle, "Ala Cuisine!"

And of course especially for today, Happy Chocolate MiLK day! Yes, we still celebrate and hope you all do too. :-)

In Exile

Do you ever go into exile because you're embarrassed by how you look? I was reading on my friend's blog this week and it inspired me to document something that I would be embarrassed to let other people know but that I'm sure other people do. I have purposefully avoided people, errands, answering the door (ok, only once then when the knocking persisted, I answered it), video chat, and well lit rooms in the last week all because of my face. No, I don't think I have a horribly ugly face--sure there are things that bug me and things I would change if I could but not surgically--I'd never be too drastic but my skin, BROTHER! I would swap somebody else in a heartbeat. I grew up with sorta an unfair anomaly of peoples. The Reeds who lived across the street come from some insanely good skin genetics that they could probably sell to some invetro people for lots of money. Granted they moved away during the worst of puberty so I don't have 100% evidence that they never got any zits but I'm pretty sure they didn't...EVER...not one. Then there was Leah, who I think had one zit each month, maybe two if she was having an especially troubling time. Then my sister, my own stinky sister who had maybe like 5 a month. Alas, I have struggled forever. Wanna talk skin care? I don't know anybody who takes better care of their face. I have used or tried nearly every skin method known to man and though I feel like I pretty much have things under control, sometimes all the world breaks lose on my face. This is one of those weeks. 8 simultaneous doozies all over my face making every angle of my face vulnerable. That means noticeable/non coverable ones. 8. Eight. EIGHT!!

I started my aerobics class again this week and almost didn't go but I need to start exercising again plus I paid money for it so I had to go. But what to do? I'm not a put on make-up to exercise kind of girl but at least I had to attempt some cover up. What's worse a bad cover-up job or no cover-up at all? So my solution was to have ridiculous hair and outfit. I wore blue pants, red shirt that says, "Jamaica Me Happy" (like I was willing it to work magic on me), and a white hoodie. I told myself I was Wonder Woman. Then to make it even better, I put on a headband. A 4th of July headband of Chloe's with a big bow on top. It was ridiculous. It was distracting. It was perfect.

If you're thinking, "What, no picture?" then you're crazy but maybe writing about it is the first step. MAYBE, someday I can post pictures and then another million years after that I might even be able to laugh about it.

Christmas Vacation

Well, as I'm getting my blogging caught up, I thought I'd do the 2 peso version of our Christmas break. After lots of bad weather and 5 flights that we were shooting for all being cancelled, we managed to fly into Portland and then drive to Greg's dad's house. Even though we had to fly out stand-by on Christmas day itself, it was surprisingly a really wonderful day to travel. Everybody was super friendly, helpful, outgoing, festive, and patient. How many travel days including airlines can have that description? We packed a few small presents for Chloe in our carry-on so when she was pushing her limit, we'd let her open another one up and then her good mood would be revived.

Here we are, finally in Portland. We barely fit in the elevator with all our stuff.
This was the first time since Chloe was a baby that we were able to spend some time with Greg's side. It was nice to see everybody and a little crazy to see how much all the kids have grown up. I know it isn't too hard to be taller than me but when you're like 12, it makes you feel a little old and a bit retarded. Anyway, Chloe had the best time with all her cousins. She still hasn't stopped talking about when she will see them again. Here what she has to say to all the fam:
Wayne & Rhona: I like Rhona because she is silly. I like Wayne because I like his wife, Rhona. [Looks like these Melton boys need to work harder to make a good impression next time :-).]
Kylie: I like that she loves beautiful things like me.
Mark & Lisa: I just like them and have so much fun at their house and Lisa really loves me so much which I really like.
Tash/Natash/Tashie: I like that she's like me and that she says all these great words that I like to say too. I love playing with her all the time.
McKayla: I like how she does gymnastics.
Stacia: I like her voice and the way that she looks.
Millie: She is so cute that I can't believe it. She's a cutie, cutie but sometimes she is bad.
Dallin: He's the silliest brother I ever saw and HILARIOUS!
Bobby: I don't know something besides that I just like him.
Ashley: I liked sleeping in her room and just playing with her so much.
Erika: What I like about Erika is that she is just so fun and pretty. I really want to give her a jewel. ( I don't know what she's talking about here but def. a compliment.)
Debra & Rob: What I like about Rob is that he likes me. I like Debra because she has the same name as my Barbie (which ironically she named after you like a year ago but has forgotten).
Bella: Oh Mom, she is so cute. I love how she is little and still (Ha, ha, contrast with her sister!). I wish we had Bella.
Teresa & Dave: I like Teresa's pretty hair and I like Dave because he's silly and he lets people climb on him while he's asleep.
Kirky: Kirky is silly. That's pretty much what I gotta say. I was really happy to share a room with him.
Grandma: Grandma has a pretty name that people call her. She also got me lots of stickers and I was so happy about it.
Grandpa: I liked how Tati liked him and would rub her tummy when she would see him. I liked his house and the ponies.

It would be great if you guys could get some web cams so we could maintain this better communication and do video chat. They are pretty cheap. If there is a Fryes by your house, especially good/cheap ones there. Then you'd just need to download the program Skype (for you non-Mac users) and we'd be in business. I know Chloe especially would love to talk to her cousins and see what is going with them.

We were able to go to Target which was wonderful--especially since we frequented it more than once. We watched a lot of movies (and Get Smart was our fave), we ate some meals together, went bowling, went to the mall, went out to eat, and even went for a walk and fed the ducks and some random Cootie bird. It was a nice break from our winter but we were also looking forward to getting home to our beds (so Tati would finally sleep well), our routines and ironically returning to the sunshine. Man, is Oregon dark!

The great thing about having so many people together is that you don't even have to take any pictures because everybody else is taking care of it for you. The bad thing is that with so many pictures being taken, there are bound to be some real doozies of you floating around.


Thanks for the visit guys!

Here's something new I tried, a slide show. See below.

Fun to Be One!

Well, our little babe turned one!

She does this scrunched up face and breaths kind of like a piggy out of her nose. It is so hilarious and so cute. We don’t know where it came from but since her Daddy and big sis are always doing it back to her, it has stuck. The only problem occurs when she does this great trick and her nose is full of snot.

It is crazy to think that a year ago I was in the hospital recovering from it all. This year has been full of changes, trials and happiness. Tati represents that year well . She is full of smiles, laughs, and is so easy to love but she can also wail like a banshee, slap, pinch, bite, and launch her food better than any other one year old.

In my mind one is such a momentous age. I remember with Chloe I like gave her milk, peanut butter, and citrus all on the first day. Now, another child later I realize how retarded that is. There really isn't a magic number in space that once you pass it all is different. Take her cake for example. I am one of those moms (sorry Emily) that limits sweets (I'm such a meany). Don't get me wrong, Chloe knows who Little Debbie is and inherited her Daddy's sweet tooth for treats after every meal - but I still want to avoid it as much as possible in the baby years. Tati has eaten everything in its natural or unsweetened format. I even got her to like eating plain yogurt with wheat germ which is supposed to (if developed early on) help them crave healthy food as they grow up. I know it sounds crazy but if it does work, how could I not try it? Ok, fine maybe I didn't do all plain yogurt, I spiked it with baby food or applesauce, but still. Geez, you beat it out of me. Anyway, when she went to eat her cake with rainbow chip and whipped vanilla frosting on it, she treated it like any other bread item she ever eats, just slowly bite by bite. No real reaction to the sweetness either. She is quite a little lady when she wants to be. Bite by bite, no frosting in the hair, no smooshing of her face into the cake.

Things that are new:
She officially can walk now—that is if you hold onto her hands. She never let us do it as her parents but suddenly while in Oregon, she let her cousin McKayla walk around with her.

After a few times with just letting McKayla take her, she finally let’s her parents or whoever else lead her around. Here she is with Aunt Lisa.

Opening her presents.

She still prefers to crawl and can now crawl up the stairs, which means that we have to be soooo careful to put the gate up. She can open cupboards and drawers on her own and even has managed to smash a few fingers. After much work, she had her two top teeth break through. They are barely there but they made it. Looks like she got the Lovstedt gap.

We are just go grateful to have our little Tats in the family. She has such a fun personality and brings a unique spice to our family recipe.