Daddy all dolled up

Oh dad, you're so fun..letting me put pretty clips in your hair and sparkly lips on you. Gilbert just looks on..he knows it's coming soon for him.

no, no mom, dogs don't eat spaghetti

First of all, here's a photo of evelyne's cool guitar "tatoo." Now to the real reason for this post:

Evelyne's favorite movie, as of last week, is Lady and the Tramp. Every morning she gets up and wants to watch it right away. Of course, we don't watch it right away, first we have to brush teeth and "get ready for the day" before we can go downstairst to watch any TV (it's really a ploy so I can get myself ready in the mornings.) I'm amazed at the things kids pick up on movies etc. She has repeatedly asked me why the dogs eat spaghetti because "dogs don't eat spaghetti, right mom?" First of all, we don't have a dog so I don't know how she knows that dogs don't really eat spaghetti, I never told her that, but she insists that the movie is wrong and I've come up with a typical lame parental explaination of..."well, dogs in movies can eat spaghetti just for pretend." Sounds perfectly logical... I get the all to familiar "how come?" "well, movies honey sometimes are just for pretend?" "but mama honey (she's started calling me honey at times...so funny) why do they pretend to eat spaghetti?" "well, because it's more fun than pretending to eat apples..."well, why" "because apples are too crunchy and then they couldn't hear themselves talking" "why are apples too crunchy...I like apples and apple juice comes from apples, can I have some juice?" "no, not right now".....see this is how my days go, so random and so funny yet from time to time i think i'd rather sit on hot coals than have to answer to some of these never-ending questions...

the real winter blast and frosty

So today we actually had snow, of course they weren't expecting it. Evelyne and dad had a lot of fun making a snowman in our front yard, which she named frosty. (i know there are photos of her w/out gloves, that was time outside just for the photo op) In all we had around 3 inches or so, and it's still snowing but not expected to last. Evelyne and Nathan went sledding at the park this morning, there were a lot of kids out but it was very cold. Gilbert and I stayed inside. It was a fun day and we made oatmeal cookies and built a huge fire to stay warm! Check out the sledding video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx0MLUDn_zs

mom, that little boy is taking all of our snow!!!

"Winter Blast 2007" came and went without much of a blast...a bit of snow here and there and icy patches about town. Of course, the media over-anticipated and the schools over-reacted with school closures. Funny thing is Evelyne really wanted to go skiing with dad in the snow and I kept having to explain there's not enough to ski on. She loved looking at it outside though and was very upset to find a little boy using snow from our yard to throw at his friends. "mom! that little boy is taking all of our snow!!!"

Gilbert is now 2 1/2 months and is really starting to express his personality. Still fairly mild mannered, he definitely knows if mom or dad aren't holding him. He's almost holding his head up all the time and can sit for a while with some help. He loves sitting on laps rather than lying down. He also really loves watching big sister and coos at her like crazy.

A time with cousins

We rang in the New Year on our trip to Eagle Crest with nathan's family. evelyne and gilbert had fun, respectively, playing with and looking at their cousins. highlights included playing with play doh, coloring, and taking a HUGE bath. as I was with gilbert, and who can really relax with a newborn, those were my highlights, too...think I prefer coloring.

Christmas highlights...for the adults

Mom got all the girls martini glasses that match our personalities...."flirtini" for Sarah, "Lolita in Paris" for me, and "Shoptini" for Sadie. We got a good laugh and will enjoy special drinks in them, each has it's own recipe on the bottom of the glass. Here's me with my siblings toasting to Christmas. And this brings me to a special note about Christmas trees. So, growing up in the country I guess should give me a special affinity for "natural" as my mom says Christmas trees. Every year, my parents get said "natural" Christmas tree and every year it seems to be larger in girth than the previous year. This year's tree at the Kelley's was "girthnormous" with "natural" branches jutting willy-nilly everywhere dwarfing the angel on top and dropping ornaments on the hour, every hour. Me, I could do without so much tree personality. Mom loves these trees. But they are a fun topic of conversation and often are right in the middle of every conversation as we have to talk around and through the branches. Until next year oh christmas tree...little full...lotta sap.

Christmas Highlights...for the kids

Making a gingerbread house was quite fun; especially tasting the frosting and candy that came with it!

Celebrating friend Seth's 3rd birthday...santa gets to bring his birthday presents as evelyne says.

Newborns and Vegas

Might be an odd comparison but follow this logic and see if you agree:

Time is virtually irrelevant as night turns to day you barely notice; lights never get turned off. You wear things you'd never usually wear out; in Vegas you might be ultra sexy but here you're ultra grungy with saggy sweatpants, mismatched socks and a coat that still doesn't quite button over your once large belly. You may as well be topless would be easier than constant snapping and lifting. You're always making bets; I bet I can take a shower, feed my toddler, do a load of laundry, and get myself ready all before baby wakes up. Doh! Foiled again. You may be driven to drink, sometimes at odd hours...so if you're up for the day at 3am you can have cocktail hour at 11am, right? So, next time those of you going through it again feel a bit discouraged and sleep deprived think of Vegas, might make the newborn haze a bit clearer to muddle through and give you something to smile about....."wish you were here."

Knights have balls

3 to be exact thanks to Nathan's friend Vicki from Chicago. Look closely at the ball Evelyne is holding it says "Knight" on it...very clever. Of course she's confiscated the blue ball and in this photo is heading off to the park with dad and is oh so excited.
The following photo is of Gilbert's first big bath experience. He wasn't totally thrilled by it, but Evelyne sure had fun with mom and Gilbert in there with her. She scolded me for using her body soap on Gilbert's head, I didn't realize I'd grabbed the wrong one. "no mama, that's for tummy and shoulders, shampoo is for hair" .... duh mom

Great Grandma and kids

Wow, I hadn't realized how much Evelyne and Gilbert look alike at one month of age! Here are two photos each with Great Grandma Doris, the first one is of Gilbert at 1 month and the second one is of Evelyne at one month.

Doorknobs & eggs

funny thing when you actually consider names of some holiday drinks...Evelyne has had Eggnog for the first time and of course LOVES it so she reapeatedly asks for it by name..."mama can i have some doorknobs after dinner with some eggs?"

A break from my girl; why am I lonely??

So, it's only been a couple of hours since Evelyne left with Lindsey to spend the night with her cousins. I'm lonely. Sure, I have Gilbert to keep me company, but somehow, though I never thought I'd admit this, I miss the constant chatter, the thousand "why's" the "hold me mommies." I miss my big kid, as she calls herself. I know she'll have tons of fun with her cousins and it'll be good for me to just have some one on one time with Gilbert. But there is definitely a void in this house, a quiet peacefulness that I don't recognize anymore. Looking forward to seeing you again tomorrow my sweet pea.

Gilbert's first visitors

Aunts, uncles, family & friends; thanks to all the visitors that have come by to play with Evelyne, visit Gilbert and bring us treats! We are blessed to have such wonderful people to share this life with!

One day down...a lifetime to go

So, yesterday was the first day on my own with two kids and it actually went better than I'd thought. I was so terrified that I think I was making myself sick to my stomach a couple days prior to the big "black Monday." Nathan went back to work, came home at lunch though and came home a bit early...I think he was worried about me too. As anything, once you try it you realize you can do it, it isn't that bad. (However, (nathan) this doesn't mean than I'm going white water kayaking anytime soon). Funny, but I think Evelyne was actually better behaved than when Nathan was around all day, I think she likes being back in her routine. As for me, I didn't even have a glass of wine to celebrate the end of the day...I took a hot shower instead. I'll have to make up for it tonight.

meow and trick or treat

We had a little kitty-cat for halloween. Grandpa Larry and Grandma Gigi came over and Evelyne went trick or treating in our neighborhood. She loved it and loved checking out all the candy afterwards! We managed to get one pumpkin carved this year; took all day and both of us to work at it in our "free" time away from baby Gilbert and our cranky toddler. It's a spider, Evelyne picked out the design. She loves and is scared of spiders at the same time but must like them enough to have a pumpkin designed after one.

I want the air mattress; I can't find my nightgown...

Ahh women. Thank you god for giving us a boy so poor Nathan won't be too outnumbered. It's been a tough couple of days since coming home with Gilbert. Evelyne is settling in and crying about silly things like wanting the air mattress pumped up or wanting to wear blue socks and REALLY freaking out over it when she can't have those things. I've been crying if I can't find my night gown or if I get mad at Evelyne at getting mad at her socks...it's a vicious cycle for the Knight women right now...dad just has to suffer through this one. I blame hormones....can't wait for those teen years!! Oh and I guess menopause...

Baby Gilbert is Here!!

Baby Gilbert Kelley Knight arrived Wednesday, October 25th at 12:47pm; one day before his official due date. He weighed 7 lbs. 4oz. and was 19 1/2 " long. Labor and delivery were great; no problems and with the help of great coaches, my mom and nathan, my dr. and the attending nurse..no drugs. All is well with us now that we're home. We're all settling in and enjoying him.

Time for Pumpkins!!

We went to find pumpkins at the Sauvie Island Pumpkin Patch with the Hovdes and Peppmeiers. Evelyne had a lot of fun especially since she got to wear her pink boots! The little boys are Will and Jack Peppmeier...Luke Hovde was on a covert operation scouting through the pumpkin vines...

End of Summer Camping & Sunriver

We did a couple of camping trips this summer and spent a week in Sunriver with my family...all great fun. Evelyne loves the tent and camping of course no surprise since i think she'd rather live outside than inside. I will say it was a bit of a challenge camping while pregnant, but we made it through.
We saw our friends from Texas, the Hugheses, at Sunriver as they were vacationing the same time we were. It was good to see them again. Darren & Marla's little boy, Preston, is just a doll...Evelyne gave him lots of hugs.