Strawberry Fields

The weekend after Disney, we took the kids to Marble Falls to pick strawberries. They loved it! Especially eating them right out of the box. 

They also had horses, donkeys, goats, and chickens for the kids to pet and feed. It was super fun. We enjoyed fresh strawberry popsicles, ice cream, and a smoothie. Plus we came home with about 9 pounds to eat, share, and freeze. And that only lasted us a couple weeks!! Yum!

Abbyism of the Week:

Last week, Abby asked me how God knows when a mommy is ready to have a baby in her tummy. The question floored me. I didn't really know how to respond. I think I came up with something like when a mommy and daddy are ready to love, take care of, and teach a child to grow into a happy adult. Too bad that's not the case for all children born into this world.

Disney World -- At last!

I've been working up to this blog for a while, trying to summarize the first half of the year and my current musings simultaneously over the last several weeks. It's been a little discombobulated, but alas, so is life. :)

We went to Disney World in April with my parents. I definitely recommend the 2:1 adult to child ratio for anyone planning a trip there! We were there for 4 fun-filled days, including a lunch date with all the princesses! Abby loved it, but somehow Will was determined not to look at them. We have several pics of him looking intently at the floor while posing with princesses, plus video of all the background antics we tried to do to get him to look up! I guess it's good he's not ogling the women just yet. It'll come soon enough! Instead, he loved the water fountains spread across the park where kids could run and play. There were a few times he ended up soaked to the bone, but he didn't seem to mind.

The one major inconvenience while we were there was getting stuck on The Pirates of the Caribbean ride. We were stuck inside the boat for over an hour because one of the water pumps broke. But really, it was dark and quiet, and we were sitting down (and Will slept through the whole ordeal!!), so it wasn't that bad. And he might not have gotten a good nap that day otherwise. Of course, the same song of the pirates got a little old after an hour, but oh well.

Abby was a champ. She was so patient and easygoing. A lot better than a couple of the adults in boats on either side of us who started yelling at the ride operators, who were trying to get us out safely, for inconveniencing them. And one woman had an all out fighting match with her 10 year-old daughter about whether to leave before the crew members had given the okay. The girl was being the mature one to stay put and follow directions while the mom went ballistic. Boy, are they going to have issues in a few years. 

Once we finally got out, we were directed through the bowels of backstage Disney back to the park. You'd never believe all the stuff behind the scenes. And how do they hide it so well??? Anyway, we made it back to the park and enjoyed the rest of our trip with our sanity intact, which is more than can be said for some of the trapped guests!

All in all, the trip was great and the kids were great. We were all pretty tired when we got back, but we've recovered. Abby's already asking if we can go back for her birthday (in July!!). I said MAYBE we'll go back when Will is her age. It's not an every year kind of trip if you know what I mean!

Will's World

Will's world, Will's world . . .  party on . . . excellent. Okay, I'll stop reliving high school. Since I have a regular column about Abby, it's only fitting that I start one for Will too. He's all over the place these days. He loves dancing and running. I counted up his words the other day (yes, I have other things to do), and he has over 75!! He's become quite a cute little kid. His favorite book is about trucks and I can keep him awake in the car by yelling "truck" or "bus" periodically because he'll sit up to look out the window to see it. Wonder how much longer that will last.

He has this Playskool bus and a Little People dump truck. You remember those, right? They are perfect sized for toddlers. Not too small, but not huge either. His latest thing is that he actually opens the door on the school bus and tries to put his foot inside. He gets very frustrated that he won't fit, but it cracks me up! He's also tried in his dump truck and in the trucks on the pages of his book! What a hoot.

Oh, another new trend--sticking his hand down the back of his diaper. More and more often, he's doing it when he's dirty. Guess that means he's becoming aware of his toileting needs. Great! The other day, I heard him wake up from his nap saying "dahper dahper." I went in to find that he had pooh on his hands. Luckily none got on the sheets or the wall! Oh, life with a toddler is interesting!

Easter

Oh yeah, Easter was nice too. We spent time with all 3 sets of our parents plus my brother and his wife. The highlights of the weekend were a visit with the Easter Bunny at the church picnic and the cascarone fight at my parents' house. Here they are in their Sunday best . . .

Forget the video!!

I've been holding off on posting recently because I really wanted to include a funny video of Abby from Easter when she learned that we were going to take her to Disney World. Well, we don't have the right 1394 cable blah blah blah or something like that. 

I'll leave that up to Brad to remedy, but in the meantime, enough is enough! I have a backlog of postings in my head and I'm bound to lose them if I don't record them soon. So, I'll just have to recap the old-fashioned way. I'll type. Uh, guess that's not too old-fashioned. Anyway . . .

Jan (my mom): Where do the princesses live?

Abby: I don't know.

Emily: Sure you do. Where do they live?

Abby: Disney.

Jan: That's right. Disney World. How would you like it if you and mommy and daddy and Will went with Honey and Cutter to Disney World?

Abby (to me): Can we go?

Emily: We already have the reservations.

Abby: But first I want to snort!

And then she proceeded to put her finger to her nose and snort like a pig several times. I think that means she was excited, but she sure does have a funny way of showing it. "But first I want to snort!" HA!

It was so much funnier in the moment. I'll still see if we can get that darn cable so I can get the video loaded.

Abbyism of the Week:

So it's been a while since I've actually noted what Abby's saying enough to remember the funny utterances. Here's one from today:

Abby: I can't wait to have a little kid.

Emily: Well, you have to wait until there's a mommy and a daddy. Raising a kid is hard work so there has to be two of you.

Abby: Oh I know it's hard work, I just can't wait to have a kid.

Emily: Why, did you see a kid that you liked?

Abby: Well, kids are just so funny and cute.

Emily: Like who?

Abby: Well, like me. I'm so funny and cute that people just love being around me.

I guess she has a point. Who can resist?

Party On!

February also brought much celebration in the Berger family -- my grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary and my mom's 60th birthday. It was the first time we'd all been together--all 24 of us. Of course, 3 of the boys were only a year old! 

We partied hard all weekend long. And somehow, Will had time to teach cousin Phillip how to climb the stairs . . .

No More Politics As Usual

February brought excitement about the upcoming primary election like I've never felt before. I even dragged the kids to an Obama poster making party and a street rally before the "big debate." Little did I know the party would be the beginning of our rise to fame! The picture below was posted on www.barackobama.com:

Okay, okay. You can't even really see us until you look really hard at the two beautiful blondes in the corner by the couch, but we're there. Then, a few days later I got a call from Abby's preschool teacher who asked if I was an Obama supporter. I thought it was a little weird, but I told her that I was and she said she thought she had just seen me and Will on the NBC Nightly News! It was a teaser for an upcoming story. 

Well, I was walking out the door, but I set up the DVR to get the story. When I watched it later, I found that all 4 of us were in the story for a full 1/2 second, so you might have sneezed and missed it. It was footage from the sign making party again! See if you can find us! It's like Where's Waldo?! (HINT: Will is in the box over Brian Williams' shoulder and the rest of us are later into the clip).

I didn't know how on earth she was able to recognize me until later that night when my sister called to see if we had seen it too. She said we were in the teaser for much longer than in the story--maybe a full 4 seconds! Hmm, that makes 4 1/2 seconds plus how many hits do you think we got on the website? If I'm adding correctly, I've still got a long way to go toward my 15 minutes of fame! 

Fame or no fame, we had fun. Or at least I did. :) The rally ended up being MUCH smaller than I had expected. Just a few people on the sidewalk waiting for others to march from somewhere else. But we got some pics anyway! 

Kids for Obama!

O BA MA! O BA MA!

Alright Alright, I'll Post

Apparently the natives are getting restless because there hasn't been a post on the Buchanan Family Blog since Christmas. We are getting complaints! Well, one anyway. This is for you Kyle. I'm glad to know someone other than me reads these! I'll try to catch you up on the last 4 months without boring you. Not sure how many Abbyisms I can remember from that time, but I'll start them up again!

As always, we spent most of January recuperating from the holidays and trying to find our routine again. By the end of the month, Will was ready to give up his morning nap, but I wasn't! Yikes! 

Make a postcard - it's easy!

Abbyism of the Week:

Greg: Abby, do you concur? That means do you agree?
Abby: I agree, but I can't cur.

I don't even remember what they were talking about, but Abby still thinks it's funny to say she can't cur!

Halloween Fun!

Abbyism of the Week:

Several months ago, we were reading Abby's book A is for Abigail by Lynne Cheney (a book about all the wonderful things women have done in our country). It goes through the alphabet and describes female characters who have contributed something to the nation. "L" is for Julia Lathrop who was the first head of a government bureau focused on children. While we were reading, Abby said she really like that name and that one day she would name her daughter that. I thought it was cute, but thought nothing more of it.

A few weeks ago we were talking in the car . . .

Abby: When I grow up, I am going to have 4 children. The first will be a girl and I will name her Julia Lathrop. Then a boy named Charlie and 2 more girls, Aurora and Isabel.

I couldn't believe she remembered saying that, much less remembered the whole name! She thinks Julia Lathrop is one name because she said her full name would be Julia Lathrop Jayne Buchanan. What a hoot!

Abby Update

Although she's not growing or changing as fast as her brother, Abby deserves her own update. She has adjusted well to the new house and all the friends who live on our cul-de-sac, especially the next-door neighbor Olivia. This has been a blessing for her (and for me!) to find someone so close that she can play with every afternoon. Of course, she's also had the chance to start playing more and more with her brother (and his new birthday toys!). She is seen here flanked by Isabel, the newest doll to join her family of babies.

Abbyism of the Week:

Abby (cleverly reading a sign in the car): Mommy, what does H - E - B spell?
Emily: What do you think?
Abby: Costco?

Do you think she's pulling one over on us?

Will's One!

I can't believe our little guy is already one! He's so big! Well, actually he's quite petite at 19 lbs. 5 oz. and 28.25 inches. But size doesn't matter. He thinks he's big. In fact, he can't figure out why I won't let him go scootering around the cul-de-sac like all the big kids. All in due time.

He's really starting to talk now. He has words for light (aih), hot (aw), dog (gaw), ball (ga), Cocoa (co), outside (gah), and mama (mamamamama). Of course, they all basically sound the same, so you really have to pay attention to context clues. Even then, it's hard. But he knows what he's saying. Now he just has to train us!

Abbyisms of the Weeks:

Abby: I love you mommy. You're my favorite mommy in the whole world.
Emily: I'm your only mommy.
Abby: I know, but even if you weren't, you'd still be my favorite. That's what I love about life. We get mommies that love us and know us, not strangers. You know what else I love about life?
Emily: What?
Abby: I'm glad God gave us Halloween because I love getting lots of candy!


Emily: So what do you think about Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize?
Brad: I don't know. He doesn't exactly seem to be living very green himself.
Abby: Who, Shrek?


This is an old one that Spencer actually told me about last Christmas. I think it may even be older than that, but it's too good not to be captured here.

Abby (to Spencer): What do you think about puh puh?
Spencer (thinking she has just asked him about poo poo and surely he misunderstood): What?
Abby: What do you think about puh puh?
Spencer: I'm sorry, I don't understand you.
Abby: You know, puh puh, what do you think about puh puh?
Spencer: I just don't know.
Abby: Okay. Then what about pink?

Will @ 11 Months

Well, I think I already mentioned that Will's walking. He's also into climbing ladders and stairs, which he started doing WELL before walking. He crawled up the stairs at our new house the week we moved in, at about 7 months. He likes to keep us on our toes!

He's already acting like an engineer at such an early age, trying to figure out how things work. And tinkering. Boy, does this kid tinker. I'm not sure where he gets it! :)

He's also into things that start with "B." He plays with brooms, balls, and a bus. And his favorite mealtime fare includes bananas, black beans, and bread.

He took a tumble this week on our driveway. Although he's quite adept at walking, he hasn't yet mastered the slope. Too bad it's concrete! It was his first bloodshed on my watch. Just a couple scratches on his finger and nose, but it hurt me almost as badly (or more)!

Abbyisms of the Weeks:

I have a long list of these since I haven't done them in sooooo long. I'm sure I've forgotten some . . .

Debbi makes a rhyming scavenger hunt for special occasions for Abby to find her presents. Here are some of the clues and Abby's guesses:

Clue: When you go outside in the Spring, Daddy can push you high on your new . . .
Abby: Tricycle?
Clue: When Coach likes to go very far, he goes in his big red . . .
Abby: Balloon?

And some others:

Abby: (while praying before bedtime) God, thank you for killing all the dinosaurs because I don't like dinosaurs because they could eat me.

Abby: Mom, why did God make mosquitos? I mean do they do ANYTHING good?

I realize I keep apologizing for not updating more regularly. Well, I'm going to stop apologizing and get to it when I can.

We have so much going on. Will is now full-on walking, so look out world! Of course, he used to have a super fast crawl, so it's not too much different now, but it's so darn cute! Can't believe we're closing in on his first birthday. He'll be 11 months next week! And Abby started her LAST year of preschool this fall. Next year, it's the big time!

The Pampered Chef is going well. Still trying to find my groove to have time for it and myself in the midst of my family duties. I have a website but I'm not supposed to link it here, so let me know if you're interested and I'll send it to you separately.

Cousin Phillip (and his parents) came to visit in August. Both the kids thoroughly enjoyed having another little one around.

The Recital

Six days after we moved, Abby made her debut on the dance stage at Westlake High School. Although she likes her dance class, she did NOT like her costume (IT'S TOO ITCHY!!!) or Daddy's shirt that she wore as a cover-up. She also did not like having to sit in her car seat in her costume and Daddy's shirt, nor did she like being awakened from her nap in the car to go backstage (as evidenced here). Boy, those LOUD struggles were worth it to see her on stage . . . well, at least I think they were.

She DID enjoy getting to wear make-up and hair gel that became known as our special "pirate's gel" in my effort to convince her to get ready for her dress rehearsal. Of course, she was hard to recognize. My sister, when looking at pictures from the event, almost asked who the cute little white Asian girl was! :)

The routine was so cute and she's such a ham. The audience just ate it up. I'm just glad she woke up enough to be happy on stage. What an ordeal. And, we're signed up for it all again this year . . .

Abbyism of the Week:

Abby got a toy Fiona (from Shrek) in a Happy Meal several weeks ago . . .

Abby: What is it?
Emily: She's an ogre that's a princess.
Abby: No, she's too ugly to be a princess.

What am I teaching my daughter???

It's been 2 months already?!?!?

Can't believe it's been that long since I last wrote. We've been A LITTLE busy moving to a new house this summer. Here are the kids "helping" me pack up the old house.

Packing and unpacking have definitely been a challenge with the little ones. Especially since Will started to crawl at 6 months, right around the time that we started packing. He started going up the entire staircase 2 days before we moved. So now, we have to keep constant watch over him or he makes a bee-line for the stairs EVERY time. Now, he's 9 months old and can also climb ladders and step stools. He's into everything. Just a matter of days before he's walking. Then, LOOK OUT! Little stinker.

Once we moved out, we found a renter for the old house, so we could hang onto it. Now we own 2 houses! Unbelievable! And a little scary at the same time.

Things in the new house are starting to come together. We still have a couple boxes to unpack almost 2 months later, and nothing on the walls yet. But, hey, we're making progress!

In the midst of moving, I decided I wanted to become an Independent Consultant with The Pampered Chef. (I know, my timing is questionable, but many of you have called me crazy in the past. Here's another perfect instance!). I've had 3 shows so far, and it's so much fun! I'd love to do a show with anyone who is interested in earning free high-end cooking products! I'll have a website soon, but in the meantime, you can check out http://www.pamperedchef.com/.

Guess that's about it for now! Stay tuned . . .

I'm an Aunt!

Phillip Maxwell Chambers was born on April 13, 2007. I'm so excited to meet him. Mom (my sister Meredith) and baby just celebrated Mother's Day and one-month birthday together! Hooray.

Family Update

Man, I can't get my act together to get to the blog more than once a month right now! SIGH. A quick update for now, and then I'll return soon (hopefully!). Will has started crawling and pulling up. He took 3 steps this week. I don't think he knows he's too young for that! His most recent trick is to pull up in his crib and stand there and cry until we go in and let him down. Then he gets right back up. He's been doing this at naps, bedtime, and in the middle of the night. Last night, we decided to just let him cry himself to sleep. Took him TWO hours. Makes me feel like a great mom sitting there listening to my baby cry that long. But now we know he CAN get down by himself if he so chooses.

Abby's done with school next week. Just one more year until kindergarten! Can't believe it.

Well after 6.5 years in this house, we're moving. We found a house close to where we currently live with a little more space, plus a playground, pool, and elementary school all within walking distance. We close June 1 and move June 4. Exciting stuff. We're all very excited about it, but I HATE moving. The current house is already being taken over by boxes and everything else is in shambles. We'll get there I'm sure as long as I can avoid an anxiety attack! We plan to rent our current house out if we can manage it. We'll see how much we like being landlords.

Will's Tonka

Easter Kids

Buchanan Family

Will's Milestones

It's been a busy month for Mr. Will. He's fully sitting up now, trying to stand, eating solid foods, taking big-kid baths and getting very near to crawling. Look out world!

I don't know how entire months get away from me. Well, yes I do, but it still amazes me! It's been a busy month at the Buchanan household. Abby had a week off at Spring Break, so we went to the San Antonio Zoo. That's her 3rd zoo in 9 months. Gotta make up for the first 3 years of her life!

All ready to go!

Pretty fishies

The elephant says hi too!

Abbyism of the Week

Abby is talking about Texas at preschool (in conjunction with Texas Independence Day last week). So, they went to the Capitol grounds to explore. She was telling me about her day one day . . .

Abby: We talked about Texas and went to the Capitol today.
Emily: Did you know the Capitol is where they make laws for Texas?
Abby: Yes, like you can't marry your brother. Or strangers. That would be funny. Or Sandpeople or Darth Vader.

Will went to visit his great-grandparents last week. It's wonderful having four generations all living in the same town! What a blessing!

I think I've already mentioned that Abby wants to be a ballerina when she grows up. She's starting dance classes in February, so we'll see how they go. She got her first "ballerina clothes" for Christmas.

Abbyisms of the Week:

Abby (randomly at lunch): When I grow up, I'm going to have a house of my own where I get to make the rules. In my house there will be shoes on the sofa and jumping on the bed.


Abby (waving to Brad as he leaves for work): Goodbye! If you get lost, call our phone number and we'll help you out!

Christmas

We had such a busy Christmas season this year. The kids and I joined my mom for our 2nd annual gingerbread house making session at the Austin Children's Museum. Mom and I also did our annual holiday baking (making enough cookies to feed an entire army!).

Our little elf

The elf's big sisterWho can resist such a smile?

Making gingerbread house with mom's friend Judy

The Buchanan family traveled to Washington, D.C. to have Christmas with the entire Berger family at my sister's house. It was a lot of fun. After Christmas we got to go to the Museum of Natural History, the National Zoo, and the White House. A good time was had by big and little kids alike.

Christmas Morning

Off to the Zoo (Yes, Will is wearing a bear suit! The wind chill was in the 30s!)

A trip to the playground for sand castles and a tire swing

Our last night with Meredith and Spencer