Sunny days are here again!

 My baseball kid. He is so talented for his age.

 

The photo of me above was taken by Leo.

Me and my girl. I have new hair. Lighter and shorter!

 Neighborhood flowers

Our neighbor's house. So pretty!

 Handmade soap using cucumber puree...still learning!

 Another Leo photo. Beautiful job son!

Spring is here! Glorious sunshine, finally you are visiting us! That means the the Morris family is spending lots of time outdoors. We have been grilling, brewing, soaping, growing carrots, taking walks, playing sports etc. It is great!

I have started reading Leo Harry Potter at bedtime. Joe has always put Leo to bed, but we are trying to ween Somerset, which means that Joe is handling Somerset's night time feedings. This is not going great. However, I love reading to Leo at night. He says that I am the best mommy ever and that he loves when I read to him. I am so lucky!

Leo has completed his first year of preschool. This is how Mrs. Kepner described her experience with Leo.

"Leo- I've enjoyed getting to know him. His intelligence and curiosity about the world makes him a great scientist. He loves to build with blocks and other materials. He often sets the tone for play with others in the group. They get some pretty involved scenarios going! He is a very popular playmate. See you next year!"

I feel this is pretty accurate, but she forgot the part about how sweet and loving he is. Maybe he saves all that for us!

Joe and I have noticed how clearly Somerset is starting to enunciate. She is much easier to understand, which makes communication easier. She is at an age though, where she knows what she wants (unhealthy food is a good example), but she doesn't have the reasoning skills to understand that she can't do certain things. There can be days with quite a bit of fussing, but I know this time will pass.

Somerset is so very sweet. She usually says please and thank you without being prompted and I love how she says "I love you!" She adores a certain baby doll and insists on sleeping with her at night. Her favorite question to ask is "Where's Leo/Daddy/Mommy?" She always needs to know where we are. 

She also continues to potty train. If I was more persistent, I could get her to go on her potty several times a day, but let's face it, it's hard work! This summer, I will really try to get her trained, plus, she is still so young.

I have really taken to soap making. I am borderline obsessed, but it's a good hobby and I have learned so much! Every soap making process is a learning experience. I find the process so satisfying because I can be as creative as I want, all while creating a product that is good for my skin and smells fantastic. Also, the handmade soap makes a terrific gift. Hopefully I can sell soon to put more money back into the hobby.

Joe is still as crazy as ever about brewing! He is getting very good results. I love his beer. He is also growing hops. They are go crazy! Oh no, we both have full blown hobbies now! I just wish we had unlimited funds! We are really enjoying this time in our lives, even though it is exhausting.

So Busy!

     

Wow! We have been so busy! I guess that will be my excuse for not posting sooner.

We had a great visit from Grandma Rita (G.G.) and Grandma Paula. They were in town to visit Uncle Aaron for Mother's Weekend at OSU and stayed a few extra days to see us. G.G. had never met Somerset, so it was a real treat to have her here. She hasn't been to Oregon since our wedding, so we were super excited to share our world with her.

We took them to the Zoo and the Japanese Gardens. The weather was glorious, so we thoroughly enjoyed both outings. The kids were so thrilled to have guests too, especially Somerset, who enjoyed the company of the grandmas.

I recently had a date with Somerset at the Children's Museum while Leo was in preschool. I LOVED spending time with her alone and am going to make an effort to spend more one on one time with her. When Leo was her age, he would whip through the museum at rocket speed. She was also exploring freely, but she stayed and listened to the singer/guitar player for 30 minutes straight. She was mesmerized, where as Leo would never stay put long enough to make it though even one song. She is a music nut!

Somerset's grasp of English has increased drastically. I feel she now understands most of what we tell her. She speaks in 2-3 word combos,  "There's Spiderman, Leo," "Where's Daddy/Leo?" She talks a lot and caretakers are always telling us how chatty she is. She will have full conversations with people, but most of what she says is indistinguishable.

She also loves to play with dolls and her white doggy. She tries to feed her dog and her babies. I love to see this nurturing side of her. She will be a good mommy someday.

Somerset was waking up between 5-5:30 a.m. every morning. That does not work for me and was causing a lot of grumpiness for everyone. We invested in a programmable night light that displays the moon and the stars when we want her to sleep and the sun when she is allowed to wake up. It is currently set to have the sun shine at 6 a.m. (Too early for me, but better). We are still in the training stage, but it seems as though she understands our expectations and that the light will work. YES!!!

Leo has been fantastic. He still challenges us, but tantrums are almost a thing of the past. He is just so dang smart and he is constantly testing us. We will tell him he can't go onto the street and he will stand at the edge of our curb and smile as if to say, "How far can I go before you discipline me?" He is mischievous for sure.

Leo is extremely loving. He often gazes into my eyes and declares that I am the best mommy in the world and that he loves me soooo much. For all his antics, he has a heart of gold. He is truly a sweet and tender boy. I have to admit that I have a soft spot for him and I am crazy in love with him.

The kids sure do love each other, but they are starting to squabble. It is usually over a toy. They always want the same toy at the same time.

I had a fantastic Mother's Day. My mom and I went to get pedi/mani the day before and then on Mother's Day, I was treated like a queen. I got to sleep in until 8:30 a.m. I don't think that has happened for 4 years! I also got many soap related gifts. I took a class on cold process soap making, Joe built me a soap mold and he bought me 3 handcrafted soaps from one of my favorite soap crafters. Leo thought I should have a new mug for my coffee, soap and a lipstick, so Joe helped him make this possible.

The weather was great on Mother's Day, so we relaxed at home and grilled. I love my family!

First Karate Belt Promotion!

Today was a very proud day for me and Joe! Leo earned his first belt promotion in Karate; he graduated from his white belt to his Tiger belt. The ceremony consisted of a testing portion for all the kids from his studio which ranked from white belt to 3rd degree black belt. Leo was inspired by seeing the advanced students test (sparring, using nunchucks etc.). He was also able to witness 2 students earn their black belts, which made both Joe and I a little teary eyed. What an accomplishment.

There were some very memorable moments, including when Somerset started chanting the student's call backs, "yes sir!" and "A.T.A.! (American Taekwando Association)" The whole auditorium giggled. Also, Leo left the testing area at one point to hug Joe in the audience. This is a big no no, but Leo is barely four and it was so sweet.

Grandma (my mom), attended as well. Unfortunately, we were all on Somerset duty and she was away for good portions of the ceremony. We were still thrilled to have her there.

I just can't wait for the day that Leo earns his black belt. It will probably come sooner than we think!

Just a Pretty Photo

I was able to get this shot of Somerset just as we were waking Leo up from his afternoon nap. Somerset always gets up earlier from her naps than Leo, so we sometimes have to wake him up. Leo's naps have been crazy long! On this day, it was sunny outside and the light was hitting her so beautifully. I ran to get the camera and she greeted me with a sweet smile. She is always so happy to see Leo, so it's no wonder she looks so precious.

Spring Fever!

Surprised face!

Leo LOVES Games! He roped Uncle Aaron and Grandma Laurel into many rounds of Chutes and Ladders and Candyland.

Somerset's new dress

Our Front Yard daffodils

Spring is finally here! We enjoyed beautiful weather over Easter weekend, which included lots of family fun. We started Easter weekend with a Easter egg hunt at the church. The fun continued on Easter day with a family dinner at my parents, which included a trip to the park and an Easter egg hunt. Leo is now a pro at the hunts, but it was so fun to watch Somerset clumsily looking for eggs. She did get the concept, but she was a tad bit slow at collecting. One of my favorite parts of Easter was being able to dress up my sweet Somerset like the doll she is. I bought her a new spring dress recently, which she wore to the church hunt, but we saved her very special dress, that was given to her by Great Grandma Naomi for Easter day. She looked gorgeous.

We have had a lot of visitors recently. Grandma Laurel stayed with us for 2 weeks in March and we had a very nice visit. She is a pro at playing with Leo and the two of them are best buddies when she is around. It's too bad that she lives so far away.

Uncle Aron also stayed with us for the weekend after his Spring Break. The kiddos are so lucky to have such a fun and youthful uncle!

Life with the kiddos has been good. Leo is so well behaved and has been a piece of cake. Our biggest struggle with him is trying to get him to eat. We fight tooth over nail over him taking bites of food. I sure hope he develops a healthy appetite later in life. As his mommy, I feel so responsible for making sure he gets the nutrition he needs to grow healthy and strong. He probably has 2% body fat, so he doesn't have a lot of reserve.

Leo continues to LOVE Phineas and Ferb. It is by far his favorite show and since it is well written and quite clever, Joe and I don't mind him watching.

Somerset has started to become super animated. She has a number of faces that she routinely makes. One of them is her scrunchy face and another is her surprised face. She's my little actress. She continues to develop language. She now says thank you and probably says around 50 words with a few 2 word combos. She also understands us remarkably well, which makes things easier. This age is difficult though because she is very dangerous. She climbs like crazy and is fascinated by the cutlery drawer and the oven....yikes!!!

Summy has been waking up so early. 5:30 a.m is fairly common for her, which is super difficult for me. I am not a morning person at all and am like a zombie for the first hour. Leo wakes up around 6:30 am.

Joe continues with beer brewing and I have started making handmade soap. I would love to turn this into a small business one day, but I have to get good first. I am super excited about my new hobby though!!! I should start posting photos on here soon.