We have poopage.

So, anyone who is familiar with our potty-training plight is aware that we have promised Janna the world if she would just ditch the stupid diapers. Well, one such thing promised was a barbie doll if she would poop on the potty. Without going into too many details, I managed to get her to do so. After her nap time, we went down to Walmart (the only store with toys nearby) and she got to pick out her first Barbie. Thankfully, someone brilliant at Walmart put all the really expensive ones at the very top. Janna's level had very moderately priced ones. So, she picked out "Barbie and Tanner" which is Barbie with a Dog. She is her mother's daughter "Mommy said a Barbie - so lets find the Barbie with the MOST stuff in it." Of course, I would have tried to get away with the packages that have TWO Barbies in it. She'll learn.

Anyhow, after she found her Barbie, she found the Barbie car. Any little girl (who played with Barbie) knows that the only thing cooler than a BARBIE is a BARBIE with a CAR. She was ready to put the Barbie back to have the car - so I caved and got her both. What's the point of having a Barbie car without a Barbie?

Let me tell you that Barbies have changed since I was a little girl. First of all, the head no longer pops off - at least not like it did when I was little. I remember my Barbie's head popping off every time I brushed her hair! Secondly, those of you who had barbies circa 1988 will remember the soft legs that had knees that "popped" as you bent them. No more - Barbie had a knee transplant and now she has fully functioning joints. Same with the elbows - no more solid state bent or straight - now she can do the Macarena! There was also no jewelry (rings or earrings). She has panties imprinted onto the plastic. Oh, and the most disturbing thing - the hips. These hips can do ANYTHING. The positions that I could contort this Barbie into was astonishing.

The funniest part was the dog. After Janna went to bed, I broke out all the small pieces that I had to confiscate because of JR. Tanner (Barbie's rather LARGE dog) eats and poops. If you placed the little brown pellets in his mouth (his mouth opens when you lift his tail) he swallows them down. When you push the tail down, he poops. Barbie comes with a pooper scooper and garbage can too.

Where's Ken when you need him?

Here's Janna with the crown we picked up at Walmart. She had one at Grandma's house (in Minneapolis), and keeps asking for it. So, we picked up another one.


I like this picture because it looks like she's doing the hula.

Happy 4th of July!

So, we had a pretty mellow 4th. We planned on heading over to the parade, but got rained out. The parade went on as planned, we just didn't want to deal with the drizzle. So, the kids had a happy 4th at home - nice and dry.

We had previously decided not to do any fireworks, and from what I hear they got cancelled anyway. We did pop some firecrackers at home. Janna and the girls across the street got a kick out of that.

Janna in Daddy's silly hat. Such a cute one that Jeff snapped.

JR in his 4th of July outfit. Love that Oshkosh hat.
Janna's outfit for the 4th.
Yummy s'mores.

Marshmallow string. The obligatory watermelon slices for the 4th.

6/30/07: Some random pictures of the kiddos

First, my baby boy who was enjoying a cookie and being rather fussy about something. The cookie helped him get over it.

Just look at these beautiful curls...



Janna wouldn't let me get a good picture of her, so here is one of her sipping on some water before bed time. Most of her face is covered, but you do get a good look at those beautiful baby blues.

JR does his impression of Pop-Pop

My Dad's "thing" with the kids is to say "oooooh yeah!" when he sees them. Janna has known this for awhile, and reports "Pop Pop says 'oh yeah'" when we talk about him. Well, on our trip out to Portland, JR picked it up too. He has been cracking people up all over the country with this new trick. We got it on video before it became old news.

Go, Diego, GO!

So, just two days after our "big trip on the airplane with the red, red, tail" (see below), Janna and I went to go see Diego Live. It (actually) was loads of fun - and fantastic seeing Janna's face when Diego came on stage and sang all the familiar songs. Well worth the price of admission.

Here's Janna with her boyfriend after the show. Even better than having it be just Janna and me, my good friend Denise, her mom, and kids were able to come with us. Janna and Daniel (pictured) are just days apart (literally, I think it's one).
We got Ben in on this photo, although the two year olds have better things to do (clearly). Ben is not quite a week younger than JR. In fact, Denise got my c-section date when I went early. This was the baby jaguar mask that all the kids got.
This was the ever mesmerizing Diego light want that cost me $15 (I know, I know - I'm the sucker that bought the darn thing.)
Here's Janna with her loot: shirt, wand, mask.

Pictures from our "BIG TRIP on the airplane with the red, red, tail" (that's Janna's title for it, anyway)

Well, we survived our major trek across the continental US. Our journey started on June 4th, when we flew from Orlando to the Twin Cities. We spent two days there, and then flew out to Portland, Oregon for a week. After that we flew back to Minneapolis, spent five more days, and then flew back to Orlando. Really, everything went very, VERY, well. Anyone planning to travel with young kids - I cannot recommend a portable DVD player enough. Janna was easily entertained the duration of the flights. JR was a little more difficult, but luckily he slept 3 out of the 4 flights.

Here's how our journey started: JR's first flight. This is a HUGE deal when Dad is a pilot and the entire paternal side of the family is in aviation:

Truthfully - this is not how our journey started. It started with two very tired parents on about four hours of sleep, a "Pac Back" on both of them (a contraption that allows you to strap a car seat to your back), a purse, portable DVD player, diaper bag, Dora rolling suitcase, Dora backpack, and small carry on. ALL THIS plus a double stroller (sit n' stand) two toddlers, and a cart full of luggage. After the thirty minute ordeal of unpacking the car (no joke) - Jeff looked at me and said, "How would we do this with three?" There is no answer. We wouldn't. If there was any question as to if we would have two or three, it was answered that day.

Now, in going through the photos from the camera - I realized that we had none from Minneapolis. It seems we were dependant on OTHER people taking photos. Jeff's family will be sending us some - but if there are any others, we would appreciate you sending the digital copy our direction. I'm an avid scrapbooker - and love to keep track of all photos!

So, here is our PORTLAND leg in pictures :) When I get my hands on Minneapolis pictures I will post them as well.

The day after we arrived we met up with Janel and her beautiful big boy, Jonah, at the zoo. Then we headed back to her wonderful recently purchased home. It was great getting a chance to have the kids get together. We also got to spend a BBQ day with them as well as a night out. Janel and Jonah were able to make it over to my sister's house on our last day there - but unfortunately we missed Scott!

The zoo:

Janna was so enthralled with this big black bear. He kept pacing back and forth - and man did Janna pace with him!

The kiddos petting some animals (the little boy in the stroller is Jonah!)

The kids all decided that the table was a cool place to hang out.

Bath time with the kids:

Here, JR, you need some water!

Skinny dipping at my sister's:

This is what happens when you try to take a nice picture with three toddlers. I know it LOOKS like my kids weren't crying, but they were. The other adult brunette would be my dear friend Janel, who is also the God mommy to my kiddos.

Anyhow, needless to say that we gave up and just had a picture of the two of us. (Janel - there's a 5X7 coming your way...not that you need ANOTHER photo to add to your stack :))

Some scenic pictures around wine country near Forest Grove. Behind Jeff you can sort of see Mt. Hood. I thought it was fitting that I was wearing my new Oregon sweatshirt.

Ah, WINE country. Did you know that it is very difficult to find good northwest wine in FL? Jeff and I bought a case and Tara went ahead and shipped it out to us! However, wouldn't you know that NOW we've found good wines in Minnesota. Actually, their reds are quite tasty - a major thing for me as I don't typically care for reds. I think the tannins in them are a bit milder.

Anyhow, this is a picture of a vineyard in the Willamette Valley. We're not sure which winery uses these grapes.

This last picture is of my niece, Quinn, and my Dad (who my kids call Pop-Pop). I just HAD to include this picture as they have the EXACT same expression.

Dora has infected the youngest

Today Jeff and I were talking to Janna about "salta" (which is "jump" in spanish). On"Dora the Explorer" Tico had to "salta" over some branches. She was busy demonstrating how Tico jumped when out of the corner of my eye I noticed JR doing this "bouncing" motion at the knees everytime someone said "salta!" It occured to me that he was trying to jump - but the part about catching air was a bit above him. Needless to say, Jeff and I were amazed that our 14 month old understands the spanish command of "jump!" Especially after only having been exposed to it once this morning.