Sweet, sweet Kate.  The daughter that wasn’t going to be girly.  The one who wasn’t going to own anything pink… 

The one who has a pink, PINK nursery, a boat load of dresses, and just as many shoes.  Yeah, that Kate. 

Despite my original efforts to hold back she has become a GIRL.  A girl with a love for accessories, specifically eyewear.  I have never known a little person to love eyewear so much.  And I do say eyewear, because it’s not just for glasses anymore!

The Original Kate – cute, fun, happy

And sometimes serious… when food is involved.

The flower child/Elton John Kate – funny, cute, and cool

Aquatics Kate – her first love of eyewear, Noah’s swimming goggles (she wears these around the house a lot!)

Diva Kate – there is nothing cooler than sunglasses with flowers!

and last but not least, Terminator Kate

She’ll be back…

This is a total brag post.  We are gushing with pride over our three year old superhero!  Anyone who knows Noah knows that he is absolutely obsessed with fire and everything fire related.  Obsessed.  I figure he’ll either grow up to be a fire fighter (over my dead body) or a pyromaniac (ummm, yea, no).  Anyway, yesterday at school they held a routine fire drill.  The school takes the youngest kids (Kate’s class) out of the building prior to the alarm sounding so they don’t freak out.  After the alarm was pulled Noah’s class lined up and started to exit their room.  Noah ran to the front of the line and grabbed his teacher’s pants.  She said his eyes were welling with tears and he was in a panic.  She asked what was wrong and he said they needed to go get Kate!  They needed to tell her their was a fire and she needed to come with him outside.  He was frantic!  Of course when you’re three a fire drill and the real thing is a line that’s a little blurry.  She told him that Kate was already outside but that wasn’t good enough.  He needed to see her, he needed to know she was ok!  So Miss Molly spotted Kate in her pink jacket (with her back turned) and told Noah that Kate was right there (outside) and she was ok.  Still, he wasn’t convinced.  Miss Molly had to promise that it was Kate and as soon as they were able to step out of line he ran over to be sure. 

Three different teachers told me this story when I went to pick them up in the afternoon.  I was very proud, very surprised, and very choked up.  I love how much he loves her, even though – on occasion – he loves to torment her.  He also got to choose something from the treasure chest at school as a special treat.  Of course we couldn’t help but reward him too!  Every once in a while when your kid seems positively rotten and you’re at your wit’s end it’s important to hold on for one more day.  They do come around, they will wow you, and for at least one more day they’re safe from HRS.  We love you Noah Schmoah!

There are so many things I will miss when the kids are older.  So many little things.  Sure, I’ll miss being able to pick out their music and clothes, because let’s face it - teenagers are no good at that stuff, but I’ll also miss who they are right now. 

Noah has a flair for mispronunciation and made up words.  I already miss his emphatic “BA”, which could have been anything but was most often his pacifier when he was a toddler.  I still love that yellow is lello, and Ayla is Awaa but I’m sure those will change too.  His newest bump in the learning curve is telling time.  Every morning he comes into our room and announces it’s time to get up.  And every morning Walter groggily asks him what time it is.  It’s usually 5 or 6 something (but in the pattern of number number number), which means it’s not time to get up, but sometimes we get this treat – it’s mystery one five (or whatever is after the mystery).  It took us a bit to figure it out but that’s 7:15.  Apparently this – 7 – and this – ? – are pretty similar in his mind.  To me it’s  a mystery how he only manages to sleep past 7:00am once a week!  But, isn’t that the cutest thing ever?  Noah is also a huge fan of renaming people right now.  I don’t know how he chooses names, or sometimes where they come from, but it always makes us laugh.  His teach at school, Miss Molly, is Molls.  His best friend there is Charlie, Noah calls him Charles.  The other night I was Brisket but I’m most often Dads – that’s not a typo.  He loves to be silly!

Kate is still into pointing and grunting.  Her school tells us she can talk a little – Mickey, No, and Mine – but we haven’t heard it.  She mimics us sometimes and can almost get some similar sounds with the right amount of syllables out but she definitely understands.  You can tell her just about anything, or make any request, and she’s on it.  Whether or not she wants to do it remains a completely different story.  We joke that she has an attitude problem but I’m hoping it’s just that she’s opinionated.  Right now she wants to do everything Noah does, especially the dangerous stuff, and absolutely everything by herself.

All of these traits and habits will one day be a distant memory but I wanted to put them here so we never forget just how darn cute they could be!  Another thing I’m sure we’ll miss… how they enjoy Valentine’s Day…

The Queen of the Self Feed -

Apparently not even 3.75 years of practice makes you a clean donut eater -

What do you miss about your child’s childhood, or what do you think you will miss the most?

That’s it, I’m officially a mom.  In case the whole pregnancy, labor, delivery mess didn’t convince me, this is it.  I spent my day making treats for the kids’ bake sale.  Always trying hard not to take ourselves too seriously, and because I can’t eat chocolate, I didn’t “bake” just anything… Noah and I made popcorn balls! 

Popcorn balls have been one of my favorite treats for as long as I can remember.  We used to make them at my grandparents’ house every Christmas;  I have such fond memories of those times!  Today I use the same recipe written by my grandmother in pencil on an ancient index card. 

Every time time I make them I manage to do something wrong; some things never change.  The recipe is very simple.  Make popcorn, make this eewy, gooey, sticky sauce, poor the sauce over the popcorn and form into balls.  The first year I made these on my own I let 3 milliseconds pass between pouring the boiling sauce over the popcorn and attempting to form balls.  I don’t remember having to wait for anything to cool as a kid!  I also don’t remember how long it took that to heal but I’ve never done it since!  This time I put all the ingredients in the sauce at once, two are supposed to go in at the very end of the boiling process.  Oops.  They still taste great!

And because I enjoy my memories of popcorn ball making so fondly I figured I’d pass on the tradition.  Here’s how it went down -

Noah, Monkey and I pressed the popcorn into balls.  Noah was in charge of picking stray kernels off my hands for his snack.

He was also excellent at finding all the unpopped, hard seed kernels and putting them aside.

Don’t you love his dimple!?

I made a little one for him -

In order to bribe him for this -

Did I mention these things are sticky!?

We also baked some double chocolate chip muffins for the boring people at the sale.

Happy Valentine’s Day!  I hope your festivities are just as sweet!

For Christmas Noah got an ant farm from his Aunt Nikki.  At first I was a little surprised and not exactly in the fun, excited way.  Then I found out that to get the ants for the farm you had to order them BY MAIL.  Again, not excited – but, we did.  We sent away for the special ants that eat the special gel in this modern ant farm.  Did you know insects can be MAILED?!!?

Well the ants arrived and we put them in their new home (and by “we” I mean Walter).  Although they looked like big, mean, red ants, I figured so long as they were in the farm it really didn’t matter.  Once they got acclimated though and started to make this joint their home we all became fascinated.  It’s so interesting to watch them – from a distance – and see how they make tunnels and problem solve.  The very first tunnel they built went right into the wall of the farm.  D’oh!  They’ve gotten used to the surroundings though and this is what they’re up too…

Here’s what it looks like from a little further back.  Damn, ants, they can’t get anything right – we told them to spell Noah.  They are missing the o and the a and the h is upside down!  Just kidding, we have no idea what N4 is or where they think they’re going!

In case you forgot, this is the Yap Family blog, yes really.  It was starting to get foggy for me too, I was afraid I’d forget how to log in!  I know I have so much catching up to do, and I plan to, but I don’t have all the photos together yet (let’s be honest, that’s why you’re here).  So I’ll share an ounce of right now and promise, once more, to update you more often.  I certainly won’t let months get in between us again!

We’ve been very busy cultivating our photography business.  We have become crazy popular but we’re loving every minute of it!  The only downside is that it really cuts into our family time on the weekends.  Last weekend we had a request for a photo session from a friend.  His wife had a bone marrow transplant a few weeks back and because of the immune system stuff and because she’s out of town for treatment, they don’t see her very often.  Of course we were excited to help with the Valentine’s photos as a surprise for her but we were feeling guilty about leaving the kids behind for another shoot.  I think we had three that weekend and this one was a favor.  So we took them!  We let them run around the park for a half an hour before the shoot and when my friend and his sons arrived the older kids raced around like crazy people!  They had such a blast and although it certainly made shooting so much more difficult I’m glad they could join us this time.

We managed to talk them into a few photos too!

We set up a ladder/scaffolding for a few photos and the kids were under the impression we brought a jungle gym!

Kate’s hair is getting so big and long.  She’s still not a fan of having anything to keep it out of her eyes!

                                                                                                      H  O  N  K  !  !  !  !

The photos of my friend and his kids came out well; the boys were super sweet!  If you want to see those you’ll have to check out the photo blog – www.yaporiginals.com

It’s great to “see” you again!

Yes, crickets again on the blog.   I can’t even begin to explain how busy we are.  Not to complain but things are pretty hectic.  Good hectic though.  A few months ago Walter and I gave in to all the encouragement to develop our photo hobby.  Well, it’s been mad!  We are booked, and some days double booked, for every day until we leave for Canada at the end of the year.  Do you know how many photos that is to edit?  Plus Walter has a real job, plus I have two weddings, oh yeah – and then there’s the kids.  It’s a little nuts.  So please forgive me.  January should be much less busy!

Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving.  It is, hands down, my favorite holiday.  I love everything about it!  When I was a kid we would all watch the Macy’s Parade while mom and dad cooked and we helped out when we were willing as we could.  The smells, the smiles, the comedy in the kitchen… it was awesome!  To this day I refuse to miss the parade – I even DVR’d it once!  And this year was no different.  We had the Friedman’s over for breakfast and enjoyed the parade together.  We went to my parents and got there in plenty of time for the “comedy in the kitchen”.  Dinner was amazing, as usual, and it was great to enjoy each other’s company.  The kids didn’t make it home awake which, unfortunately, means we didn’t get to see Walter’s family.  So in the spirit of thanksgiving, tell me – what are you thankful for?

I am thankful for family…

I am thankful for my beautiful little girl and the abilities and materials we have to ensure she is care free for as long as possible…

I am thankful for my gorgeous son who has the best sense of humor, the most mischievous grin, the nicest imaginary friend – Chico, and the ability to outrun any photo attempt on Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for my father’s health, which isn’t what it used to be, but is still enough to make him a great dad, grandfather, and amazing chef!  He has always cooked the majority of our Thanksgiving dinners and he never disappoints!

I am thankful for my mom.  My mom is… my mom and everything moms are to every little girl when they’re 5.  I can’t imagine what I would ever do without her, I don’t even want to consider it.  Now that I’m older and I can appreciate everything she is and everything she’s been through I could never live far from her and could never go long without seeing or talking to her.  I am so thankful, despite any bumps in the road, for my relationship with my mom.

I am thankful for the laughs from the “comedy in the kitchen”… really, we laugh WITH them…

I am thankful for old china that’s only dusted off for the holidays and for my mom’s amazing pie…

I am thankful for my dad’s stuffing, the one dish at Thanksgiving I couldn’t live without and the one dish I could eat every single day for the rest of my life!

I am thankful for the “spirits” of the holidays!

I am thankful for our family tradition that says on the first Thanksgiving you have teeth, you shall get the drumstick.  Kate was pretty thankful for that too!

And more than anything, I am thankful for my husband, who avoided most efforts to be on the other side of the camera on Thanksgiving.  He is the most appreciative, inspiring and encouraging person I have ever had in my life.  He gives everything of himself and has made me who I am simply by believing in me.

I am also thankful for people who read my blog… they make me feel like I’m not talking to myself

I feel like it’s been so long coming… Kate to be a walker.  Well, it’s here.  She is officially a walker!  As of tonight she wants nothing to do with crawling and she’s good too!  It’s amazing how quickly she went from cruising and holding on, to taking a step here or there, to walking!  People who haven’t seen her in a few days are shocked.  It’s really quite incredible!  I’m so surprised it took her until she was 14 months to figure it all out, especially since Noah was running by 10 months, but in her own time she’s slowly making her mark on things.  She is also an expert climber!  More so than Noah ever was and without any fear (can you see my grays?).  Last week she climbed onto the toilet, then on top of the tank and maneuvered over to the bathroom counter where she happily played in the sink (after figuring out how to turn on the water).  Oy!  It looks like we’ll have our hands full with this one too, but happily so.  Kate is also the loudest child on the planet!  I’m convinced she just likes to hear herself talk.

And because I might find my house egged for posting without a photo…

This photo actually brought up a conversation in our house… one I would like your opinion on, since ours differ – at what age is it no longer ok to take naked photos of your kid?  I’m not talking awkward fully naked photos, but something like this, where she doesn’t have on a shirt, because really, what shirt would match a giant tutu?  Walter says she’s too old, I say she’s still a baby.  Either way I know we’re close but I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We appear to have a walker!  A drunken walker, but a walker none the less.  A few days ago she was taking a step or two and then falling but we didn’t care, were so excited!  So excited for her, in fact, that when she would stand on her own or take a few steps we’d give her a standing ovation and now she does for herself as well.  It’s so cute!

When she first started toddling I was determined to get it on film, to share with you and with her, maybe when she’s taking those nervous steps down the aisle at her wedding.  Ok, reaching.  I’m emotional, leave me alone.  So we went to the park and I got all kinds of comfy across the patch of grass with the camera and, well, it didn’t quite turn out how I’d hoped…

She loved the little bench I brought!

She got comfy and played on it.  She wrestled kicked off her shoes… she was having a great time…

Or so I thought.

And then it hit me… 

She doesn’t love the bench!  She hates the grass!

Thank God I was prepared…

Food!?  I’ll calm down for food! 

I’ll even stand for you – in the grass.

But I am not walking!

And if there is one type of person you can’t force or trick into doing what you want, it’s a toddler.  So instead of trying to get the perfect photo of the perfect step captured at just the right moment we sat in the park and enjoyed the brisk cool front (81 degrees) all by ourselves.  It was an overcast but gorgeous day.  We watched birds and ate pretzels.  I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon!

We tried to get a photo of us together, ok I tried. 

Have you ever taken a photo of yourself at arm’s length with a digital SLR?  You should be impressed.  I am.

And then Kate offered to share her pretzels.  We left those for the ducks.

And just to spite me she waited a few days and then she walked, she really walked.  She walked all day today (11/10/09, if you’re the bad mom without a baby book).  At the very end of the evening with soaked, matted hair, crazy pajamas and a cluttered play area she strolled from one end of the room to the other.  All by herself.  She held on to my post it notes and shuffled across the floor like she’s always been a walker.  Despite my disgust with the photos being real, and really candid, I love them and share them with you, my blog friends.  Don’t judge me for the toys!

And while we are so super excited, and shocked to have captured this moment, I know it is bittersweet.  Finally, she can walk!  Finally, I don’t have to wrestle with her in a public place when she’s bored to keep her from crawling all over the dirty floor.  Finally, she can stand up.  But…. my baby is growing up.  Soon she’ll look more like a little girl and her first steps will be a distant memory.  Soon I’ll be sorry I encouraged her to walk because without a moments notice she’ll be darting into dangerous situations, maybe even the street while I holler after her.  You don’t plan stuff like that, but it always seems to happen.  Congratulations baby girl!  My back is so happy you’re walking – you’re very heavy – but my heart is just a little sad.

For our blog Halloween feels never ending.  So here we go again, here’s one more step down Halloween Road, I promise there’s only a few more.  The older the kids get the more activities we seem to get roped into!  So here are our ”fall” photos.  I say “fall” because, well let’s face it… our palm trees aren’t changing color anytime soon and our big cold front, when it dipped down to 81 degrees, only lasted a day.

So here are the kids in “fall” clothes in 90 degree weather.  Apparently that’s the best time to go to a pumpkin parking lot, um, pallet, um… patch since there is no one else there!

I love how she looks at him!  Noah will probably never find someone who is as crazy about him as his sister!

The pumpkin recliner.  She sat there until we made her move.  Apparently pumpkins are comfy!  Who knew!?

Noah got to pick out our pumpkin this year.  He’ll need to work on his muscles if he wants a bigger one next year!

And for laughs I have to contrast Kate’s photo with baby pumpkins from this year…

And last…

I guess thinks are looking up… please don’t call Child Services!

This year’s pumpkin actually got carved!  Far before Halloween though because pumpkins rot in 90 degree weather – and fast!  So we carved him one Saturday morning and it was quite an experience!

Noah wanted to design the face himself.  We let him draw out what he wanted and I promise you – this was the best of the worst in the idea department!

I opened him up and it thoroughly grossed out Noah.  I didn’t realize little boys who like bugs and lizards might not like pumpkin guts.

But he loved watching me carve it…

And he was in love with the end result!  Or maybe the fire, but how can you not love this smile!?

Don’t they look so excited?  We’re really into the photographic torture!

Later in the day…

And that night…

Poor Mr. Pumpkin only lasted a few days before completely rotting out.  RIP “Doc” – as Noah deemed him!