Sleep and beds

I have been concerned about the drop side style crib that Reagan had for a while now. There was a major recall on some of these cribs because the bottom was coming detached and babies could get stuck between the side of the mattress and the railing; VERY scary. But since our particular crib was not involved we did not replace it. Jen brought it up the other night while we were having drinks on their patio (so fun! thanks guys:)) and she told me that more cribs have been recalled. We looked up the model of Reagan's crib and sure enough, recalled. In a way I am glad we waited because now that Katya is in a big kid bed we don't have to waste money on buying another crib. But I do regret keeping Reagan in that crib when I had doubts about it's safety.

Anyways, I did a little looking and ended up buying this bunk bed on Monday!



I am excited about it because now we will have 2 twin beds for the girls that they can have for a long, long time. I wanted twin bunks that could be used side by side, or in different rooms. A lot of bunks don't come apart so it took me a little while to find this one. It should be here in a few weeks and we still need to find a mattress. I kind of want to get a nicer mattress that will last a long time but man, they get REALLY expensive. Even for a twin! We will just buy one for now since it will be a few years before we need to set up the other bed. For now, Katya has our guest bed mattress on her floor and I set Katya's crib up in Reagan's room (We could have given her the guest bed but I really like having an extra bed).

Katya has been doing great in her big girl bed! She has not tried to come out of her room in over a week and I am really surprised how easy it was to teach her this(thanks to Healthy Sleep, Happy Child). She is still not napping well though. She has been napping only a few days a week which has been challenging, but hopefully will iron itself out in time. The problem is that she poops in her diaper at nap time and then won't sleep. Even after I go in and change her. Today she pooped a little before her nap but she rarely gets it all out before she goes down. She did end up falling asleep but woke up a bit early, and dirty.

The reward system is working really well, although she does not always earn both a treat and a movie (i.e., she stayed in her room, and eventually slept but did get up and look at books). She continues to have a harder time falling asleep if she does nap, while the days she doesn't nap she is out by 7pm. We have been putting her down closer to 8pm on the days she naps and she has been doing pretty good at staying quite until she falls asleep. She is waking up SO much happier than she use too. Even the time she doesn't get any reward, she is in a better mood and let me tell you, this is SUPER nice.

Saturday Market

I had a really good time at the Saturday Market with my photography class. I like photographing people the best and had to get a bit out of my comfort zone in doing so. Most people I asked if I could photograph them, not the performers though. I was a little disappointed when I got home and went through the 'film,' so to speak. But of course we are often our own worst critics. Here are a few that I like.




These guys were quite the eclectic group. There were 3 more members are not in this photo. This one is not as clear as I would like but I love how they are all looking my direction. The gal sticking out her tongue asked if I got any good shots to e-mail them to the group, which I will do later in the week. They were really fun.

This one I like because the artist almost blends in with her work.

Laney pictures!

Here are a few photos of my darling little niece! She is so sweet I could just eat her up! Mom and baby are doing really well and are home today. Candace said that her recover so far has been SO much easier than her first c-section. She had quite a few complications with her c-section with Charlie, including having to go under general anesthesia (which sucks). This time around she got to be awake and see her new little angle right after she was born. Scott got to be in their too to meet little Laney (I've got the spelling right now:0)) And she felt a million times better post operative. Hooray for spinals!


We had a busy and tiring weekend. I had a field trip for my photography class on Saturday morning. The afternoon brought Kennedy's annual block party birthday bash. We had a good time enjoying our wonderful neighbors. Today Craig had 2 meetings at Widmer and then we met up at Kenton Park for 'Sunday Parkways' festivities. They do this several times a year, closing down certain roads for biking, walking, running, that link up a bunch of parks. I will post pictures from our weekend over the next week or so.

Alaina Smith

I spelled little Lainy's name wrong in my first post, my apologies little one. I was even looking up the boy and girl name they had picked out this morning (before I heard the news) trying to figure out the spelling!, And I am still not sure how they are spelling Lainy, but this is my guess. She arrived at 7:32am, 7lbs 3oz and 19inches long! Happy Birth day my sweet little niece! And a side note; I'm liking this trend of same gender siblings that the Thompson girls have going on! :0)

WELCOME BABY SMITH!!!!

Alaina Beverly Smith (Lainy) arrived just a little while ago! Healthy baby girl, don't know weight and length yet. I will post an update when I get more information. Congradulations Scott and Candace!

New lens

Even before we bought our new fancy camera I was seeing the term 'lens lust' in photography literature. I knew I would fall victim to it and low and behold, I bought a new lens for our camera today! Fortunately, while many lenses run from 400$ up to the 1000$+ range, the lens I bought was just over 100$. Still a lot of money, but I am SUPER happy with it. I can see myself using this lens even more than the 'kit' lens (what the camera came with; on its own retails over 400$).

It is a primary lens which means there is only one focal length, 50mm (no zoom). But the aperture opens up much bigger than the kit lens. This means more light comes in and so you can use a much faster shutter speed. Important for capturing clear images of these ever moving children. And secondly, the larger the aperture the shallower the depth of field, so you get that great blurred background. The only downside to this lens is that it doesn't have a built in stabilizer that helps reduce camera shake. I definitely noticed a difference and I found that this morning after my coffee, my pictures were not as clear! This afternoon they came out better and it really forces me to practice the proper stance for photographing.

I LOVE this one! I was trying all day to get a shoot of her from above with her looking up at me. I was so excited when I downloaded the pictures and saw that not only did I get the shoot, but it is really nice and clear. And of course, a 'classic rocks in her mouth' shoot of Miss Reagan.

A little dark on Katya's face but still cute. They had so much fun in the sprinkler today (thanks Kirklands!).

We also had a very fun trip to the rose garden this morning. I don't like the shadow on Katya but I like everything else, especially the pig tails!

Trying to get that same top down perspective on Katya.

I just LOVE this little pink jumper. One of the few things I have purchased for her.


I still have a lot to learn but I feel like my photos are getting better. It is SO much fun! Lastly, my sister's c-section got moved up to 6:30am, instead of 8am! So stay tuned for a baby announcement tomorrow morning!!!!!

Happy Birthday Charlie!!!

My darling little neice is 2 years old today!! What a big girl she is. And going to be a big sister very soon! Love you sweet girl, hope you have a wonderful day!

Our brillant girls

Not like our child is the first to master sign language but it is always a marvel when our kids pick up something new. In the last few days Reagan has learned and is using, 'more,' 'eat,' 'bear,' and 'change diaper.' She also lays down on the floor when I say change diaper (or crawls away from me laughing)! And she says, "Moa" when signing 'more.' She is pointing out things she knows in books and doing the sign. I just LOVE this age.

I taught Katya about the word frustrated yesterday and later in the afternoon she used it properly. She did a little, "Errr!" noise and then said, "I'm frustrated." To cute!

Countdown til new cousin is here!!!!

My sister Candace is scheduled for a c-section delivery one week from today!!!! I am just dying of excitement to welcome a new baby into the family. Can't wait to see if it's a boy or a girl and to see pictures! And I am SO excited that they are staying with us in August, while in town for Scott's sister's wedding! My photography skills should have improved by then and I am excited to take pictures of the newly expanded Candace and Scott Smith family:0)

I am enjoying my photography class. There is so much to learn but I feel like I have learned a ton already in just 2 classes. I get pretty tired as the class approaches 8:30 (it is from 6:30-8:30), always the end of a long day, but I really like it. Our assignment last week was to take a series of pictures showing a varying depth of field (i.e. focal point with a blurry background progressing to more in focus background). This week we are to take a portrait of someone close to us, using available light (no flash and on manual mode). Here are some of my practice pictures. One of the hard things for me is getting enough light indoors.

Sleep stuff and at the park

As most everyone knows, Katya has had a lot of trouble falling asleep for the past year or so. Lately she has been asking for a big girl bed so I decided to tackle both issues at once. I am realizing that Craig and I are to blame for a lot of the sleep troubles (we were occasionally bringing her into our bed if she had trouble sleeping; only for 15 mins and not very often but that is enough for a 2 year old to stay up in hopes of seeing mom and dad). Then we got into the habit of going to her once (because she was taking her diaper off and yelling, "I have to go PEE-PEE!") and after that she would settle down (usually around 9pm...bedtime is still 7:30). Not good. So we are back on the right track, with the help of some self scrutiny and good 'ol Dr. Wiesenbluth (Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child).

So now Katya has some sleep rules (which are posted in her room) to follow; staying in bed, keeping her diaper on, closing her eyes, staying very quite, and going to sleep. All but the diaper one is straight from the sleep book. If she follows the rules she gets to watch a movie and pick a treat when she wakes up. I bought some Honey Nut Cheerios and Kixs for this. I really like making TV watching more of a privilege that she earns then a normal occurrence (which has been the habit in our home; limited, albeit, but still not a 'special' thing). This afternoon's nap was a success and she got her rewards. That was only the 4th try (2 night times and 2 naps) since we started, not bad! If she does get up we are strictly following the 'silent return' approach in which we do not talk to her or even make eye contact. Even the smallest attention is a positive reinforcement with kiddos.

The girls and I went to the little pocket park up the street this afternoon. Many of you know the one, on Haven with the small slide and play stucture perfect for the little tykes. Katya was pretending that the top of the play structure was "Winnie the Witch's" house (a current favorite book) and there was a TV in the house. A little later she started laying down on the lower area of the play structure and saying, "I'm going ni-nite in my big girl bed." And then, "I'm awake! I stayed in my big girl bed! I get to pick a movie." She would walk up the little ramp and pretend to watch a movie and then come down and say, "Can I have some cake?" She did have cake for her treat today which was from Kennedy's (the little girl down the street) birthday party on Sunday.

Reagan was an animal at the park! Girlfriend was climbing up the little slide, pretty successfully! I had to help her a little at the top but not much. Once at the top she would push herself back and go down the slide on her tummy! I have been helping her down slides on her tummy lately and she loves it, but this is the first time she did it all on her own. This particular slide is perfect because it is so small. She was also crawling up the 'ramp' on the play structure and peeking out the little holes. Dying laughing of course when I would run around and look in at her. She was fearless....even tried going down the slide face first (did not turn out so good). And she is a climber! This morning at OMSI she was climbing onto and off of the little cube chairs over and over again. She is really good and getting down now. She gets off the couch no problem and she loves playing on Katya's bed.

Well, as I have been typing this it has been really quite upstairs...until just a minute ago that is. Katya has been in bed for 40 minutes and she just got up and was opening and closing the door. I did the silent return to bed, which I think also lets her know that I know she was up and so no movie and treat tomorrow morning. Bummer. Love to all!

At the park

How can I resist practicing with my camera with girls this cute??!! The sun was bright and high at the park today and I found myself overexposing a lot of the photos. Some have too much 'white light' and a polarized filter might have come in handy....and the fact that I recognize this and know what the heck a polarized filter is is pretty cool:0) But still some cute shots I had to share!

Peek-a-boo!

Not crystal clear but so cute of Katya. It is hard to get her looking at the camera and smiling so I had to include it!

Here Reagan is washed out by the bark background but for some reason I still love it. It is such a Reagan face and I see so much of Craig in this look!

Katya pushing her sister on the swing

I love how well the fast shutter speed froze her movement! Those curls!

An example of too much 'white light.' A polarized filter would have brought the blue back to the sky and therefore make Reagan stand out better. But again, I still like it:0) Any photo that captures light in those gorgeous eyes is a keeper.

In Manual

I have started using my camera on manual this week after my first photography class! Scary:0) That means I am having to control the aperture and shutter speed to get the right exposure. All I can say is thank goodness for digital! It takes a lot of practice. To be able to take a ton of pictures and delete the bad ones (most of them) is so handy. Plus being able to immediatly see your photo and ajust accordingly has helped me get a handle on the exposure value. It makes me glad that I waited this long to learn about photography! Here are a couple of my favorites from this weekend.

Reagan 14 months old

Miss Reagan has 8 teeth total, though the 4 lateral incisors are still coming in. She continues to fuss, chew on everything and drool a lot. Poor baby:( She is pretty much down to one afternoon nap, about 1.5-2.5 hrs in length. If she naps well she goes to bed at 6:30pm and gets up about 7am. She is really taking off on the signs. Now in addition to 'milk,' 'light,' 'all done,' 'please,' and 'dog' she is signing 'book,' 'bath,' and 'water' and 'thank you.' Alot of them look the exact same when she does it, but she knows they are different words and I can usually figure it out in context.

She is just starting to 'walk' holding onto our hands though she is not real interested in it. She prefers to get down and crawl. She is walking holding on to the little chairs or the lion more and more. She likes to hold the seat of the lion still and push him sideways. I think she likes that she can control the speed better that way. She is such a silly girl and we are enjoying her personality so much. I am hoping she is walking by our trip to Tahoe this August, but then again that would make for a lot of spills. I think it will be a while for her to walk. She is fairly timid and is just so content with were she's at. We are so blessed to have these two wonderful girls! Nothing could be better.

Katya Says

Here are some cute/funny things Katya has said lately:

* "Mama? You want your flop-flips?"
* "Come on balloon. I choose you balloon."
* "Where's my Winny the Witch book? It's at the library. Can't go to the
library 'cause they're closed. Mommy says, damn!" Busted.
* "This is some hard work" (pulling weeds)

She continues to say 'ouz' instead of 'use' and her pillow is no longer 'beary' but 'pilly.' That is one that we like and so we call it her pilly too:0) Blankies are 'blank-a-lies' and Bentley is 'Bent-a-ley.'

First time out

Reagan got her first time out this afternoon. She looked so cute sitting in the time out corner with dirt all over her mouth, I was tempted to take a picture! But of course I did not want to give her any attention so I didn't. She got the time out, as you may have guessed, from eating dirt. I was doing a little yard work and she just could not stop herself from putting rocks and dirt in her mouth. I told her no several times and tried distracting her with toys but she just kept going for the dirt. She did not know what to make of me sitting her in the corner and crawled away twice, but stayed after the second time I put her back. I am going to try to be diligent about teaching her to stay in a proper time out corner, instead of putting her in her crib like we did with Katya. It will take some persistance though. She kept looking at me and putting her arms up towards me. And even though she is so little, I did the whole routine of telling her what the time out was for, rubbing her fist on her chest for sorry, and giving her a kiss and a hug and telling her I love her.

It seems kind of funny to put such a little kid in a time out. But I will not be that parents who says, "No or I will say no again" (i.e. no consequences). Seeing her sign, 'please' when she wants something, and 'all done' when she doesn't like her food really makes me realize how smart babies are and how capable they are of learning.

Surprise Party for Craig!

The surprise party for Craig last night was a complete success!! While he said afterwards that certain things I said/did had him a bit suspicious (leading up to the event), he was completely surprised! The party was held at Melanie, Rich and Cindy's duplex and they were such a huge help co hosting the party with me. I worked all week long preparing food and running it all the Tillman/Jackson house. I even brought our tent, sleeping bags, pack and play, change of clothes, ect. so we could spend the night. The weather held through the evening but about 2am in started really raining hard and did not let up until about noon. We put the kids to bed inside so it was just Craig and I in the tent. Angie and Moira also roughed it with us in their own tent! About 6 of us went out to breakfast in the morning and then Craig, the girls and I went back to Mel's and relaxed for a while before beginning the clean up and packing everything home. The girls were beat and too good naps this afternoon, as did Craig and I!

The surprise!

Greeting Ryan and Addison

Some of the gang

Reagan and Cory (she was SO good with all the people!)

Ben Longcor (Sterling's daddy)

Allen hanging with the girls on the hammock

Jena (Craig's cousin) and Reagan


I was really pleased with the turn out. Ryan and Shannan made it down which was really great, it wouldn't be the same without those two. Ryan's brother came out, our neighbors, Allen and Eryn, Jena and about 5 friends from Legacy. Cindy, Melanie and Rich were there and Angie and Moira made it later in the evening. We played one silly game that I put together, for which the prise was a coffee mug with pictures of Craig and the heading, "Craig is Awesome." A friend from the Legacy lab won but decided the mug would be better suited for Craig himself:0) Over all a very fun night!

Happy Birthday to Craig!!!!!!!!!

My young, hot dude hit the big 30 today!!!!! We celebrated this morning with a few presents and a delicious breakfast (blueberry pancakes, eggs and bacon). Katya was very excited that I hung our Happy Birthday sign and blew up a few balloons this morning while Craig slept in. She has wished him a happy birthday about 5 times so far. It looks to be a beautiful day to celebrate Craig. We are going to spend lots of time outdoors.

Craig, I love you! You are the most amazing person I know. Everyday with you is happy and such a blessing. Thanks for choosing me to be your partner in life! Cheers to the next 60+ years!!!