Picnic Outside

Yesterday we decided to take out eating outside. We went right in front of our apartment building. Daddy grilled some wonderful tritip steaks and cooked some potatoes in a pan with garlic, onions, jalapenos, and a bit of paprika. For desert we had watermelon. We laid an enormous blanket on the grass and ate like little monsters. Everybody had fun… all besides Ollie who had a little chocking with watermelon episode followed by some puckeage 🙁

Besides that, all was well and the family was happy.

Ollie is a Bit Sick

Poor little Ollie, he got sick. We were convinced he had measles… he coughed, had a fever, and spots started to appear first on his forehead and then all over his little body. We were quite sad for him and wondered where he could get measles at this young age. Heidi took him to the doctor and he told us it was not measles but some other virus that was causing the little red spots. He is well now and the spots are gone, but we still don’t really know what he had. We are glad he is ok and happy like a babetter.

BTW, he is trying to crawl… and walk, and talk. He gets on his hands and knees and oscillates in place moving a bit backwards like a lobster. Soon he’ll be crawling. We are excited for him. He and Lela are the best little ones out there.

 

What to do with that HAIR?

So I’ve never been very good with hair. In fact, there have been several times in my life where I just gave up and let my hair declare its independence, as evidenced below.

me hair 8th tracting

Phew, glad 8th grade is in the past! Then there was that great haircut on my mission…

My kids, however, have been blessed with their Dad’s beautiful curls. Merayla gets comments constantly on how gorgeous her hair is. Oliver seems to be taking to the curls as well, but maybe his hair is a little bit more like his mother. At 6 months, he had a curly tuffet on top, long straight hair in the back, and old man puffs. He was a true Baby Einstein.

einstein  DSCN6507

We love him, and he is adorable. I love his curly puffs. On Mother’s Day, my mom convinced me that he needed a haircut. So, as a special gift to her, he had his first haircut. Here are the before and after pictures.

Before

DSCN6534DSCN6538

After

DSCN6550

DSCN6549

Daddy and Layla were really surprised. Daddy said that Ollie went from being a crazy baby to a normal, cute little boy all in one day.

DSCN6567

Well, Ollie says, “I’m still a little crazy.”

DSCN6565

Accepted!!!

UDATE: Cristian has been accepted to two four PhD programs! We found out this week that someone finally realized what a great candidate he is, and then they sent us the good news. He has been accepted to the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Stoneybrook University (SUNY) on Long Island, University of Florida in Gainesville, and Purdue University. I was excited about New York, but it looks like Kentucky is offering a better assistantship. We also have two schools left to hear back from: the University of Florida and Purdue University (in Indiana). So, any guesses where we will end up?

I just wanted to tell Cristian that I am proud of his hard work and his desire to succeed. He has aced his Master’s exam, survived the application process, and is headed into a long summer of thesis writing, but he has also done a great job of spending time with his family and making us happy. Thanks Babu. We love you and are ready to head out with you wherever the adventure takes us next!

3 + 3 (-5)

Merayla celebrated her 3rd birthday on February 6th. She was so excited when I told her that her birthday was coming. Every time I mentioned it, she would say, “Tu-Day?!?”

The day before, she had Grandma and Grandpa Widmer over and went swimming with them the next morning. She also got her own special table from them that she uses every day now. It has fairies on it, and you can draw on it with dry-erase markers.

After a busy morning of swimming, she took a long nap. When she woke up, the house was decorated, and she said, “Ooooh, the ceiling is so be-uuuu-aful.”

Her friend, Elena, came over to play in the afternoon. We played the princess matching game, made a Rice Krispie cake with rainbow marshmallows, and watched part of Snow White.

In the evening we had one of Merayla’s favorites—spaghetti—for dinner, and she and Daddy dug in with hands and faces. It was getting late, but we finally finished the Passionfruit Raspberry Cheesecake and put the 3 on top for Merayla’s 3 years and Ollie’s 3 months (well, five days ago). Last of all, she got to dance in her new dancing skirt with her pajamas on!

Here she is: Princess Ariel, Jasmint, Sleeping Bee-uty, MeLayla Victoria E-cleanu!

What Layla Says

I have wanted to get these out there for a while, and now I have a title to match Cristian’s last post. Here are some of the fun things Layla says that we want to remember.

  1. Where that from come?
    Meaning: Where does that come from? She likes to ask this about everything! Where do pickles come from, where do windows come from, where do leaves come from, etc.
  2. Honey…
    This can be applied to everyone. We are all honeys at one time or another. The funny thing is that she says it exactly how I do, like “hun-knee” with quite a lot of emphasis on the “knee.”
  3. Look at that!
    This one comes straight from Cristian. He is constantly saying, “Look at that!” Well, Merayla wants us to look at that too, and that, and that, and everything she is doing.
  4. Actually,
    This comes from me. It kind of means that you’re wrong, but, in a nice way…
  5. I’m big.
    Cristian already wrote a little about Merayla being big. She likes to remind us about it. Also, she always responds to the question: “How are you?” as “I’m big!”
  6. bunalina
    Translation: ballerina
  7. ephelante
    Translation: elephant
  8. I quite __________
    This means that she CAN’T quite do whatever follows, like reach it or see it or fix it, though she really wants to.
  9. woofa
    Translation: with a
  10. Why?
    Yes, this is the universal kid’s question. I think in general it means that she wants to know more about what you’re talking about but doesn’t quite know how to ask for information. She is so inquisitive, excited to learn about everything, and constantly seeking input…
  11. I’m the fastest girl that you never saw.
    Yep (smiling).

I also catch her singing songs about random things. One day, she was singing a song that went “The Holy Ghost, and then the Holy Ghost.” It was really cute. She is great, and we love her a lot.

She is practicing her gymnastics on the doll swing that my Mom gave her for Christmas…

DSCN5986

What Heidi said

It’s all an incredible rip-off. Nothing is really worth it, except carrots. (We were really talking about getting the Nexus One android phone and that was her reply)

it came to pass that a $180 phone plus a $30 data plan for 2 years and a voice plan of at least $50 results in something ridiculous, like… $2,100… would you spend that amount of money on a phone that can’t even be used in a family plan? LAME!