March, 2009

Little hands, little tea, little spills.
Hiking at Lula Lake Falls

Tree planting - yes, they lived through the summer!

Teya and Linda's 1st tea party with their "fragile dishes" from Millie and Popsey

Sleep, play, celebration, LIFE

As I sit here trying desperately to catch up on the documentation of our life, I hear Teya mumbling in her sleep (I hope its sleep), "Mama, yes, open the door. Mama, mommy, mommy! Cover me!" This is her waking-up routine. I don't know where the "yes" comes from, but she is habitually consistent in this pattern. Always the question, to ignore or not to ignore. Ok, I think she's done. Ok, maybe not. I sneak in, floor creaking, door squeaking, cover her and tell her I love her. Hope that'll take care of things for tonight.

I never understand how David can sleep through her pleading for bedtime diversion, and I don't get how she seems to sleep right through his fussing at night. They've shared a room since I realized they could, after we all slept in the same hotel room at Christmas.

Sleep....what a beautiful thing. Last week, I packed up pack-n-play #1, which has been set up in our bedroom, where David has napped since he was born nearly 9 months ago. #2 is still set up in the living room, in case he wakes up during the night and needs to be transferred to an area where he won't keep others awake. The past 3 nights, he's slept through, and what a pleasure its been to walk into the kids' room at 7:15 and behold them cheerfully peering out of their beds, not having seen, heard or touched either for 10 hours! Maybe #2 can go into the attic next week. I sure hope so. I'm ready to have my living room back.

David, 8 months.

On sunny days, we've been trying to spend as much time outside as possible. They both love the swingset, given to us by Millie and Popsey and painstakingly assembled by Daddy. We can never swing Teya high enough. As she swings violently back and forth, she yells, "Higher, higher, that's not high enough!" She is a dangerous mix of us, scared of getting hurt (me), but curious about limits and adventure (Philip). Makes for a wierd combo.

The Deck Rocks, even we still have to exit the house via dining room window. Brownie, the poor naked baby, loves to take walks on the deck, which Teya insists is the street. We're not allowed in the street when she's pushing Brownie. We have to hug the side of the house or the railing, which makes for lots of "one-sided fun."

D. enjoys chillin on the deck. He's probably looking for some piece of dirt to consume.

Learning from the best. Teya is learning (in)appropriate celebration following a spectacular goal. Daddy rocks.

Cousins' Christmas

Phil's brother, Taylor, and his wife, Anne, spent their Advent season awaiting the birth of baby girl #4. We joined them for a couple days before Christmas, and spent Christmas Eve with them. Little Hazel was born on the Monday before Christmas, and Anne arrived home with the new babe to a house FULL of Longs. I cannot imagine! She's much more gracious than me and just took it all in stride. Who knows, maybe she was doing quite a bit of crying on the inside, as Teya likes to say ("Mommy, are you crying on the inside?"). Here's the crew taking a break from playing ballerina and dress-up and torturing eachother.

Upon our arrival, snow blanketed the ground, and it only kept coming and coming....and coming. The kids enjoyed about 5 minutes in the snow before Teya took a snowball in the face and Lily's hands froze. Phil pushed them down the front "hill" on a sled into the street, and fun was had by all.They call her "The Lil" because of her "spunky presence." She refused to wear a coat, and I took this picture just before she pulled off the gloves and froze her hands.

Fun times with our sweet family who we never get to see.