So I’m pretty sentimental, bet you never would have guessed, and because of it I torture my family with all the memories I want to make.  We have a gazillion photos – pretty ones, crying ones, down right ugly ones.  We have hours upon hours of video of milestones, fun events, even what the kids’ crys sounded like as babies.  Well it’s gotten even worse since Kate’s arrival.  Now that our family is complete I feel compelled to document as much as possible.  Here are two of our most recent projects.  We also did the kids’ handprints in plaster (made into ornaments) at Christmas but that was such a disaster we don’t have a single photo from the “experience”.

Handprint Art
So we stole this idea from Red Envelope.  We had a lot of fun doing them and enjoyed the challenge of trying to make a newborn hold her hand flat.  The canvases are hung in our family room.

Here’s Walter doing his print -

We had to one-arm swaddle Kate to keep her from making a huge mess.

I think Noah had to do his 3 or 4 times.  Guess it was harder than it looks!

And here’s the final product -

Feet
Way back when I was still in college taking photography classes Walter and I did a photo of our feet for one of my assignments.  It was taken with old fashioned film and developed in our bathroom darkroom so it’s not so easy to crop and throw online but I’ve included a photo of it.  Well that’s been hanging in our family room for almost 8 years now and we couldn’t help but do one with each addition to the family.  Here’s the progression -

Yes, I have huge feet.  Walter and I wear the same size.

Since I’m only averaging one post each week I might as well share the rest of our “Family Fun Days” with you.  Below are some highlights of the rest of Walter’s time off. His first week back to work went pretty well.  Noah was sad after one nap in particular when Walter wasn’t here but we kept busy and managed to keep his mind off of it.  We also had a house guest (more in a later post) which gave him something new to enjoy.

Here we are on a play date with our friends Beth and Aaron.  We see them at least once a week and really enjoy their company. 

Noah, Kate and me on the carousel -

Noah has been a bench rider for the past several months but once again ventured onto the horses.  Two year olds are so weird.  And this one is so in love with his Daddy!

And another day we went to “Apoe and Agoon’s” Farm (Walter’s parents).  Noah loved it!  He checked everything out and did an amazing job supervising the work.  Kate on the other hand decided she’s not one for the great outdoors.  She complained the entire time, couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t figure out why anyone would go there voluntarily.

We, of course, post only the happy photos though so everyone thinks our kids are angels.  Just kidding.  We did work really hard for these smiles though so I have to share them!

Noah hunting oranges -

This is a tangelo orange.  You can’t do this with all oranges but if you peel the skin and cut the top off you have instant orange juice, there is none fresher.  You just squeeze the orange together and drink, and repeat, and repeat, and repeat.  I felt very outdoorsy doing this!

Here is Noah washing his hands -

It was a gorgeous day!

And here is a panoramic photo of the farm.  With such limited space here you can’t enjoy the full size photo but you get the idea.  Claire and Herbie work very hard growing all kinds of fruits and vegetables and have for years.  While it’s not my cup of tea I give them a lot of credit!  It really is a labor of love!

And then to torture Kate even more we went down the road to Lion Country Safari.  She didn’t like this place much better, the bugs were just a little smaller.  We did the drive through, which we haven’t done in over a year because Noah has never enjoyed it.  Well I think he’s finally old enough to appreciate the giant animals and interesting sights.  He really loved it.  We also did the water park (the only one open in January) but didn’t get any photos of it. 

Noah kept saying – “I want the rions to go ROARRRR!”  I love that kid!

And he was fascinated by the zebras!

If you look closely you can see the baby white rhino under the mom.  He was soooo cute!  There were also two giraffe babies but their photo didn’t come out so well.

On a more somber note, one of the reasons I’ve been so slack in blogging is my Dad.  He gave us quite a scare this week.  We’re not sure why but he experienced a seizure and brain bleed.  He’s still in ICU being poked and prodded and at the moment all of the doctors can only scratch their heads and wonder what happened and what should happen next.  I’d like to give a little public love to my sister, Nikki, who happened to stop by the house when my dad was home alone and all of this started.  Had she not we’re not sure this story would have ended as good as it has.

Here’s my Dad -

He is the most amazing cook!  This is him cooking Thanksgiving dinner in 2007. 

And here is the moment we realized we don’t take nearly enough photos of him.  Because – well, that’s Noah.

And so is this.

And here’s a real oldie, unfortunately I’m not omitting much in between -

We’re such party animals!  The kids were in bed by 8pm and we played video games (with the Dick Clark-less New Year’s Eve show on in the background) until just before midnight, which is when I logged on to wish you a very healthy and happy New Year!  If I play my cards right I’ll be in bed soon but I wanted to share some of our “family fun days” from Walter’s vacation with you.  We did something almost every day and enjoyed his time off thoroughly.  I’m really dreading Monday when reality moves back in!

Why I thought Walter wanted to check out all the new shopping centers is beyond me.  I took him anyway and as long as I fed him he put up with my window shopping.  Our first trip was to the Pembroke Pines Shopping Center which is phenominal!  It’s an outdoor mall with a lot to see.  We had a blast and the weather was perfect!

We ate at the Pub where all the staff (ALL of the staff) wore kilts.  The food was great, the beer was incredible and the outdoor seating really made dining with a two year old a lot easier.  Kate, as usual, slept through the whole experience.

Here Walter and Noah are playing “guess what letter I’m drawing on your back!” – one of their faves!

We both got the fish and chips and the three of us polished the plates completely.  My friend Beth has tried the fried pickle here and said it’s divine!  Maybe next time!

And this is what that wonderful two year old does with ketchup.  He eats it.  Not with his food, with his finger.  He eats it.  Gross.

The area was beautifully decorated for the holidays -

Noah has always loved waterfalls and fountains.  You may remember the very anticlimatic trip to Niagara Falls.  Since then we’ve discovered that these little guys do the trick just fine!

Christmas Eve was awesome!  Although I was at the end of my rope, ready to drop the kids off at the fire station, I pulled it together and we all went to church.  I knew it would be past their bedtime and I looked horrible, not even putting on makeup and only managing to get my hair in a ponytail but it was what it was and I needed something to get me in the spirit.  Our church always has a beautiful candlelight Christmas Eve service and this year was no different.  The choir was amazing and the hymns did the trick.  What a magical night!  Here are some photos Walter managed to get in the low light.

Noah made himself right at home as soon as we got there, lounging on the pews. 

Nikki, Julia and my mom came.  Thank God for extra hands to hold the baby!  Everyone always asks where Kate gets her amazingly long fingers from.  Do you see my sister’s?

Tom Lacey is our favorite Pastor.  He “remarried” us and baptized Noah.  He’ll be baptizing Kate very soon.

Isn’t our church gorgeous!?

Anyone who knows Noah knows he loves fire.  This was his favorite service so far!

But he was very antsy and very tired.

And Kate was just tired.  She finally gave in and napped on Grammy’s lap.

And when we got home we bathed Noah and put him in Christmas pj’s – a tradition in my family.  Isn’t he too cute?  I believe this may also be our only photo of the tree, which is already down.

I know, it’s not very politically correct to wish anyone a Merry Christmas these days but that’s what we celebrate and I’m taking it upon myself to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!  I do also wish great things for those celebrating other holidays, we even went to a Hanukkah party this year, but right now it’s Christmas Eve so a Christmas greeting is what you get!

It doesn’t feel much like Christmas outside, with these crazy 80 degree days in the dead of winter, but the trees and lights are up and we’re anticipating a visit from Santa.  Tonight we’re going to the candlelight service at church which is always very beautiful and tomorrow we’re zig zagging across Palm Beach County to make our rounds with the family.

Last week we had a few friends over for brunch which was very nice.  Here are a few moments from the day -

My awesome peppermint bark hearts, that wouldn’t have been possible without my super crafty friend Kim, whose idea I totally ripped off!

Pretzel rods – these were awesome!  I made some kid sized ones too!

The grub!

Those cupcakes are the size of my head!  Costco rocks!

The kid table, missing a few of the kids.

And something no one thought they would ever see.  Our friend Dave touching a baby.  Kate wasn’t too sure about him at first but as soon as she realized they spoke the same language (of food) all was forgiven.

Later that afternoon I recieved a beautiful gift from my friends Ed and Nanda of Petunia Flowers.  They made some poor guy bring it all the way up from Miami but I am so grateful, we have really enjoyed it!  Ed and Nanda were the angels that did my shower arrangements, aren’t they so talented?!

And it had the most adorable little card -

And since we’re on the subject of Christmas I suppose I should share with you our trip to see Santa.  It was very anticlimatic and horribly dissapointing.  We drove all the way down to Aventura Mall in Miami because we heard it was a great experience.  I was having trouble deciding between there and PGA.  I knew the PGA Mall (the Gardens) had a gorgeous Santa but not much else.  I was told this one had a very pretty Santa (shoot me, we’re into photos) and a lot of kid things to do.  We took the bait and boy did we make the wrong choice!  Santa was a class A jerk!  Even in Boca you get a very friendly guy who wants to know your name and what you want for Christmas.  This guy was all about the photo.  He pulled the kids onto his lap, yelled at Walter about where to stand (because of course you can’t interfere with their overpriced poor quality photo scam) and then told Noah where to look.  And as soon as one picture was taken he wanted to know who was next.  Ummmm, there was no one else in line.  We felt very ripped off and I felt violated on the kids’ behalf.  Anyway, they did have a train ride and a play area but that hardly made up for it.  Here are some picture from the experience.

It was definitely a gorgeous place with a pretty Santa, I’ll give them that -

Noah really enjoyed riding on the train.  It was a very short ride and he wanted to go again but we all had lost our Christmas spirit by then.

And here’s our OCD son closing the train door.  We’re going to claim he’s a gentleman in the future, but for now it must be OCD.

So we’re hoping the nice Santa will visit tonight.  Afterall, we’ve all been pretty good.  I hope you all get exactly what you’re wanting.  Is it wrong to ask for a silent night (with no hungry middle of the night wake up calls)?

Before yesterday it had been awhile since you heard from us.  Sorry about that!  I’m trying to catch up.

I’ll start with the rest of Bruce and Peter’s visit.  On Thanksgiving Walter, Ian, Bruce and Peter took all the kids to Sugar Sand Park.  They had a great time!  Kate and I stayed home and watched the Macy’s Parade.  Walter managed to get a few shots -

Jaimie                                                                     Olivia

Noah                                                                      Ian and Amy

Here’s Noah the day before at another park.  I picked this one out because I wanted to show you a photo of him in this same tunnel awhile back.  What a difference two years makes!

Then in December…

Remember our girlfriend Lauren who let us do her (amazing) pregnancy photos?  Well she had her little guy Max a few days after the shoot.  He was born on December 3rd and is just too cute for words.  We were originally supposed to do photos on the 6th, it’s a good thing we didn’t wait! 

Here they are in the hospital -

Isn’t he too cute?  Beth and I actually dragged our whole gaggle (of three kids) to go see her.  It’s amazing she even let us in the door!  And then we dragged the new mom of two to a playdate the following week -

Noah                                                                              Kate and I – my sister made me this great sling!

Aaron loving the swing - as always!

Max

Alex, Lauren’s older son and Max’s brother

And then we sent Kate and Max on their first date.  They are only two months apart (although she looks about 6 months old next to this precious 9 day old baby) and already enjoy each other’s company.  Just kidding, they’re probably sharing stories about how their older brothers torture them when no one is looking.

Kate and Max holding hands -

Kate with the “yes!” or “score!” fist pump, Max thinks she’s boring -

Too cute.  Is she mocking him?

And then my little bipolar princess -

And our attempt to get all the kids in a picture.  Alex refused so here’s everyone else.

Beth and I fought over, I mean took turns, holding Max.

Noah got his very first case of brain freeze today and boy was it funny!  We went to Rita’s to get treats for later and the manager gave him a sample milkshake that was just his size, the straw was even cut to be kid (or sample) sized.  He took one sip and was hooked!  He started inhaling it and then all of a sudden started crying!  I thought something had happened but he started screaming “it’s too cold!!!” and grabbing his head, and then he begged for me to pick him up.  I started cracking up!  Maybe it was more funny in person but I chuckle every time I think about it.  The staff looked really concerned and then I told Noah that they call that a brain freeze and everyone started to laugh.  My poor baby.  It took him a while to want the milkshake back and as he was cautiously sipping it the shopping cart hit a bump and he dropped it.  He was equally hysterical over losing his drink as he was when it tortured him.  Some days you just can’t win.

That’s all I have for stories but I wouldn’t dare post without photos so here are a few shots of us setting up for Christmas -

Noah wanted to help very badly.  The first few sets of branches were almost bigger than him so he waited patiently until they got small enough for him.

He loved trying to lock them in but wasn’t very good at it.

One of the biggest reasons he had so much trouble was because Mickey Mouse was on TV.  He gets heavy after awhile and we had to keep telling him he either needed to work or get down.  I wasn’t a fan of holding him over the tree while he caught up on the mouse!

I’ll post another day about Noah’s “help” in decorating the tree.  We invested in shatterproof ornaments but the fun never ends here at the Yap house!

And a little later we took photos of Kate for Aunt Lindy because she loves this outfit – thanks for the cool duds, Raven!

She loves to smile and she’ll flirt with anyone!  She’s already more outgoing than her brother!

Happy Thanksgiving to you!  This is one of my favorite holidays!  When I was young we would get up early and watch the entire Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade while my dad prepared dinner.  Mom always made the pies and dad took care of the rest.  Then in the late afternoon we would feast like kings and pass out early.  Those were the days!  Now I’m lucky to catch pieces of the parade on TV and most years we spend our entire day zig-zagging across Palm Beach County so we can hit all of our families’ homes and end up keeping Noah up way too late.  This year will be different though.  I’ve put the boys on warning that I am watching the parade (darnit!) and if they want to watch anything else they’ll need to find another TV.  We’re also only going to one family on Thanksgiving, Walter’s parents.  On Friday we’ll go to my parents’ for leftovers.  Hopefully we can keep reasonable routines, naps and a decent bedtime schedule for both kids.  Here’s to hoping!

One really nice thing about the holidays is that it brings family to town.  Our cousins, Bruce and Peter are here from Atlanta with their daughters Olivia and Teagan.  We went to the beach with them on Wednesday.  It was Kate’s first trip and she enjoyed it as much as any two month old might.  Noah was loving the water and the weather was amazing.  I leave you with a few shots from the day.  Happy Thanksgiving!

The weather was perfect!  I wouldn’t have wanted to sunbathe with the breeze we had, which is probably why it was empty, but the kids had a great time!

Peter with Teagan                                                    Olivia

Bruce and Teagan making sandcastles

It was early.  Don’t mind my “look”.

I may be biased (maybe just a little) but aren’t my kids so freaking cute?  Kate looks more like an angel every day.

I know – I’m a horrible blogger!  I’m sorry.  We’ve been so busy trying to keep up with these kids of ours that a few things have fallen by the wayside.  I will try to do better!

Kate and Noah are doing pretty well.  Noah has finally realized that he doesn’t have to be nice to his sister.  It doesn’t earn him any brownie points but he gets plenty of attention for acting out.  We’re working on this.  Kate has proven to us that her digestive system (or could it be her taste?) is more delicate than we would like.  We’ve tried so many formulas, gone from her sleeping all day to not at all and back again, called in the reinforcements (our wonderful families), and just generally been very frustrated.  We think we’re turning the corner with this (we hope we are), please send us happy, restful thoughts!  She has managed to pack on the pounds just fine.  At her last visit (last week) she was 12-ish pounds.   That’s half of Noah’s weight!  She is also taller than he was at this age.  Tomorrow she is two months old, it’s hard to believe.  And today, Noah officially turned two and a half.  It’s crazy.  I’m so glad we’re half way through the “terrible two’s”!  Please tell me this attitude issue magically disappears on his third birthday!

I finally got a new camera to replace the one that Noah threw in a pool.  Hopefully this means I will have a lot more photos in the future.  A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of having someone else volunteer to take our photos.  Virginia met us at the beach early in the morning and got some amazing shots.  Here are a few of our favorites -

And to show how fast a baby can change in four weeks, this is her now -

We always used to joke that our family was the Griswald’s.  Do you remember those movies (National Lampoon’s)?  We so had a Griswald mobile!  Anyway, my sister Lindy is in town and we’re all together again.  It doesn’t happen very often so we try to make the most of it when we can.  We’ve done a lot of shopping, visiting, we’ve had babysitter and have been relieved of night duty – TWICE – it’s been great to have her in town!  We even got together for a child free lunch at Seasons 52 which was such a treat!

Last night we had a family dinner at my parent’s.  We took a few photos.  Please excuse my hair!

Lindy hasn’t seen Noah since the month before his first birthday.  This is the first time she’s seen him walk!

And of course the first time she’s met Kate. 

Can you see Kate sticking her tounge out at them?  LOL!

My niece Julia and Kate.  She only holds happy babies.

Here are all the sisters.  I would like to put a caption at the bottom of this stating I’m 7 weeks post partum.  We need to do this again next year when we can all look fabulous and well rested!

We have a lot of history with this green couch.  Here we are in 2004.  Why do I always have bad hair on family photo day?

And then here we are a few years before.  I’m not sure how many but I think a lot is a fair guess.  And yes, we’re shocked about the weight roller coaster too.

And for entertainment purposes we made one more person squeeze onto that poor couch!  Just kidding – mom and her girls.