The Franks Family

Cookie Exchange tomorrow

2008-12-06T21:56:00.001-08:00

Our cookie exchange is tomorrow here at the house. We decided to allow other things as well as cookies to give everyone a bigger variety. I made cake balls. It was the first time I made them so they aren't the prettiest things but they sure are tasty!

We'll be having brunch tomorrow so I am making a feta quiche, french toast casserole, some finger sandwiches, and a spinach/herb dip with veggies for dipping.

I'll update tomorrow with lots of pictures! For now I need to get some sleep. Lots to do in the morning!

Christmas Pictures!!!

2008-12-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

We got the kids' Christmas pictures done yesterday. They came out great! Robert wasn't very comfortable but this was the first time he didn't get upset and cry, and he did his best to cooperate.

Various Alessa

2008-12-03T20:01:00.000-08:00

Alessa sometimes thinks she's a dog:

Every day she becomes more and more of a Daddy's Girl:

Hey, no cameras!

Good food!

Dancing Girl 02

2008-12-03T19:44:00.000-08:00

Dancing Girl 01

2008-12-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

My girl loves to dance!

Catch that Train!

2008-12-03T19:38:00.001-08:00

Way overdue update!

2008-12-03T19:02:00.001-08:00

I know it's been far too long since I've updated everyone. There hasn't really been anything really interesting happening lately. We've just been busy with the day-to-day minutia.

The children are great, as usual. Alessa is getting more and more personality every day and Robert is becoming quite the little boy. The baby in him is almost all gone now. It makes me happy and sad at the same time to see it. He loved trick-or-treating. He was so funny about it. He wanted to eat every single piece of candy as soon as he got it. It didn't matter that he was already sucking on a lollipop. He would hand it to Mark and ask for the next piece. He's so silly.

Since I am so far behind, here are some pictures from Halloween:

Thanksgiving was pretty quiet, but it was nice. We had a friend of mine over with her husband and children. There was lots of good food and it was a good time.

Here are some more recent pictures:
I am so excited about my new blog layout for the season. I think it's my best one yet! I know it's silly, but I keep coming back just to look at it because I love it so much.

Holiday decorating

2008-11-29T22:30:00.001-08:00

We decorated the Christmas tree tonight. It's so pretty! I love this time of year. There is something so soothing about looking at my tree in all its glory.

We will keep the gate up until Christmas day so Robert, Alessa and the dog don't break the ornaments.

Robert is getting so excited about Christmas this year. It's really starting to get fun. He's really getting excited about Santa and is learning all of the songs and wants us to sing them over and over again. He's going to love it when he comes down tomorrow morning and sees the tree all decorated!

I ordered a personalized ornmanet this year since our family is complete:

A friend of mine made these for me. I LOVE them! She did an amazing job and they look gorgeous on the tree!

This last one she made has a picture of all of our group's October 2007 babies. So sweet!

Boo at the Zoo

2008-10-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

This year we will be getting a lot of use out of the kids' costumes! We have a trick or treat playdate on Wednesday, are going trick or treating at the mall on Friday, and a costume first birthday party on Saturday. We will be dressing up on Friday and Saturday as well. We also have an adult Halloween party on Saturday night.

Yesterday we went to the Zoo with my moms group for their annual Boo at the Zoo event. It was a gorgeous day, in the 70s, and we had a great time! Robert loved climbing on anything he could and trick or treating. Alessa charmed everyone at the zoo and loved every second of it!

Playing with the new camera

2008-10-19T17:24:00.001-07:00

We recently got a new camera and I was playing with it this morning:

AHAHAHAHA!!!

2008-10-14T21:47:00.001-07:00

This evening, after Mark got done with work, he was playing with Robert in the front room. Robert was running around and tripped and fell. He fussed for a second and said, "That hurt," so Mark told him, "Come here and Daddy will kiss it." Robert walked over, cool as you please, bent over and said, "Kiss it!" He wanted Mark to kiss his bare butt! He hovered there, waiting, for a moment too! He really expected that kiss!

I'm still cracking up!

(Robert had no pants or underwear on because he is still having some trouble getting them up and down and it's easier for him to go to the potty on his own that way.)

PumpkinFest!

2008-10-12T21:51:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went to PumpkinFest. It was freezing, but it was a lot of fun! There were hayrides and a pumpkin patch and a hay bale maze and the Jack-O-Launch. That is, pumpkin launching. That is what they call it when they take a pumpkin and put it in a catapult and launch it as far as they can. Robert mostly wanted to play in the pumpkin patch.

My camera wasn't charged and my battery was dying so I wasn't able to get pictures of the hay maze or on the hay ride. At least I got a few! Don't worry, Alessa's coat was only off for the 30 seconds it took to take these:

A look back on Alessa's First Year

2008-10-09T20:50:00.000-07:00

Quick Potty update

2008-10-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today was a big day! I have been letting Robert go around the house with nothing on but a shirt since yesterday because he seems to have less accidents that way. He had one accident yesterday all day once I left him with no underwearon. He had one today that SUCKED. LOL

I was sitting on the love seat and he came up and sat next to me and just peed all over the place. Mark happened to be upstairs getting some coffee and helped me clean it up and we gently explained to him (Robert, not Mark, though Mark could use the reminder as well) that he should pee in the toilet and not anywhere else.

15 or 20 minutes later, he was playing with his cars on the coffee table and watching Diego. He suddenly put his cars down, walked into the bathroom, and without a word got on the toilet and peed COMPLETELY ON HIS OWN!

I was so excited I almost started crying. After his nap he went back to needing us to tell him when he had to go and bring him in the bathroom but that. He hasn't gone to the bathroom on his own again today but it's still a huge step in the right direction! :-D

Georgetown Loop Part II

2008-10-09T20:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday evening we went to Outback for dinner. Robert decided he had to wear his new hat. he adores this hat and is so proud that he has one like daddy's!

We rode the Georgetown Loop Railroad again on Sunday. It was gorgeous! The leaves were all gold and red and orange and they're so bright they almost glowed. It was a little sad because there were so many dead pine trees. The pine beetle infestation has killed almost half of them from the looks of it.

It was a bit colder this time at only 45 degrees, but it didn't feel bad at all.

Waiting for the train:

We rode in one of the boxcars because it was supposed to snow. It stayed beautiful out for our entire ride.

Trees at the opposite station:

It was a little bit nippy on the Continental Divide. We drove over it on our way to lunch in Breckenridge.

Alessa's First Birthday!

2008-10-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

Alessa had a lovely birthday! She celebrated with Isaac, Paula's son. We had brunch and the children played until they needed to go home for naps. My mother and niece drove up from New Mexico for the weekend. We had a lot of fun and I have a bunch of pictures! She is so silly. Every time she sees the camera pointed in her direction she starts making silly faces at it and giggling.

We opened presents later in the day, after Alessa's nap. All of the children were getting too tired and they wouldn't have been able to handle the time it took.

She wasn't so sure about the crown at first:
But she soon forgot about it.
Sweet big brother:
Eating brunch and making faces at the camera:

Getting ready for cake! Isaac and Alessa each had their own:

The big brothers didn't want to wait!
Allison brought Aless this party hat. She didn't mind the hat but hated the elastic that held it on. She kept pulling at it until she got it half off then got upset because it was really uncomfortable.

Digging in! Alessa was so neat and proper. She just wanted to eat fingertip-sized amounts of the icing. I don't blame her. Cream cheese icing is yummy! Isaac thought that would take too long.She got a little messier when her father helped her smash the cake.

Rubbing your eyes because you're sleepy when you have a handful of cake is not the best idea. But she thought it was funny and again had to pose for the camera.

All hail cake!My niece, Alicia.
Opening presents!

Robert was quite helpful in showing Alessa how to properly play with everything.

Adult proof packaging:
Oooooh!
What's in here?
Horsie!

No! I don't want to get off the horsie!Way to bounce back!

Random Alessa

2008-09-29T20:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Alessa reminds me of an actress from the glamorous early days of Hollywood. She just has this look about her:

Her poor, poor father.

3-Day Potty Training Program-Day 2

2008-09-29T20:10:00.000-07:00

Robert went to sleep last night at about 8:15. It took longer than usual to get him down because he had a very eventful day! At a little after 10 he whined a bit in bed and I ran up there. I checked him and he was dry and told him to let me know when he needed to go potty. Unfortunately, he was half asleep and I was exhausted. I wasn't quick enough and he had an accident in bed. Mark was so wonderful and came upstairs and stripped the bed and cleaned everything up while I got Robert all cleaned and changed. Robert didn't pee in the potty before going back to bed, but he was really upset at being awake (he's his mother's son). He fell right back to sleep as soon as his head hit his pillow. I wasn't so lucky. I didn't get to sleep until after midnight and I spent the night on the edge of waking waiting for him to have another accident.

He slept through the rest of the night and had no more accidents in the night.

Robert woke me up at 6:30 AM fussing because he couldn't get the stars to turn back on in his constellation turtle (it projects stars onto the walls and ceiling of his room and he has to have it to go to sleep). I brought him to the bathroom, put him on the potty (the toilet, really--he won't have anything to do with his potty seat and insists on only using it as a step stool) and he peed immediately! WOOT!

His underwear was a little wet, though, so I had to go check his bed. He had a small spot on the bed. I think that's what woke him up. But it was so small it seemed like he stopped himself and got up before having a bad accident!

The morning wasn't nearly as smooth. I was an exhausted mess from barely sleeping, and Mark was no better. He slept on the couch all night because he was worried about the dog (the dog sleep downstairs) and wanted to be nearby if he had to let Jackson out.

Robert had a few accidents in the morning. I think Mark went through at least 5 underwear changes before noon while trying to keep up with Robert around the house. Not Mark's underwear, Robert's! I know it sometimes can go either way, but not today. ;-)

When naptime came, I brought Robert upstairs, took him into the bathroom and told him that it was almost time to nap but he had to pee first before going to sleep. He got up onto the toilet and peed in it. That was the first time since 6:30 this morning. When Mark found out, he flipped me the bird and succinctly told me how unfair it was. heh

Robert didn't nap today. He chose instead to call down to me every 5 minutes or so to tell me he wanted to go pee again. So up the stairs I ran, every time, and he really did pee every time. But I think he was just using it as an excuse to not sleep and get out of his room.

After I gave up on him ever sleeping this afternoon, he came back downstairs. He did really well for the rest of the day. He had 2 accidents an neither were big. Both times he finished in the toilet. I think he gets distracted while playing and doesn't want to stop to tell anyone he has to pee.

He had his bath tonight and peed in the toilet tonight without a problem. Mark took him to bed and readh im his books and then brought him to pee one last time. Poor Robert wanted to pee really bad but had nothing left to pee. Mark had to tell him that he doesn't need to sit there and try to force it.

He went right to sleep after that and has been asleep since. That was about 2 hours ago. We'll see how he does tonight.

More to come tomorrow!

(because I know you all want to know ALL about it)

Our poor dog!

2008-09-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

Last night was crazy. While we were getting Robert to bed (after he peed in the potty twice YAY!) I had to call Animal Emergency because Jackson suddenly became ill yesterday afternoon. It started with diarrhea and was soon followed by vomiting. He got so bad last night that he couldn't even keep water down. mark had gone outside with his earlier because he was worried that something outside made him ill and found 3 bones--like pork chop bones--with some meat still on them. Jackson was throwing up pieces of bone along with everything else in his stomach. So I called Animal Emergency.

Because of the bones and because he was throwing up so much and had diarrhea at the same time, Mark had to bring him in. Thankfully, it looks like he is going to be fine. The X-Rays came back completely clean and there are no signs of any lasting damage.

We have no idea who threw the bones into our yard or how they got there. Hopefully it was just someone trying to do a nice thing for Jackson who didn't know any better.

3-Day Potty Training Program-Day 1

2008-09-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

We started potty training this morning. When we woke up, Mark brought Robert downstairs, took off his diaper, put underwear on him, and explained to him that he is a big boy now and will no longer be wearing diapers. Then he gave Robert a few of his clean diapers and had him throw them out.

We followed the program as best we could but Robert was often quicker than we were. There were many, many accidents, and it was really draining, but before bed tonight Robert finally peed in the potty! He did so twice before going to sleep. YAY!

We now have hope that maybe, just maybe, this can work after all.

Alessa can climb any mountain!

2008-09-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

Well, maybe not yet, but she tackled the stairs on her own for the first time tonight! We were going upstairs for baths and bed and Robert started calling down to Alessa from the top of the stairs, "Come on, Sister! You can do it!" She was sitting on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. He called down to her like that over and over and she started climbing UP! Mark found the camera and got it going when she was about halfway up. The video is dark because the lighting in our hall wasn't very good.

Thomas the Tank Engine!

2008-09-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

We went to the Colorado Railroad Museum today with Rabecca and Donny, Paula and Dustin, and the kids. The kids got to meet and ride on Thomas the Tank Engine! Robert was so excited. Thomas is one of his favorite characters in books and video.

It was a gorgeous day and we all had a great time.
Boarding and getting ready to go!
Donny, Donny, and Rabecca:

We made 3 circuits around the museum grounds. The train ride was about 20 minutes long.

Paula, Dustin, Isaac and Nathaniel:

Robert had so much fun!

Mini Train yard complete with a mini Thomas!

Robert didn't want to wait in line long enough to climb on the fire truck. I guess he's been there done that after all the trips to the Children's Museum.
Robert was so proud of his temporary Thomas tattoo!
So he had to go get three more (Thomas, James, Percy and Harold):

Alessa had fun too!

Here comes Thomas! We were waiting for him to get our pictures taken with him.

Waving at Thomas (he couldn't resist looking at his tattoos some more!):

Sleepy and getting ready to leave:

Later that evening at home - tired but happy about the day we had!

Alessa's first word Part II

2008-09-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

It took me all day and more than 10 videos but I finally got it! Alessa was always more interested in the camera so wouldn't cooperate. heh But I finally caught her for a second when she didn't care so much about what I was doing:

Alessa's first word...

2008-09-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

...is "Hi!" She started saying it the middle of last week but I wasn't sure if she was really saying it or just making a noise that sounded like it. Now there's no question. She says it almost every time I go to get her from her crib or walk into a room. And she often waves when she says it. She says it in this adorable breathy voice. It's so cute and you can't help but smile when you hear it.

She has also started using it for "Bye" as well recently. It's really hard to get her to do things when you want her to so getting it on video is proving difficult, but I'll post it if I can get it!

Big day for Robert!

2008-09-23T20:09:00.000-07:00

Today was my friend Rabecca's birthday (happy birthday!), so we went to lunch with her and Paula and their children. Rabecca's son, Donny, is the same age as Robert. Paula's son, Nathaniel, is 3 months older than Robert and Donnie, and her son, Isaac, is the same age as Alessa.

We had Mexican for lunch and then went to the playground for a while to let the boys run off their excess energy. Nathaniel and Isaac fell asleep on the way so Paula took them home.

Robert had a big day! He's always been a bit timid on the playground. He loves the slides but would only go on the smaller ones and needed one of us to hold his hand. Today he went down the slide for the first time completely on his own! He not only went down the small slide on his own, he also went down the big ones too! I'm so proud of him. I love that he's getting more adventurous and feeling more confident in himself lately.

I really wish I remembered to bring my camera today. I'll have to make a point to bring it next time! Here are a few random pics from after we got home just because:

The Children's Museum!

2008-09-23T08:33:00.000-07:00

We went to the Children's Museum last month for the first time. This is now Robert's new favorite place. He asks me at least 4 or 5 times a day if we can go. It's so much fun. The kids love it so much that I am probably going to get a membership. We've been a few times since, but here are some pictures from our first family trip:

There is a Construction Zone exhibit right now. Robert loves building with the giant Duplo blocks and sending them along their way on the conveyor belt.

There is an entire area for children 0-4 years of age. We could easily spend all day in here. There is so much to do. Even Alessa had a great time!

Robert loved gardening!

Alessa couldn't get to everything fast enough.

The teddy bear is my favorite!

Playing trucks and trains!

Robert is becoming so much more outgoing. He makes new friends everywhere he goes!
Firefighters!

We're Here!

2008-09-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

Finally! This blog has been started. I have been wanting to do this for a long time so everyone could keep up with us, but time always seems to slip away from me!

I know there are a bunch of posts before this. I back posted some things so I could remember when they happened.

I will do my best to update this regularly--at least once a week--so check back often!

Alessa's favorite thing to do

2008-09-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

This is our silly daughter's response to almost everything lately:

Pikes Peak Cog Railway

2008-09-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

We had company in town over the weekend, so we went with them and took the children on the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. The Cog Railway was originally opened in 1890. Its unusual design allows it to travel along steeper inclines than regular railroads. The steepest incline it travels along is 25%.

The trip is 1 1/2 hours each way. You are given about 30 minutes at the top of Pikes Peak before having to reboard for the trip back down. The children were surprisingly well behaved considering the length of the trip and the fact that they had to sit down the whole trip. I'm especially amazed at how well Alessa did. She didn't nap the entire day but you never would have known it.

While we enjoyed spending time with our friends and had a lot of fun, Mark and I prefer driving up and probably won't do it again. We always wanted to, though, so it's at least one more thing we can cross off our list.

Waiting for the train:

All aboard!

Trying to get Alessa to sleep a little. She wasn't having it!

Beautiful day!
Getting ready for the weather up top! It was in the 80s at the bottom and 40 at the top of the mountain.

Getting a little antsy near the end of the ride up:
Going back down!

She's such a dainty eater!

Robert: "I want to get off!"

Rain, Rain, Come Again!!!

2008-08-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Robert loves rain with a passion that causes him to run to the window any time he sees the slightest hint of a cloudy sky. As soon as it does rain, all he wants to do is run outside in it in search of every puddle he can find, no matter how small.

Georgetown Loop

2008-07-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

Robert rode his first train! We took him and Alessa on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. We had so much fun! Robert loved the train ride, though he was ready to get off and go home by the end of the ride back. Alessa liked the ride, but the train whistle scared her. She cried every time it blew.

Such a Daddy's Girl!

2008-07-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Is there anything sweeter than a father dancing with his daughter?

Dance! Dance! Dance!

2008-06-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

I have no words. I'm still laughing.