Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy halloween in your neck of the woods! This year was no different for the Grunwald's in Oregon - short! We were fortunate that it didn't pour on us, the weather was actually quite nice. Jae was Optimus Prime and Hannah was Hedwig (the owl from Harry Potter, also Jae's costume when he was 1.5).

The kids had a great time going from house to house but as usual, Jae was tired by about block 3 (He's just not a walker, plus his mask was starting to bother him). Hannah was a trooper and kept up with him until about block 2 and started getting tired (she almost fell asleep while I was carrying her, but all the excitement from the other kids distracted her). The kids still made out with a good stash of candy. We came back to hand out candy, but only got a handful of visitors, so now we've got a bucket of chocolate hanging around the house! This is not a good thing.

Hope everyone is doing well!!!
Patty, Bill, Jae, and Hannah Grunwald


This is a picture of Jae wearing the owl costume (just for a quick comparison). He's growing up so fast!

Transitions..

Well, today is the last day for Jae and Hannah at their current daycare. Bill and I decided to move the kids for several reasons: a) it turns out that we are in a different school district than where our current daycare is located and of course they won't bus Jae to Kindergarten next year and b) we did not want Jae to have two big changes next year (a new daycare PLUS Kindergarten). So we made the decision to pull the kids out this year so Jae could meet new friends in his new daycare that may be in his Kindergarten class next fall. Anything to make the transition easier. Although, I think it's worrying Bill and I more than it is Jae. He is pumped about his new school and the thought of turning 5 and going to a big kid school.

The new daycare is part of the same daycare family as his current one, just at a different location and in our school district. The new daycare is a lot bigger than his current school and seems a bit more regimented, but we will miss the small, close-knit group at his current daycare. It's actually a good time to change schools since many of his friends are moving up to Kindergarten anyway and will only be at the daycare for half day. It's just bittersweet, since he has been going to this daycare since he was 18 months old.

And poor Hannah, we really hate having to pull her out (because she loves her Maritza), but we know that she will adapt. It will be a hard month (Jae's transition to this daycare was awful for me. He cried everyday for a month when I dropped him off!) , but we feel the change will be good.

So today, the kids are having ice cream sundae's and cupcakes for their last day!

Until next time...

Summer Endings...

Have you noticed the sun setting earlier these past couple of days? Just another sign that summer is on its way out and fall is soon to arrive. I love fall, so I welcome this season with open arms!

But, back to summer. We've had a very busy summer, so I've been told. We didn't go anywhere, but it was still busy. Lots of little things here and there. However, I can't seem to tell you a darn thing that we did. It has buzzed by and somewhere between June and August it all became a blur. I know we spent a lot of time with family and stayed cool in our air conditioned house, Jae mastered his bike, we went to several birthday parties, Hannah blossomed before our eyes, Jae rode the MAX for the first time and LOVED IT, Jae was in T-ball class (and didn't love it so much), we attended the annual Brew Fest, Anna turned 30, Bill celebrated turning 34, Barb and Jake bought a house, and I just tried to stay afloat.

But the best thing about this summer, we learned we were going to have a nephew! It doesn't get any better than having little babies around. Can't wait for September to arrive.

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer...

Updates

My goodness. It's been a long time since I've posted any updates. Life has been fairly hectic and this has just pushed aside.

Let's see...

Hannah has been walking up a storm lately. She is more graceful with standing and walking, although sometime she looks like she's been nursing the bottle a little. =) Her comprehension is great as well. She understands quite a bit when we talk to her. All around, she is growing up to be a good little girl..but we need to work on the attachment thing a bit.

Jae is really enjoying being 4. He's doing so well with his spelling and reading. Like many 4 year olds, he's full of questions and always curious about everything.

Christmas is coming

Well, the kids are getting excited (I should say Jae) that Christmas is fast approaching!

We went and got our holiday photo taken and Jae wore his festive construction truck sweater! Thank goodness we did because we got our cards in the mail before this winter snow storm took a turn for the worse.

Here are some pictures of the kids just having some fun.

Trick-or-Treat!

As Jae would say, "trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat, if you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear!"

The usual crew gathered at the house, aunties, uncles, and grandparents. We had some corned beef and cabbage (on Halloween?) and of course, LOTS of candy!

This year, Jae was a fireman and Hannah was a bear. Pretty darn cute if you ask me.

We left the house without eating dinner (big mistake) and started on our journey of collecting candy. Halloween was shortlived this year, for two reasons.

1. A lot of homes did not have their porchlight on.

2. Hungry Jae = cranky pants Jae = I'm done

Usually, the whole street is lit with lights, but this year, half of the street was dark. We are thinking it's because Halloween fell on a Friday and most families had places to go since there was no school the next day. So we ended up skipping a lot of homes and ventured out a little farther. Along the way, there was a lot of cajoling to say "trick or treat" and "thank you" and constantly picking up the fireman hat that kept falling onto the ground, and telling Jae to go to this and that house. All the while, carrying a sleeping bear (Hannah fell asleep within 10 min of being out). At one point, Jae starts taking off his hat, his head protector, and his glow in the dark stick and starts walking back to our house. We ask him if he's done and he's like, "yes, I'm done". We were kind of surprised, but I think the lack of food and the walking made him tired and cranky.

We finally get home and take our picture at the door and go inside for some grub. Jae eats a little of the corned beef, but then wants candy! He eats a little more than I'd like, but it's once a year, he'll never get to gorge himself like this until next Halloween.

Well, now that he's in, he's the candy helper. Whenever the doorbell rings, he's right there handing out candy. The little trick or treaters must have LOVED Jae, because his idea of handing out candy was taking two FULL handfuls of candy! You should have heard some of the kids and parents..they were like "wow, that's a lot of candy!" I guess it's a good thing for us, less in our house!

We turned off our lights at 8:30 and proceeded to enjoy a somewhat quiet evening. Jae was a little jacked up on sugar, so he didn't get to sleep until 10 and Hannah ended up waking up a couple of times during the night.

Overall, it was another great halloween. It was Hannah's first and she slept through it all! Next year should be fun when she can walk.

Happy Halloween!

Jae and Hannah's Weekend!!

This blog entry is courtesy of Auntie's Barb Pollinger and Stacey Poirier...it's a loooooong post!

Thursday was a long time ago. I don’t remember anything. I met Stacey at sports class and so did Anna. Jae did good and was always looking over at the Aunties to make sure we were watching. The kids did a lot of running and stopping and some eye/hand coordination with balloons and paddles. For dinner we had hamburgers and hotdogs that Uncle Eric bbq’d and trees and mac and cheese, I think. Jae had a little bit of everything. He went back and forth between wanting a hotdog or hamburger, but decided on hamburger. I believe this is the night that Hannah literally fell asleep on the table. HI-LARIOUS. I believe Hannah woke up around midnight that night and after many attempts Auntie Stacey took her to bed with her and Eric and Bennigan. I think this was the night that after Stacey put her down in her bed on her belly Hannah propped herself up and with her “bed hair” all disheveled she looked at Eric and then turned and looked at Stacey with a funny look on her face like who are you people? Stacey tells it better but sounded pretty funny.

Friday I was able to go with Stacey to drop the kids off at school, which was nice. Not our normal routine so we had to read the “manual” several times to make sure we weren’t forgetting anything. Everyone at day care was super nice and helpful and you can tell how much they care for Hannah and Jae. Jae showed us the ropes like the good helper he was and got us situated with Hannah. Then we walked him back to his room and he sat down with the other kids and didn’t look back, even when the aunties we saying “bye Jae”. We knew he’d be fine. I was also able to go with Stacey to pick them up Friday afternoon too. Hannah was still sleeping and I think was shocked to see us and not mommy or daddy. But we scooped her up and went to get Jae who was watching baby Einstein. He gave both of his aunties a big hug. We learned that pictures were in but they wouldn’t release to the aunties or Jae, only to parents. Jae insisted that he wanted them now and was ready for a fight. He repeated several times that wanted them now. So we explained that mommy and daddy had to get them on Monday but how about if we could take a peek at them. The teacher was kind enough to indulge us and brought out Jae’s picture. We all told him how handsome he was and he said that was a new shirt he was wearing in the picture. Friday night dinner was spaghetti, Caesar salad, French bread. Auntie Barbara put too much minced garlic on the bread so Jae said it was spicy. Auntie B picked off the top to reveal only the white goodness underneath the crunchy garlic top. Problem solved. Oh I forgot to mention that Aunt Stacey told Jae that if he was a good boy that he would have some special treats/toys/surprise after school. After he hugged Stacey, and without prompting, he said did you get my special surprise? Is it trucks? Stacey had put them in the tent in her living room and as soon as we walked through the front door he knew somehow that they were in there. Did you tell him Stac? Inside awaited a brand new game of Candyland and the elephant/butterfly game. Since we had to start dinner we told him CAndyland would have to wait until after dinner but lets do the elephant. As soon as helped Auntie Barbara put the batteries in we fired that puppy up. We told Jae to get his net ready because butterflies were going to start flying out the elephant’s trunk. He was ssssssssooooooo excited about the butterflies. The first time he just loved letting them fall on his head. Then auntie Barbara showed him how to catch with the net and he caught a couple. Every time he caught one was followed by “I got one!” and he got so excited about catching one that the others gently fell around him. Hannah was very content watching big brother. Bedtime was an early night that night after the late night with Hannah and it being Friday. I think it was 9 or 10.

Saturday we woke up around 7 or 7:30 to a bowl of Lucky Charms and cartoons before getting ready for swimming class. When Uncle Jake and Aunt Anna were on their way we learned the bad news that swimming had been cancelled. No tears from anyone on that one; that just meant we could get to the pumpkin places all the sooner. Everyone got dressed and in the minivan to meet Grandma and Grandpa at the pumpkin races. No sooner than we arrived that Hannah decided to poop. Aunt Barbara got Jae out and the stroller out and getting us all situated with supplies while Aunt Stacey changed Hannah’s diaper in the front seat of the van. It was windy and cold so not a lot of options at that point in time. We almost had a poop catastrophe when said poop almost rolled out of the diaper onto the ground, but quick reflexes by Auntie Stacey saved the day. Hannahs little bottom recently dabbed with wipes to make sure she was clean wasn’t too pleased when a cool breeze happened by …ooh that was cold she screamed! We resituated and got everyone on in their strollers and purses and key possessions were confirmed and we were greeted by the grandparents. Jae gave big hugs all around. Stacey and Grandma must have called each other because they were both wearing their white shirts and pink fleece vests. We made the walk to the pumpkin races. We walked around and tried to check things out but too many people so we couldn’t see. So we found a table a bit further back and staked our claim. It was really cold and breezy that morning so we zipped up and put up the hoodies to keep the ears warm. Stacey and Hannah talked with grandma and grandpa and then Hannah took a nap in Aunt Staceys lap. We’ve got some good pictures of that. Jae, Anna, and Barb watched the ducks and Anna helped Jae throw leaves in the water. Jae liked hanging over the railing with the water on the other side. It made everyone nervous but most especially grandma. Auntie Barbara was close by at all times. The pumpkin races were fun to watch. We decided we were hungry and decided to go to Red Robin for lunch. Hannah had the best seat in the house…on top of the table. We have great pictures of that too. Hannah had a blast. After oranges, mac, and cheese and fries, we were on the road to the pumpkin popper. Jae thinks this is the coolest thing ever. He went a couple of times with Aunt Stacey and then with Aunt Barbara. The second time there were several people in line in front of us and every time the popper went off, Jae would ask, “Is it out turn?” Unfortunately for us we were behind a dad and two kids who each got four pumpkins. After some patient waiting it finally was our turn. Auntie Barbara couldn’t keep up when Jae ran from loading the popper to pushing the button. Oh the excitement! Hannah and Stacey were in the field behind us evidently Hannah was taking a nap which I don’t understand-that popper was loud! On the way home Hannah was cooing and talking. It was so cute. She was such a good girl all day. I joked who is that baby in the back? We dropped off the kids at Auntie Stacey's then Auntie Barbara went to feed Mr T and buy some caramel for the apples we bought at the pumpkin popper place, get papa murphy’s pizza and also a much needed caffeinated beverage at starbucks. It was lite frapp for auntie Stacey and an Iced TRIPLE caramel macchiato for Auntie Barbara. WE got home and attempted the caramel apples. I don’t suggest the wrapping kind. Jae and I had a hard time with it. It was fun trying though. It was an easy night for dinner. Pizza. Aunties didn’t have any energy left to cook anymore or clean up after. Lots of butterflies, candyland and movies on Saturday…oh and playtime with Uncle Jake.

Sunday was a relaxing day. It started with a nice big breakfast: mickey mouse pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon. Jae ate very well.asked for more bacon, three pancakes and some eggs. And he ate it all. While we were getting breakfast ready, Uncle Jake played with Hannah and was holding her and she fell asleep. Good Job Uncle Jake! Auntie Barbara was very ripe by Sunday and badly needed a shower and fresh clothes. Reinforcements were needed so the aunties could freshen up. Enter Aunt Anna and the grandparents. Thank Heavens. As I was coming back, Anna and Jae were on their way out in the stroller (Jae all decked out in the black sunglasses) to look for leaves. They found some good ones. We got Hannah down for her 2^nd nap and were dangerously low on formula and decided to pack up and head to the Grunwald home. Kids don’t pack light people. We got home and situated and unpacked and organized. The first thing Jae noticed when getting out of the car was all the leaves….”look at all the leaves in our front yard. Our leaves are falling, our leaves are falling!” Energy levels were reaching an all time low so starbucks was needed-STAT. Once that kicked in Auntie Barbara started the welcome home sign and she and Jae went to the living room to decorate more and add the finishing touches – fall leaves. If you look close there is a letter J next to Jae’s name. Jae did that. After some playing and a little downtime, it was time to get Uncle Jake for dinner and naptime. WE had it all PLANNED out. Dinner and bath time and bedtime. While Aunt Anna made jae’s dinner, he climbed up on Uncle Jake’s lap and they started to watch a show about airplanes. In hindsight, Jae did look a little TOO relaxed sitting on Uncle Jakes lap. Dinner was ready and we called for Jae and he didn’t move. DARN IT he fell asleep on Jake! After much discussion. We let him sleep a little bit and then woke him up. BIG MISTAKE. He really needed a bath and didn’t think Bill and Patty would have time in the morning. WE learned that Jae doesn’t like to be awoke from naps. After twenty questions and bribing him with a popsicle things started to calm down. He followed the popsicle with a piece of pizza and a tiny bit of “special” juice. And then it was bath time. Before we turned the water on Jae started doing the pee pee dance, proceeds to strip down to only his shirt, grabs the red “bucket”, hands it to Auntie Barbara and hops in the tub. He says daddy holds it for me so I proceeded to do what daddy does because it seems as if Jae couldn’t wait for any more questions. He proceeded to spray pee all over the place. Some got in the bucket. I think he had his finger over it and pointing it up. It only took my hand getting sprayed once for me to suggest he point it down. Auntie Barbara loves it when Jae waits until the last minute to go potty. Finally we got both Hannah and Jae in the tub. Jae was a trooper as Anna and Jake tried to figure out how he and Hannah and hannah’s tub were all going to fit in the bath tub. Hannah was first on the agenda. Get her clean and get her out so Jae and Jake could have their special time with THE HOSE. Jae thinks it is so funny to spray uncle Jake. A few times Auntie had to remind the boys to keep the water in the tub. Stacey got Hannah down and then Barb read stories. Jae picked out three. We were doing the word book and he was spelling out the words. He was spelling a word that started with T. At the same time he said T he tooted. He thought that was ssssssssssooooooooooooooooooo funny. IN between fits of laughter, he would say T toot. While very funny I was impressed that he knew toot started with T. I could see he wasn’t very tired so I told him because he was such a good boy that I would read him another book. That didn’t work much either because he ended up on Bill and patty’s bed. He told auntie Stacey he wanted to surprise mommy and daddy. So jake and I went in there and asked him if he was excited for mommy and daddy and he said yes. I told him that when he woke up they would be there. He asked if I was going to stay. I told him I would stay until mommy and daddy got home. Jake laid there until he fell asleep, but both Jae and Jake fell asleep. I made jake come downstairs though.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:Jae was such a good boy all weekend long and was very helpful when aunties had questions or needed help with Hannah. If Hannah got a little fussy we called Jae over to make Hannah smiled and it worked almost every time. The first thing Jae did in the morning was go to the crib to check on Hannah. When she wasn’t there he’d say, “Where’s Hannah?” We went downstairs and he gave her a big kiss good morning and greeted Aunt Stacey with a cheery Good Moooorning. He also talked a lot this weekend about growing up to be an adult. Thought that was cute.

Unfortunately for Stacey, Hannah was glued to her for four days. We were hoping to take turns but she wanted nothing to do with anyone but Stac. We made it work and everything was great. She ate well and was giving out lots of smiles and played hard. When she gets excited she likes to stand and bounce.

Like I said before as exhausting as it was, I would do it again in a heartbeat to spend time with Jae and Hannah and give Bill and Patty a much deserved break.

Love all the aunties and uncles.

Quick Update

It's been a while. Life has been pretty hectic lately. Bill's been working a lot of hours and I've been pretty busy at work too. This just makes for longer days for the both of us.

The kids are great though! Jae is learning so much and he's got such the sense of humor. He's still in swimming lessons until November. We will probably stop for the holidays and start back up in the new year. I've signed him up for a 'kids sports' class at Conestoga Rec Center that goes until November too. This class will introduce him to a variety of sports ie. basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball, etc. I think he will like this (he's got a very good arm). He did very well in the tumbling class that he was in over the summer.

Hannah is almost 7 months and she's sitting up by herself, she's eating solids, and drinking milk like a champ. She's still sleeping through the night and continues to take 30 min naps (sometimes wish they were longer) every couple of hours. She offers smiles like it's nobody's business and loves getting hugs from mommy. She still has her blue/gray eyes, she blows raspberries nonstop and babbles away. She loves watching Jae and will follow him around the room with her eyes. Everytime he dances/jumps it brings a smile to her face.

We are definitely blessed to have such wonderful kids!

My two monkeys!

So Hannah turned 6 months and she is a new baby! I have yet to see her fuss in a week (knock on lots of wood here). She's been grabbing her feet and just blowing raspberries and smiling and giggling. I can't get enough of it.

Here are the kids goofing around after dinner!

Thursday...

The day started out like any other day. Today was 'inside out day' for Jae and 'wear red day' for Hannah at school. I got the kids dressed and made Jae pose in his outfit (just so I could post this). Well, I'm at work for a couple of hours when I get the call.."Hi Patty, this is Kris. You didn't want to work today, did you?" Kris is a teacher at Kids Campus. She proceeds to tell me that Hannah has a temperature of 102.6 and that I will have to come and get her. Ugh.

I went to pick her up and poor thing, her cheeks were all red and her eyes just looked so tired. Well, Jae wouldn't let me leave him at school while I took Hannah home, so I took both kids home. This just made for a longer day..with a cranky Hannah and an energetic Jae.

I took some pics from the day. You would never know that Hannah was sick in these pictures!

Hannah is still under the weather as I write this, but asleep. Tomorrow she will be home with Bill and hopefully back to her normal self.

Poor baby.

Cha-ching!!!

So we got notice yesterday that daycare will be increasing their rates come September 1. Ugh!

Fourth of July

I know, a little late in the post, but I was looking at some pictures and wanted to post some of Jae with sparklers and fireworks.

We spent the evening with some friends and their kids and I think that Jae had a blast, literally!





























I bundle up my kids real good!

Lavender Festival

Barb, Jae, Hannah, and I went to the Lavender Festival today. It was a HOT day to be traipsing about the hillsides, but the lavender was in full bloom and the air smelled wonderful. Jae even drank some lavender lemonade!

We picked a bunch of lavender and I bought a couple of plants for the house..although, now I'm having second thoughts - Bees!


Jae and Auntie Barb









Jae and Barb picking lavender









Jae with lavender that he picked









Hannah being a good sport..it was a bumpy ride for her in the stroller. She was a trooper.

Jae and Hannah

I could not have asked for two kids to love each other more than Jae and Hannah love each other.

Jae cannot get enough of Hannah and is constantly having to touch her face, hair, and hands, and whenever Hannah is laying on the floor or on the bed, he's the first to lay down next to her. Jae likes to repeat Hannah's name over and over and it's just so sweet. I love it when he repeats what I say and calls her "Hannah bear" or says "I love you Hannah" or "It's okay sweetie", it makes my heart melt.

I know that Hannah feels the same way about Jae. Whenever he's around, she always has a smile on her face and moves with such delight. She loves watching him move around the living room and jump up and down and talk. I can't wait for the day that they do that together..

I will hold onto these dear memories as long as I can because I know one of these days..kids will be kids.