Today at the park

1. I had to use the restroom- fun with a baby in hand and a toddler... but I digress. We walked back to the park after we went to the restroom. Mind you, there were 6 other moms and their kids, none of which I knew, playing at the park. Markus waits until we are back amongst all the others and shouts out "Good job going pee-pee on the potty Mommy!" and gives me a high five.
2. Markus was playing "soccer" with the bouncy ball we brought to the park. At one point he kicked it and it kept rolling and rolling. He was running after it saying "Stop ball, stop. Listen to mommy! If you don't stop you will get a timeout!". He caught up to the ball, picked it up and carried it to a bench. He placed it on the bench and said "You stay here for two minutes. Don't move and don't touch anything. I will come back and get you." He walked away and played for a minute or two, went back to the ball and said "Are you ready to be kind?" and off he went to play soccer again.
3. After playing with the ball for a bit, he picked it up and said "The ball needs milk". He then trotted over to a bench, sat down, and pulled up his sweatshirt and tee shirt to give the ball some milk. Don't worry- at this point, we were the only ones left in the park. Thank God.

The Mariner Moose- A tale of two kiddos

Upon arriving at Safeco field today for the Mariners game, Markus happened to notice the Mariner Moose down on the field. His immediate response "I yon't yike the moose". From then on, he continued to scan the field with a pensive, stressed out look on his face saying "Markus find the moose. I yon't yike the moose". We knew a visit from the moose probably wasn't going to be a good idea. During the third inning, Markus was needing to run a little bit, so we ran our races up and down the hallways where the suites were located (we were spoiled today!). While running slightly ahead of me, Markus came face to face with the moose as he came out of another hallway. I scooped him up as fast as I could, but it was too late. The hysterics had already started, and he sobbed into my shoulder "I yon't yike the moose mommy, I yon't yike him. Markus scared." One of the moose's entourage whispered to me as she passed by "I have never seen such terror before." We walked back to the suite (Markus clinging to me the entire way and searching for the moose). We settled back in our seats in the front row outside the suite. I heard some commotion inside the suite and turned to look- sure enough, the moose was in the suite. I was too late to shield the dude- he caught a glimpse and lost it. Luckily, Halle Joy was in the arms of Auntie Beckie and I could deal with Markus. I seriously thought he was ready to jump headfirst over the railing to escape the moose. He kept asking me to put my feet up on the bar- as if somehow that would block the moose from coming in. He was literally shaking from head to toe the poor kid. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, Halle Joy was loving the moose and grabbing his face and talking to him. Thank goodness for Uncle Rando who captured her on camera while I attempted to reassure and comfort my frightened boy.

Markus searching for the moose. Look at this face.


Markus is in doubt that the moose has indeed gone bye-bye.


Halle Joy couldn't get enough of his face.


She loves him!

If ice cream is good, and popcorn is good...

then they must be GREAT together!

Halle Joy

She's growing too! She is actually starting to swallow more solids than she is spitting out, is rolling over both ways and is sitting up on her own. So far she has eaten bananas, carrots, rice cereal and cheerios. Her first experience with cheerios was an absolute riot. I will try to post the video. She is still the delight of all of our hearts.

Markus and Grace

These two are the best of friends. Perfect, since I consider Grace's mommy one of my besties too. Here's some pics of them dancing together at the park today.

Such a big boy

Tonight when I put him to bed, I said "I love you". I was so sad when he said "I love you" back. You see, he has always said "I yuh you". Just another example of how he is growing up so fast... makes a mommy sad and excited all at the same time. And another example of him being a big boy are these pics- climbing the rope ladder at the park all by himself!

Some pictures do not need a caption!

The fair with family

We headed to the fair for round two (I will post round one pics later) with Abu, Papa, Dita and Katie last week and had a blast. Halle Joy was there- I will just have to photoshop her into some pics somehow so she believes me when she is older. oops!

Today at Abu and Papa's house

We had the chance to go play with my beautiful nieces today, Katie and Isabella. I posted lots of pics on here tonight of the two of them so their mommy could look at them while she is away on business. Hope you enjoy!

And I quote

It was a really tough day with the dude. I mean, really tough. Lots of time spent on the steps. Lots of please forgive me-s. Lots of tears and stomping feet and thrown food and lemonade. Which led to lots of cleaning the floors. But finally, after we survived dinner, he turned a corner and was doing a bit better. I was in the office and he came in with some of his trucks to place on the windowsill. I asked "What are you doing buddy?". He said- "Don't worry about it mommy. I'm just chillin'." I almost fell off my chair. I even asked him again to make sure that was what he said, and sure enough, it was. Love it. Love this boy. Even on the tough days.

During Halle Joy's nap...

we had some fun outside.

Celebrating him

Today marks the 33rd birthday of my best friend and partner in life. I have been blessed to be in his life since 2001 and am thankful for (almost :) ) every minute of it. Mark is my everything and I never want to even imagine my life without him. He supports and encourages me. He makes me laugh. He gets up with the kids so I can sleep. He adores my family. He would do anything for Markus and Halle Joy. He is totally in love with our Ethiopian child whom he doesn't even know yet. He lives every moment of his life for Jesus. He is passionate about people. He has a beautiful voice. And amazing blue eyes. Today I celebrate him and all that he has become in his 33 years. I love you Mark and wish you the happiest of birthdays.