Today

This morning Belize said, "You're my best friend I ever see."

Right now she's in a time out yelling, "I don't want a time-out, NO THANK YOU!  NEVER!!!!!"

Rio update

As of today at Rio's 4 month appt. he weighs 16 lbs and is 26 inches long, he also has a crease between his knee and his ankle, how does that even happen?  It's adorable!
He is constantly watching his sister, it's live entertainment all the time.  He mostly sleeps through the night (as of 3 days ago) and can roll over both ways!!!
His favorite toy is this little monkey who he likes to eat.
Sleeping in the bumbo, he only likes to cat nap during the day.  He getting very skilled at sucking his thumb as he's not very interested in his binky.

Belize update

Belize is 27 months now and cuter than ever.  More and more she's developing her independence (which can be wearing on her mom and dad) but she's still got boundless energy and the gift of gab, I can't keep up with the funny things she says.  But I will try:

While waiting for her to finish going to the bathroom - "We're hangin out, huh,  Mom?"

She loves to say, "Oh my goodness" and "Of course you can"

Brannon has developed an alter-ego - Mrs. Potts - she can get Belize to do pretty much anything, meanwhile i'm dying laughing because Bro is doing this prim and proper high pitched girly voice, i'm trying to sneak it on video.

Belize and Nala, her one and only cousin, they have a special bond.
Belize really wanted to use the boogersucker on Rio but I told her she could only use it on her doll, here she is sucking out the doll's eye.
Recently Belize is really interested on talking on the phone so here we are dressed up and talking on two dead cell phones.  She likes to call everyone she knows and I have to answer in different voices.  She loves to sing and has become Brannon's protoge in making up her own words to the twinkle little star song.  She also sings the peter and the wolf song all the time.  Her favorite movie is Tinkerbell, which she asks for constantly.  Her favorite TV show is SuperWhy (on at 9:00 when I put Rio down for his nap or I get my coveted shower in).  She has to sleep with her 3 blankies (leaf blankie, pink blankie and robot blankie), 2 pillows, 2-5 stuffed animals, her favorite book -"Snuggle Puppy" and two other books of her choice, its getting a little crowded.

Hwon Kim & Valentine's day

Nana and Grandpa returned from their exotic vacation in Thailand and brought back this carved elephant in honor of the elephant they rode, Hwon Kim.
Brannon and I at the Lion King for Valentine's day, it was spectacular!  Man, is it just me or does Brannon look smoking hot in this picture?  I'm so lucky!

Bro & Bro's Utah trip

Well, this is the first and likely the only blog entry that I will be doing.  Belize and I decided to head out on our own for one last Ogden, UT hurrah before starting residency (I could not convince Shauna to take another trip to Utah in the winter as she frequently reminded me that “we were just there a year ago Brannon”).

 I have never had to be the sole care provider for Belize since her birth and it turns out that it is much trickier than it seems.  It was a good thing that my dad came along for the trip to help me deal with a few melt downs where I just wanted to go outside, bury my head in the snow and slip into a hypothermic coma (my dad seems to have an unlimited amount of patience when it comes to dealing with Belize).   But, overall we had a wonderful time.

Belize loved playing with my Grandma’s little parrot named Tweety Bird, and the bird loved Belize in return.  For some reason Belize was one of the only people that could stick her finger in the cage without getting bit.  Now that is true love.

 Belize also had a great time playing with her cousins.  Almost every day she would ask if her cousins were coming over to play.  One night during prayer, she said, “….. thank you for my cousins, thank you for tweety bird, thank you for grandma June, amen”.  She really did love playing in Utah.

 It snowed a lot while we were down there and Belize loved every minute of it.  We played in the snow a lot, so much so that there were times she would just lie down in the snow because she was actually tired.  Then we would go inside and watch a slightly terrifying, claymation version of Peter and the Wolf that she loves.

I'm pretty much the funniest mom around!

Valentine Ideas

Recently I've getting more into my other blog, check out Valentine's day ideas, posted daily (there I said it, now I'm committed).  I've re-organized the site so that people from other states can contribute .  .  .  .  so check out your state! (If you can't find your state, well then you need to contribute!!!!)

Married and still Dating .  .  . can you believe it!?

Picture from PaperCrave

He's not heavy, he's my brother.

Rio continues to be a ray of sunshine in our lives.  He is so happy and is finally sleeping better at night.  He's quite fascinated with his hands right now and tries to eat them all the time.  Belize loves on Rio quite aggressively and I think he's getting the hang of having an older sibling, he's quite content to watch her do anything.  He smiles not just with his mouth but with his whole body.

Check out the brief but present, playing the piano with her TOE!!!  Man, this girl is talented!

Some people would consider it a form of torture, to Belize - a game before nap time.

To commemorate the inaguration of our new president, Bak-O-Mama.

Let's call this video- "Ode to the broken guitar string"  Sorry Grandpa, we'll have to buy you a new one!

We've entered a new make-believe phase with Belize, mainly of saying, "Hi, 

How you doin'?" in a really high voice.

Clarification

Just to clear up the last post. We will not hear until March about Brannon's residency location. He had his interview last week so Rio and I tagged along w/ him to Portland. We dumped Belize off with some homeless man on the street . . . we left her with my parents.

Oh land of ports

Oh land of ports how I love thee. How I love thine Pearl District w/ cupcakes and whole bowls aplenty. How I love fun shops to try on expensive clothes with. How I love Hanna Anderson clothes on sale. How I love love love this LOVE seat from Thea's Vintage Interiors. How I love peruvian food. How I love the hospital on the hill the the spectacular view and nifty tram. How I love Ruth Cassanova, real estate agent extraordinaire. How I love the relations nearby w/ hospitality to spare. And how I love this perfect little house, close to the hospital, 4 bedrooms, 2 bath, 2 fireplaces, wood floors w/ a spacious backyard for hours upon hours of playing. . . . SIGH! Dr. Hart if you're reading this, I think you know what to do!

Rio is FINALLY getting over the cold we all got while Brannon was on the East Coast. Poor guy, he's had 3 colds in 3 months.
Don't be fooled, this isn't Tinkerbell, "No, it's Belize".

You know your baby is fat when his two year old sister can fit into his onsie. :)

Interview Update #2

So for those of you who are keeping track Bro has had interviews at:

William Beaumont (MI)
UW
Hospital for Special Surgeries (NY)
Boston U
Albert Einstein Jewish (NY)
Brown (RI)

Next weekend:
OHSU (OR)
UCLA Harbor (CA)

I love being a mom!

I found this sweet gem on the camera this week! :)
Do you think they are checking for eachother's boogers?

Rio had his first swim, he was pretty chill and almost fell asleep. Belize used floaties for the first time and when she finally figured out she could "swim" her face was PRICELESS!!! Pure joy!

Her grandparents got her a toy screwgun for Christmas. We're remodeling our kitchen. Nuff said.
Other Belizisms this week, "I gotta idea" and "I gonna think about it (referring to waiting to poop)". Potty training Round 2 - Belize did amazing, something just clicked and she is now dry through nighttime and naps pretty consistantly, she still has some accidents but she's doing awesome!




















Rio has been figuring out how to get his hands to his mouth and has giggled a few times!











My sweetiepies missing their Dad. Bro is on the East Coast interviewing w/ Hospital for Special Surgery/Cornell, Boston University, Albert Einstein Long Island Jewish, and Brown University. They've probably watched the Lion King (movie of choice lately) 5 times so far!

Belize videos

In an impossible attempt to capture every cute Belize moment . . . .

Christmas in Pictures