"Pay Dirt"

Do you watch "Gold Diggers?" I hate that show! But Neal watches it all the time, and I just can't handle how dumb they are! Seriously... but I thought this name was appropriate! I think there are people waiting to see some "pay dirt" from me, aka: PICTURES!! So I will give you a few golden nuggets--highlights of the last few months.

I never knew what the "jump" from one to two chilens would really feel like. Well, in a nutshell it has been a little rough. I think we are now in a groove, and things are looking up and up. I cannot imagine what it would be like three, or four children!! To think I wanted six! Let's just say that number has dramatically dropped. :)

A typical day for the Bastian home would go something like this:
Maddie is up at 7:30 I go get her out of her crib tent (her cage), she runs into my room straight up to Wilson, "WISSON!! WHISSON! WISSON!!! And then Wilson is up at 7:31 -- all because Mom left her bedroom door open. You would think I would learn... someday people, someday. Then we just bounce around a few naps, which can be tough, if Maddie hears Wilson she is worried and therefore cannot fall asleep, "Uh-OH! Mama! Uh-oh! Wisson!!" and I reassure her, "He is fine" hoping that he in fact "fine" because I left him rolling around the front room... And when I try to put Wilson down, Maddie wants to play so she bangs on the door, "Herro, Mama? Herro? MAMA!" Until I come out, so sometimes naps are a struggle. But I love when they overlap! Even if its for a half hour!

A few things that are complicated:
1)Grocery Store: Remember when you could just "run" to the grocery store? Without hauling a baby in a car seat? Well, it is a site to see, I have Maddie in the front of the grocery cart, Wilson in the basket. Issue: No room for food! Then, Maddie gets out of every contraption that holds her down, so she joins Wilson! I move Wilson to the front of the cart... Then Maddie tries jumping out of the side of the cart... so I eventually give in. I HOLD her, with Wilson in the cart and a ton of groceries. So what do I do? NEVER TAKE THEM!!! I If I can avoid the family circus, I do!!!
2)Gym time! I discovered the YMCA, they watch your kids for FREE 2 hours a day if you go workout. I am highly motivated! 2 hours to myself... I am GAME! However the parking lot leaves less to be desired. People must think I am CRAZY. Well, surprise, I AM!! I carry Maddie on one hip (since she will just run away from me), and Wilson in the car seat on my other forearm. It is a workout before my actual workout! I have tried using a leash with Maddie in the parking lot... I have tried carrying Wilson without the car seat and it is a disaster every time. So I just keep my usual, Maddie on the left hip, Wilson on the right forearm.
3) Showers: yea, I cannot leave a toddler alone, nor can I leave a 6 month old. So they come with me. Maddie in, Wilson out in the kick and play. Maddie wants Wilson to have a shower too, so she opens the curtain every thirty seconds and throws water at him. I have removed her toys, then she goes after the shampoo, so I put the toys back in the shower and I let her throw water. It is a sight to see. I just have to make sure Wilson is far enough away that she can't reach him.
4) Going to the bathroom: I run, and pray they don't hurt each other, or roll into a table, or that Maddie does not give him her sippy cup with "big girl milk" or that she doesn't feed him--she loves to do this, cheerios are her favorite to "share" it never turns out well!

So now that I have bored you to death I will share their cute pictures. I have more pictures, but I need to download them, so maybe four months from now, you will see them!

Little Kiddos ready for Church:




GO HUSKIES!!!
We watch a lot of football, and basketball at our house, and DAWGS rule!!




Halloween 2012: Our little ducklings :)
"Here Wilson, have a treat!"


"Oh, wait, you are too little, I am going to take that back!!"


Duckie Snuggles with Grammy


SOUNDERS! We attended the last Sounders game of the season with our pals the Osbrones!!It was a blast with Cory and Tenille!



Chuck E Cheese with Auntie Sheri:
Pre Chuck E Cheese










Dancing!!



Tired...


Thanks Sheri!


Frango Safari 2012 (for those of you who know what this is, be jealous if you weren't there, if you have not experienced this, we need to chat!!):
















Christmas Kitchen:
Hours of Endless Fun!!




Engagement Party for my BF Chelsea Gilmore:
Neal and Me, alone, no kids!!


Me and Chelsea


Me, Chelsea, and Lauren



Maddie and Wilson playing and being cute!








Thanks for visiting, I will write in 4 months!

Newest Addition! Wilson Kade

Wilson joined us August 4th, and arrived at a whopping 9.6 lbs. Labor was easy, I pushed for about 8 minutes and boom--big baby came out! We have loved every minute with him! He is now 7 weeks old and 14 lbs. 24 inches long. He coo's and smiles, and just melts our hearts.

This blog is long overdue... I should be banned from blogging since I neglect mine. But I figure adding a million pictures will redeem me. Maddie is so grown up now, she has hair, she says, "Oh no! Get that!" "What's this?" "No, that" "Hi Dan" "Hi Syd" (her best friend is Sydney Grandma and Grandpa Bastian's dog...) "Hi Wi-sin" That is supposed to mean "Wilson."

I am an official diaper changer, baby feeder, toddler chaser... infant protector... I retired from a "real" job in a corporate setting to baby land. Working at a desk is WAY EASIER!!!

Without further Adieu, here are the million pictures--No one really wants to know what I have to say! Enjoy! And I am too tired to actually put any order or captions on the photos... so some are in order, some are not! Use your imagination. ;)

Maddie!!

I have a few little Maddie stories that I think you would all enjoy--I think they are great stories that truly capture her personality. This girl has some serious personality!!

DETERMINATION
1) When we decided to "sleep train" this was Madison's response:
She CRIED for an hour--at about an hour she had finally fallen asleep SITTING UP!!! She was so determined not to sleep that she fought and fought. It was so hard for us to let her cry, but I cannot tell you how happy I am that we did! She now sleeps like a champ, and doesn't give us a hard time. I still can't believe she fell asleep sitting up.

GENIUS
2)She started walking everywhere a few days ago--and she outsmarted dad! Which is hard to do, he is VERY smart. He had given her some Junior Mints and she LOVED them, she loved them so much she devised a plan. When dad was watching TV Maddie found a box and started to push it around in the room--dad had his eyes on her but she totally faked him out! He thought she was just playing with the box--NOPE! She waited until he stopped paying attention to her, pushed her box up to the bookcase and climbed up to reach her Junior Mints!!! Neal finally realized what she was doing when he heard a "crash" and our pictures came tumbling off the shelf...

TASTE
3) She knows what tastes good! Auntie Sue had two scoops of ice cream, one vanilla one chocolate. She gave Maddie a taste of vanilla--no response--she gave her a taste of chocolate--YUMMMM--then Sue gave her another taste of vanilla and she CLOSED HER LIPS!! It was hilarious! Every time Sue took a bite of chocolate Maddie would open her mouth thinking it was for her--to her surprise Sue would eat it and Maddie would -scream. Didn't Sue know the chocolate was Maddie's? Silly SUE.

THINKER
4) The Sock--This is cute, Neal has the video on his phone as proof of this event. She took her sock off, then decided she wanted it back on. She used her thumbs to open the sock, then tried to put her little foot back into her SOCK! Who thinks of these things when they are 10 months!!! Then we started realizing when she has her clothes in her hands she is trying to put them ON! Today she tried so hard to get a onezie over her head. I am not exaggerating. I think babies know a lot more than we think they do!

MISCHEVIOUS
5) I just looked over and she pulled Neal's jeans off our chair, she is now standing on them with one leg up the chair trying to pull herself up to get her new ladybug book!

I am confident that she will have us on our toes for a very long time!

To blog or Not to Blog....

Is it even worth it? I am SO far behind! I don't even know where to start! First of all Neal was accepted to the University of Washington School of Dentistry--WAHOO!!! He received acceptances from his top schools, and were able to choose where we wanted to go. Although we knew we wanted to move back to Washington, and as soon as Neal knew he was accepted he booked a moving a truck and we were off!

Good bye Utah, we loved you! It was so fun being in such a small town, at such an incredible university. I miss our cute apartment, grocery store across the street, mall up the road, school 3 minutes away--it was fun and we loved every second! We really miss our good friends, and I am so BUMMED I didn't take any pictures with our friends. You would think I would remember!

A week before we moved Madison was crawling everywhere, sitting up, and learning new things everyday. A few days after she crawled she started to pull herself up on furniture, and attempt to stand! She is growing before our eyes!

It was so fun to MOVE home for Christmas! What a present! Again, I have no pictures, because I didn't remember to take any--honestly I think my brain is gone--I am having flashbacks of my pregnancy with Madison--No BRAINS.

Here are a few pictures, I will try and post more later. And I will try and blog more frequently...New Years resolution :)

The Plague

It has hit our house... and we would like it to leave! Doesn't Neal look like a Vampire :) And yes, it does feel as bad as it looks YIKES!