Another First!

"Mommy" was the sweet word I heard today for the first time in the 4 years and 4 months since becoming a mommy. I have been "Ma U", "Mama", and for a long time, "MaMum". Today I am "Mommy." :-)

Thank you, Lord, for beautiful words and for the hope that each one gives. Amen.

We got a dog

Thank goodness it's not a real one or I'd be in big trouble! Two kids in diapers and a small yard...nope, this dog will have to do for now.


This was another one of our finds Saturday morning. I picked it up for a dollar and had no idea that Grant would take such a liking to it. It's great speech-wise and isn't too obnoxious. ;-)

You can push different parts of the dogs body and it will label it, sing songs, and even say in a cute voice, "I love you" and "Hug Me".

When I was taking pictures of Kate he kept coming up to me saying, "Ckheeze" for "cheese!" meaning he wanted me to take his picture. He doesn't really get it to stay still for the camera so I said, "Hey, go get your dog and I'll take a picture of you and your dog." He thought that was a fun idea and so he went to go get it. He loves his new dog and has been keeping it close by his side.

I know this might sound dumb but any toy that Grant loves is just fantastic. Usually, he is more obsessed with pushing buttons, climbing on things he shouldn't, or just getting into trouble. Sometimes I get frustrated with him and want to scream, "Why can't you just play with your toys???" We work hard with him at playing appropriately with toys and when we find something he loves, I get very excited. This was one of the best $1's I've spent in a long time! :-)

Fancy Pants

Kate was just too cute to not snap a few pics today of her. Here she is in her fancy shoes from Aunt Jenni (Thank you, Aunt Jenni! Kate loves her new shoes!) with a pair of pants I picked up at a garage sale a while ago with a shirt I believe from a friend and then, of course, the bow to match her frilly ruffles on her pants. I have been waiting several months for her to grow into her new pants! They are so girly and Kate is definitely a girly girl. When we tried her shoes on this afternoon, she walked all the way from her room into my bathroom to look at them in the mirror! Then she took a nap in them. I guess that's ok for new shoes, right? :-)

Grant's New Bike!

On Saturday morning all four of us went garage sale-ing. The weather was perfect and we hit a ton of garage sales at a neighborhood in Murphy. Grant got a bike out of it for $10. Can't beat that! His physical therapist encouraged us to keep our eye out for one since he was doing so well on his tricycle. She thought he would be ready for a real bike. So far he is doing great! He is still trying to figure out the brakes but he can cruise along the sidewalk very fast. We almost have to run to keep up with him!

We sure have been enjoying the beautiful weather lately, that is, when it isn't raining. Thank you, Lord, for Spring!

Kate & Her New "Bike"

This weekend Kate moved up from Grant's ride-on tractor to the tricycle. Her legs aren't quite long enough yet but we are practicing. :-) She loves it!!!

Our New Yard

The last several weekends Joel has been working on our yard to get it looking nicer. I am so excited to have our yard looking nice again. Too bad I didn't think to take before pictures. I'm sure I'll post again when it is all finished. Here Joel is planting a new row of bushes on both sides of the house:

Bird's Nest Cookies

Thanks to Grant's speech therapist at school, Ms. Delia, for the recipe, we made these yummy Bird's Nest Cookies tonight after dinner. They are super easy and a language-rich activity! :-)

My helpers were very eager to help me in any and every way. ;-)


Kate wasn't too sure about the actual cookie part. I thought she would hesitate in eating the bird (a marsh mellow chick actually but tonight it was a bird) but she bit the head off and next thing I knew the whole thing was gone! She wanted more but I said, "No, only one bird tonight. Eat your cookie!" She was sad and clearly was not going to eat her cookie.

Grant ate all his cookie and then wanted more. I said, "No, only one cookie tonight. Eat your bird." He did. Sometimes these two surprise me! Usually, Kate is the one who eats everything and Grant is the picky one!

Grant's mouth is a little stuffed in the picture. He sure was enjoying his yummy treat!

This recipe calls for 1 cup of chocolate chips (I used butterscotch), 1 cup of chow mein noodles, a marsh mellow bird, and jelly beans if you want. Melt the chips in the microwave for a minute or until melted and then stir in the noodles. Set on wax paper to cool.

Bound & Determined

That would be Grant to get up on his top bunk to which he finally succeeded in doing so first thing Wednesday morning. Here he is all pleased with himself, as you can clearly tell by his ear-to-ear grin:

If you are wondering what the light colored wood is, that would be the solution that Joel came up with to keep Grant from climbing on the top bunk about 6 months ago. One year ago, Kate moved into her own room and at that time we went ahead and brought the bunk beds in from the garage. We decided he had been in his toddler bed long enough. Nana and Papa passed these down a few years ago when Uncle Daniel moved out of them. (They were first bought for Jennifer and me when my mom was pregnant with my brother David! Jen and I used them, then David and Jonathan, then Christina and Daniel for a little while, and then Daniel. So they have been used by all six of us Lauritsen kiddos and now by little Grant.)

It wasn't long after they were in his room that Grant started trying to climb on top. I was scared to death because of 3 things:

1. He has no fear
2. He falls easily
3. He is very accident prone

Instead of taking off the top bunk at the time, Joel came up with this pretty good idea of what you see as the light colored wood. I wanted to stain it to match but never got around to doing it.

On Monday and Tuesday I caught Grant trying to get up there using whatever he could for height. Tuesday night I told Joel that we're going to have to take the top bunk off because it won't be long until he is up there. Well, I didn't quite expect it to be the very next morning!!! Joel and I were thinking we could wait until the weekend. :-)

This is Grant's "boost" that he used to climb up and over onto the top bunk:

His fire truck turned upside down with a thick book on top! What a stinker! And now here is his new room:

I had a hard time trying to figure out the best place for his best but it ended up staying in the same place it was to begin with after moving it about 6 different times! I totally love how his room is more open, and there is also more floor space to play. That's always a good thing!

Goodnight, Grant!

Conversation with Kate

I was driving home this morning after taking Grant to school when Kate stopped her sweet chatter and said, "Mamum?"

Me: "Yes, Kate?"
Kate: "Ho?" (meaning home)
Me: "Yes, we're going home. Do you want to go home?"
Kate looks at me in the rear view mirror and nods her head "yes".

Such sweet conversation.

Victory for the Week

Yesterday afternoon Joel came home from work, and Grant said for the very first time, "Hi, Dadda!" Then this morning he said to me, "Hi, MaMum", that's me. :-) He said "Hi" to me and I prompted him by mouthing "MaMum" and then he said it following "Hi." I tried to get him to say "Hi, Kate" but he could only say "Tatie," his name for Kate.

Now that is an interesting point. We call Kate either Katie-pie (like cutie-pie) or Kate. But Grant on his own started calling her "Tatie" about a month ago or so. It's pretty cute to hear him say it, as he always says it so sweetly.

This is a huge success for Grant. For many months he has been saying "Hi" and "Dadda" and "MaMum" but never "Hi, Dadda" or "Hi, MaMum." You can imagine how excited we are to hear our sweet boy begin to put two functioning words together in proper context. Baby steps. That's how it goes around here. We are rejoicing with the sounds of beautiful words!

A few other words he is putting together is "More wa-ah", for "More Water". He has also been saying several sentences: "I wan wa-ah", "I wan more", "I wan Dadda", "I wan u o to NaNa" (for I want to go to Nana's house).

He is also getting quite good at shaking his head "No" at just about everything. I have longed for him to say "No" to me for such a long time! Now we are working on obedience when it comes to something he has to do without him shaking his head "No". It's great when he can say no to something he doesn't want like more water or snack, but it's not so fun when I tell him to sit down in his chair at the table and he says "No" with shaking his head! :-)



This pic is from a few months back not related to this post but thought you'd enjoy it none the less. :-)

Our First Zoo Trip!

During Spring Break, we went to the Dallas Zoo as a family. Aunt Christina and Uncle Daniel came with us, too. We have planned on going many times and for one reason or another it just hadn't worked out. I'm so thankful we finally made it! Although it was really crowded we all had a fun time. We rode the DART train and for Grant that was the best part. When we started to go, he started laughing and doing his Grant giggle. He loved it so much that Joel and I talked about a family day just riding the DART to Downtown and back. :-)



Kate was a little out of it at first. Aren't her pig tails so cute! Ok, so maybe they look a little silly but this was the first time I was able to put her hair up. Here's a close up of her bunny clippies that I made just in time for Easter:



A few more pics:






Daniel next to the Lion's Den






Note to self: Take family photo at the beginning of the day before wearing everyone out!

Happy Birthday, Joel!!!

"I Wuuu You"

In our house this phrase is "I Love You" and both Grant and Kate can say it. They always get so smiley when they say it. It's pretty cute.

One day last week I was having a particularly hard day with Grant. Mostly, he kept pestering Kate, taking toys from her and just messing with her. After one of those moments of disciplining Grant, I told him to be sweet to Kate, to tell her he is sorry, and to tell her that he loves her. Little Kate, who has quickly picked up on saying "sorry" was listening quite attentively.

Me: "Grant, I want you to tell Kate that you are sorry."

Grant, walking over to Kate: "Saw Sor" (sorry)

Kate chiming in, in her most serious voice: "Tarr" (sorry)

Me: "Grant, tell Kate 'I love you'.

Grant and Kate, both in unison: "I Wuuu You"

They said it to each other and hugged. It was such a sweet moment! Thank you, Lord!

They said it in perfect unison and in the exact same way - in one breath, one word: iwuuuU. I was watching two little people speaking the same language. For some reason it was just so funny to me and I burst into laugher. It still makes me laugh every time I think of that moment. I had myself a much needed chuckle that day. :-)

In Memory of My Grandpa

This is a picture from the last time I was with my Grandpa Ray Cladek, October 2004.

My Grandpa passed away on Monday, March 24, 2008. He is now with Jesus and I know when I get to heaven he will hug me again, just like in the picture.

I wasn't always close to him due to my grandparents living in Seattle while I grew up here in Texas. But I do have some good memories of the times when we were together.

I'll never forget how he would always tell me the story of how he sucked his thumb off. This was in attempt to get me to stop sucking my two middle fingers. Later as I grew older I would find out it was shot off during WWII.

His pet name for me was "Squirrel." I'm still not sure where that came from but it was an endearing term so it didn't matter too much, I guess.

His name for his neighbor across the street and anyone who pissed him off was "Ding-Ding". Every now and then I'll use that word and it always makes me laugh, as I think of him and how he would say it in his gruff voice "That ole Ding-Ding..."

One of the best times was when I went to Seattle by myself in August the summer after I graduated from high school. I was there for 3 weeks and really enjoyed that time with them.

And then there is Spuds, the favorite fish and chips restaurant we would always go to any and every time we went to Seattle. Spuds is on Alki Beach and as we ate we would watch the ferries and seagulls and people jogging or riding their bikes. It's one of my favorite places to go in Seattle.

I'm thankful that I was able to visit again that October. Grandpa got to meet Joel and Grant, who was just 9 months old at the time. Many times I have often wished that I lived closer to my grandparents so that I would have known them better. That is when I'm most grateful to have Joel's and my family to live so close!

Go, Grant!

The weather has been so nice lately that Grant has been able to ride his "bike" almost everyday. He totally loves it, and he gets so excited when we mention the word bike. After I finished teaching this evening I asked Joel if he wanted to go on a bike ride. (Now that it is getting dark later and we have a nice bike trailer we can all go on a bike ride together! :-) ) Grant heard me ask Joel and he, Grant, was laughing all the way to the front door to ride his bike. He thought I was talking about his tricycle! I said, "No, not your bike. Daddy's bike!" He was just as excited and laughed all the way to the garage and hopped in the bike trailer as soon as he could. So we all went on a nice bike ride enjoying the pleasant weather.

I am happy to report that Grant is now pedaling his own weight and actually moving along all by himself! He is starting to get the steering down and even turns towards the right direction when needing to turn around. He still needs an occasional push but for the most part he is getting the hang of it. It won't be long until we can take the adult handle bars off. Yeah!

Go, Grant, go!!! I am soooo proud of you!

Victory for the Week

I always love to celebrate what I call victories in regards to Grant's progress, whether they are big or small. This week's victory was Grant riding his tricycle and actually pedaling with his legs keeping his feet on both pedals!

Last summer we got him his tricycle and worked with him until the weather was too cold. Yesterday was the first time he's been on it since last fall. I had a little while before my students started coming and Kate was still napping and the weather was so beautiful so I thought it would be a great time to work with him on his "bike." He was so excited when I brought it in from the garage and out the front door. He hopped on right away and started using his feet on the ground to go. So I positioned his feet on his pedals and told him to push with his feet. To my surprise he actually pedaled with his legs and feet. It was like he knew exactly what to do. Yeah, Grant!!!

His physical therapist has been working with him on this, and at school he has opportunities to work on riding as well. The pedals do not move by themselves even with me pushing him. He couldn't quite pedal enough to go on his own; it was more like 50% of me pushing him and 50% of him pedaling. There were a few times though that he was going completely on his own. I was so excited from yesterday that I let him ride around in it in the house today! (He would have gone outside had I let him but I didn't think he would have fun in the cold and rainy weather!) He pedaled all around as I pushed him from behind. He loves riding his "bike", as we call it.

It's moments like this that I am so encouraged. Experiencing Grant being able to do something for the first time that we have worked sooooooo hard on is one of the greatest feelings I have as his mom. Thank you, Lord!

Special Guests for Lunch!

Aunt Sarah and Uncle Lance, aka Joel's sister and her husband, who are missionaries in Mexico, are in town and came to visit us for lunch today! Sarah is 6 1/2 months pregnant with their first child, Joshua Judson. You can read more about them here.


Thanks for making time to come see us! We will miss you and can't wait to meet sweet little Joshua!

More Weekend Fun

On Saturday, I went to this huge consignment sale for kids and found a bike trailer! I've been on the look out for one for the past several months so I was very excited to finally get one. Grant has been in one before so he was pretty excited, as he was full of anticipation. Kate wasn't too sure about what was going on, but it wasn't long before Joel heard her laughing after we started riding. She loved it! Here Grant is waving to me right before we took off:

I have to include this picture: Grant hugging his little sister. He really is a sweet boy!
We stopped to feed the ducks on the way to the park. Grant kept going to the edge of the water chasing the ducks with bread in his hand. We had a couple of close calls! Kate just likes to sit and eat bread saying, "More, more." It's so funny; she could care less about the ducks while she enjoys her tasty snack. :-)

Another stop on the way to the park to eat lunch. This was our first family picnic and I was really happy with how well Grant did. He ate up his sandwich and then stayed close by. He will just walk off from us with not a care in the world and then it isn't so much fun anymore, so you can imagine why this our first picnic at the park!
A few pics at the park:


This was Grant's idea to hang from the monkey bars. He climbed on all by himself!
This was such a fun family outing on Sunday afternoon, especially after being cooped up in the house for several days being sick. I don't know who needed to get out more: me or the kids!

Weekend Fun

Last week both kids were sick...again. So after being home all day long Thursday and Friday, playing in storage tub was so much fun on Saturday. They loved being pushed around in it, of course.
Well, it was fun until Grant got an idea in his head to dump over, which caused both of their heads to knock together. Poor Kate! I'm sure not feeling so great didn't help anything.

My 1st 5K Run!

About a month ago my friend Trisa told me about a training program 'From Couch to 5K in 9 Weeks' that she was starting on February 11. I had just started working out again at Jazzercise and thought this sounded great! Without thinking about it too much I told her "I'm in!" and wanted to do it with her. So today I will finish my 2nd week of training, which means I have 7 weeks left. I can say it hasn't been too bad so far. It hasn't been easy but it sure feels good when I'm gone! This program really proves that anyone can do it since I'm not a runner and never have been. Kate and I go in the mornings when Grant is at school unless we have the flu or it has been raining (like this past week!). Here are the before and after pictures of my first run. It was a cool morning so I bundled Kate up really nice and warm. She loves to go on a walk and was so excited, as you can tell. She was waving to me when I took the first picture. :-) I think we had only been going for a few minutes before she fell asleep. She does that every time we go. So cute! (Don't mind the date on the pictures; I really need to change that on my camera!)