Crawling

Once there was a snowman

Spring snow is the best: it's beautiful, it's warm and it melts fast

Matthew Benjamin

These two have such a sweet bond. Matthew absolutely adores Brooke and squeals every time she comes to play with him. I really see the little Mommy come out in Brooke as she finds him toys, helps him crawl and makes him laugh. They are especially cute in the car sitting next to each other laughing back and forth at their own silliness.

Matthew started crawling today (forwards that is) so I thought it fitting to make a post just for him. He's still working out some kinks (a combination of the worm, knees and feet) but he is finally getting where he wants to go!! Three children mobile now!!

Chamonix, France

In Europe Easter is a 4-day weekend so we went to Chamonix to ski with our friends (Hemmerts, Framptons, Malms, and Tomlinsons). While we were there we got about two feet of snow. At 8:15 AM, Ashley and Anthony were at the lift, hoping to get first tracks (while the Hemmerts were kind enough to watch our kids). Apparently we were the only ones that didn't get the memo that the mountain was closed due to high winds and avalanche danger. Eventually they did open part of the mountain and we had some of the most amazing powder skiing ever:

Unfortunately, a snow snake grabbed Ashley's leg and she had to ride down in a patrol sled and special medical gondola. (She's now limping around, but recovering just fine and no surgery required.)

On a positive note, they re-closed the mountain just after she fell, so we didn't miss out on any skiing, and we had a great time walking around town, playing in the snow and sharing fondue with our friends afterwards.

In the morning the sun was shining, and even more snow had fallen. Here's the view from our hotel:



It was a perfect day for skiing. Of course, it was our turn to watch the Hemmert kids so that they could ski. I was a pretty jealous, but I already had my powder day, and we all had fun sledding and eating snow:

At one point Dan Hemmert called me and said, "Anthony, if you can, you really should find a way to come up here. I've never skied in snow this deep before." (This coming from someone that grew up skiing in Utah.) Thanks, Dan. That's a nice image for me to think of while I'm down here playing with your 4 kids. Fortunately, the Hemmerts are better parents than we are and didn't want to leave their kids all day, so I got in a few more runs that afternoon:


On the way home Andrew and Brooke discovered that their blankets double as Spiderman masks, and we stopped in Lausanne for some crepes:


And in case you were wondering how we manage to travel around with three small kids, here's what our hotel room usually looks like:

Catching Up

I've had quite a few drafts filling up my posting box lately and thought it was time to catch up. I'm still not completely caught up, but here's a start. Some of our adventures from the last few months:

Old Town Zug

We decided to spend a relaxing Saturday in Old Town Zug. It was gorgeous weather and we enjoyed shedding our coats, admiring the charming buildings and throwing rocks in the Zugersee.

Starbie

We had fun at a friend's birthday party at this indoor play park. My kids were off playing before I even walked through the entrance. They'd come find me for help on the go-cart, a treat or for an occasional "watch this Mom." A place we will definitely go visit again!

Lech am Alrberg, Austria

Some good friends watched the kiddos while Anthony and I went to Austria to officially celebrate his 30th birthday (only a few months late). The conditions were not perfect (as you can see by the chairlift that seemed to be taking us up into oblivion, but we had a great day skiing, eating and experiencing wellness (European for "spa").

9 Months Old

Skills: Crawling backwards (still working on forwards), standing up in crib, hugging, kissing
Words: Mama, Dada, baba, hi
Loves: Dancing, being tickled, being thrown in the air, being naked, baths, his Podee
Favorite foods: Yogurt, pizza, cheerios, salami, carrots, bananas, Easy Mac
Favorite toys: Cars, balls, blocks, shoes, chairs
Teeth: 4 1/2
Laughs at: Brooke & Andrew

Spring Sledding

Anthony took a long lunch break to join us for a picnic and sledding. Now that the snow has melted we'll have to go back to look for Brooke's PBJ.

Clean as a Whistle

Sleeping Beauties

Dog's best friend

This is a boy who loves his puppies, and thanks to Grandma Kathy, Andrew has three fury friends he sleeps with every night. The first one (on the right in both pictures) was his very first Christmas present (when he was just 3 months old) and two years of wear and tear definitely show on this little Ruff-ruff. However Grandma's idea of "replacement" just seems to mean "more" to Andrew.

(also another good before and after of the weekend haircut)

I Want It All!

Those were his exact words when we reached the car aisle in the toy store this weekend. It was too classic to not get on film. (The saddest part may be that my comments to Anthony practically echoed Andrew's, "Can I spend 200 Swiss Francs on a Bob the Builder Lego set?")

For the confused few: this IS Andrew. We decided he was bordering white trash with the long hair and what started as a trim turned into a buzz. It was a sad goodbye to the luscious locks he was growing, but I had forgotten how gorgeous this little boy's face was. Here is a before and after:

Exploring spiders with homemade binoculars and Daddy's ski pole

Dolled up after church

Talking Two Year Olds

I know it's not like me to post without a picture (or to have a post with many words at all for that matter) but my kids have been saying some funny things lately that I wanted to share. I am really loving this two year old stage. They are fully communicating, and I love to hear what is going on in their little heads.

Me (while changing Andrew's diaper): "Wow, this is a monster poop!"
Andrew: "No, it's a Sulley* poop!" (*can be replaced at any time with Mike, Randall, or Roz)

Brooke: "I want water please"
I hand her the water bottle
Brooke: "No, I want apple juice"
I go get her apple juice
Brooke: "No, I want a water bottle"
Me (while I hand her the water bottle): "Brooke, you're driving me crazy"
Brooke: "No, I not crazy, I drinking water"

Andrew: "sghioxjcvlknew" (speak your own gibber gabber here) "I talking German"

Brooke (while stacking her dollies up tall): "Look, Mommy, an obelisk!" (I have Little Einsteins to thank for that one)

And probably my most favorite:
Andrew (while giving me a big squeeze): "It's mine Mommy. I love mine Mommy"

Our Everyday Life....

Inspired by my sister's "Photo A Day", I decided to show a little more of our everyday life. Hopefully this will shed a little light into our crazy fun life (some days crazy, most days fun, every day an adventure).

Hanging Around the House
We spend most of our time hanging around the house. Especially since it's still winter here. We color a lot, eat a lot, sleep a lot (at least it seems that way with the overlapping nap schedules) and play with a lot of toys.

1) I fear we have passed on our lip chap addiction 2) "Sgetti" for dinner is a huge hit with Brooke 3) "I don't like it" I think he was referring to the camera in his crying face 4) Matthew having fun with toys 5) Chicken McNuggets can have crazy affects 6) "I color Spiderman" 7) Matthew discovering that Andrew and Brooke's toys are more fun than his baby toys 8) Have you ever seen a happier baby? 9) Taking advantage of Daddy being home

Swimming Bath Lättich
At least once a week I take the kids to this indoor swimming pool. It has the most amazing kiddie pool with fountains and a slide that keeps these guys entertained for hours. Anthony has been able to join us a few times and we always have a ball.

A lot of times I surprise myself with how much I can do alone with three babies. The first attempt in any activity is usually the most challenging, but once I figure out the small details and remind myself to ignore all the gawking people, we four have quite a fun time together. Which leads me to my next post....


How to Grocery Shop with Three Babies
I do almost all my grocery shopping online. But we do make a trip every couple weeks for a few random things.

The before and after

I'm not opposed to bribes or rewards
(And for those wondering, Matthew's place in the cart has been taken up by the bags and he is now in my arms as we walk back to the car)

Bathtime Fun
Always a fun time in our house. Smiles and water absolutely everywhere.

Movies
And I wouldn't be completely honest if I didn't admit that we have our fare share of this as well!

Wildlife Park

We went to a wildlife park just outside Zurich, with goats, deer, wolves, etc. Not sure what kind of animal this is, or how he got over the fence.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

It felt like spring here today so we ditched the coats, sweaters and even shoes and spent as much time outside as possible. Here are a few pics from our little park.