At the beginning of the month we moved into a new apartment. It is nice having a space of our own... though we so appreciate Ian's grandparents letting us stay there when we needed to. While we were unpacking we would just set Ez on a blanket on his back, since he hated tummy time and then while our backs were turned he would roll over. Then we would place him on his back again to try to see him do it... and he would never perform on demand. Well now he is rolling over pretty much ALL of the time so we finally see it and can share it.

Princess Party

3 Years!

I just can't help but think about how much life has changed these past three years. She is really the sweetest little girl. Today when she woke up from her nap she so nicely asked me for some dino nuggets and then we galloped around the house both of us pretending to be mommy horses... and I thought there was nothing sweeter than laughing and playing with my favorite girl.

Today was the big day!! The double birthday. Ian and Eve's big day. Luckily Ian's family really came through to make it both of their birthdays and not just Eve's. I don't have pics of the cakes but Anica does... there was a Batman cake for Ian and a Belle cake for Eve. Anica made both of them and they were awesome!
When Eve decided to sneak into our room this morning we decided she could open presents from us. It was fun to see her and Ian sing "happy birthday to us".
It was a big day for all of us. After Ian went to work we had to go to Ez's 4 month check up. I had planned to leave Eve with someone and just take Ez but she insisted that she had to go to the doctor. She asked if we were going to leave Ez there, or whether the doctor was going to put Ez back in my tummy. I had to crush her dreams when I told her no Ez was coming back home with us after the doctor checked him out.

The Great and Powerful Ez

So Ezra is now 3 months old! Where did the time go? His best skill right now is spitting up... and up and up and up... So that pic of him spitting up is totally necessary because it actually shows him doing what he does best. He really is usually a happy baby and spitting up with a smile on his face. His hair is my favorite thing now... when I give him a bath you see long hair flowing in the water and Eve didn't have that long of hair until she was one or so. But along with that he has this hilarious bald spot too... and he looks like he is sporting some serious old man hair.

Love to Read

Eve has been "reading" with her Tag every time she goes to bed. It is fun because she does not fight bedtime at all. A lot of the time I find her with her Tag pen in her hand... but I peeked in on her and found her like this; which is too adorable not to share. What is so funny about this is that it reminds me of Ian he will be asleep with his laptop in his lap just holding position; I don't know how he does it. Like father like daughter.

Halloween again...

Eve had so much fun dressing up as something different for the various Halloween events she had the week of Halloween. On the real Halloween it was really stormy and I was not going to attempt to take Ezra out so I sent Ian and Eve out into the dark night. So they went as quite the pair... Lumpy and Pooh. Nice and warm costumes. Aren't they cute?

Just like Daddy

With Ezra dressed up for the cold weather we have been having he reminds me so much of Ian! He is just too cute!!

Halloween Party

Can I get a woohoo?

Ian got a job! He just got the call today. He will be working for the state ferry system as a programmer. Yay! We are so happy that we will be able to stay in Ketchikan.

2 Months Old!!

Ezra is two months old now. Man the time is flying by. Eve is loving her baby brother and is always happy to "help" me take care of Ezra. He is now 11 pounds 2 ounces and getting bigger every day.

Princess party

Last week Eve got dressed up to go to a princess birthday party. Nothing could be more exciting to her than finally being able to eat a princess cake.... she has been keeping her eye on them at Carrs. She had a blast.

Blow winds blow!

We had quite the storm here. The power went out which if you are at all familiar with Ketchikan is no surprise. Sitting in the house we thought that the power would come on anytime, it didn't look so bad, right? Except for the tree that had fallen down across the lower driveway. That just meant that Ian and Grandpa got to get out the old chainsaw and cut away.
Eventually we gave up on waiting for the power to come back on to go see what Eve was up to, she was at my mom's house. When we drove towards town we quickly realized we should probably settle in for quite a while without power!!
Luckily we only ended up without power for less than 24 hours. Man are we loving on electricity now.

Princess Eve

Chatty Girl

Eve is obsessed with talking to her daddy on the phone. Today she was talking to him on the phone and when she hung up on him she started crying because she really wanted to talk to her daddy. It is so sweet to hear her talk to him. She thinks he is the best! She begs him to stay home with him because I am no fun anymore.

Ezra at one month

Ezra has grown up so much this month!! He is now 9 pounds 3 ounces!! It is so fun to see how Eve acts with him. The other morning he was crying and she came running upstairs saying "Big sister is coming" it was so sweet!!

Going on a Bear Hunt

Eve loves going on dates with her daddy. This one is a highlight of the summer.

Big sister

My little man

Ezra is just the sweetest little boy. It has been so much fun just loving on him the past few weeks. We even got a day of sunshine for him to really bask in the rays.

He's Here!!

Ezra Gerrit Roskam
6 pounds 14 oz
20 inches long
Born at 8:10 a.m. on 8/17/2010

Beach Day and Ariel

Our summer has sadly been missing out on beach days, which is something that we did a ton last year. But this summer I was busy watching kids on Saturdays, and we spent the time before nap on Sundays at church. So my plan has been to take a "personal day" from church on the Sunday before my c-section to have a nice family day. Ian, Eve, my mom, Andrew and I were able to make it... though Andrew went for a hike and is sadly missing from our pictures. Luckily the weather cooperated with a beach day. It was so fun to get out and cook on a fire and play at the beach. It was also nice because it was so much cooler down at Settler's than anywhere else... so I was able to escape the nasty heat.

Eve's favorite activity was finding "Ariel rocks" to stand on, crouch on, or lay on to then sing the AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AHHHHHHHH from The Little Mermaid. It was hilarious! I am always entertained by the things that she comes up with. She was so sad to leave, she was yelling to daddy that she just needed to find one more Ariel rock before we left. What a day!!

I can do it all by myself

Eve is getting so good at doing things by herself. I love it, she loves it, it is win-win for everyone. Plus it provides so much entertainment. Last night we were hanging out on the deck and she said she was cold and that she needed a jacket. I told her she could go down to her room and get one herself. She came up looking like this... didn't know that jacket meant take off your dress to put on a jacket... but it was so adorable!

Our Family

Only a month left... and family pics will look different.

Happy Anniversary!!

I am so glad that Ian is my husband. We have so much fun together. Of course since becoming parents we don't have many pictures of us alone... but I love this picture of us in Mexico... it is one of my best memories of us as a couple before Eve came along.

Ian is such a good husband. He really takes up the slack for his pregnant wife. He is so patient. Of course his greatest quality is how awesome he is as a dad. I love seeing him and Eve and can't wait to see him with his little boy!!

Blanket for Baby Brother

There are more... but this one is my favorite so far.

4th of July

Or as Eve insists, the first day of July.

Our Weekend

We had a great day before Father's Day. This summer I am babysitting some kids, Eve loves the built in playmates, and we brought them to Ward Lake for family day. Ian helped Eve fish in the lake... she didn't catch anything then, but that morning we picked the kids I babysit up from City Park where they were having the kids fishing derby and Eve got to catch a fish there!!! Nothing better than catching a fish with a Barbie fishing pole.

It was such a nice sunny day. Ian took the kids out in the canoe and I stayed and supervised lake side. Then it was to our house to play on the deck in the sunshine. We finally broke out the kiddie pool so the kids had a blast. It was a great day.

Then just at midnight the flu kicked in for me. I was glad that Eve had decided to sleep over at my mom's so I could be sick and not worry about waking her up. But then the phone rang at 3 in the morning it was mom warning us that Eve was sick. Poor mom. She dealt with Eve's flu. Then Ian's Father's Day was spent running to the store for just the right liquids for his dehydrated and miserable girls. Poor guy!! But we really appreciate that he helped out so much! Made life much easier for us. And maybe Father's Day will come later for him... when the energy is back and the aching bodies are completely healed... Of course for me that may not be until this baby is done cooking.

Eve recovering from the flu. What a nice bed the closet makes, with towels for blankets. She recovers in style, with her princess dress on.

Vacation

We finally got to go on our "spring" vacation. We went up to Wasilla and stayed with Ian's parents and Ian walked for his graduation. Of course I didn't take a single picture the entire time we were there... I was just too busy! We had lots of fun.

Kim and Anica had decorated a room for Eve and she was so thrilled. She wanted to show her room to everyone! It was so sweet. Another bonus is that she is in love with Anica. Some nights she refused to let me or Ian do bedtime... she wanted Anica to do it. All I know is that it was a welcome break for me.

It was a wild week. We had lots of shopping to do, since we could actually go to real stores! So of course we had to stock up on stuff. We took two bags up and checked 6 coming back if that says anything. Eve had a blast shopping. It is hilarious how much she enjoys shopping. She would just load up a cart... I figure why not let her, and then go through and only get a few of the things she has decided on. It kept her busy.

Graduation was at the end of our trip. It was so nice to watch Ian walk... I know he worked so hard for his degree and appreciate the difference it will make for our family. It was so funny to think that when I walked in my college graduation I was pregnant with Eve and there she was cheering Ian on, and I am pregnant with another one now. Oh how things change!

Finish Line in Sight!!

So I got the paperwork in the mail. The latest that I will have this baby is August 17th at 7:30 in the morning! I am so excited. It is great knowing for sure that it can't go any longer than that. I am also so lucky because the amazing doctor who delivered Eve is going to be the doctor delivering this baby! It is a total luck since he is only going to be in Ketchikan the month of August and then we probably wouldn't see him back on the island for 4 months... but I am fine with that I am just feeling so lucky to get that doctor!

Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail...

We had the best Easter weekend this year! On Saturday we went to the mall to do Easter events... they weren't that exciting to my toddler. So we went to the hardware store, where they had bunnies, turkeys, and a baby goat. There is a sucker born every minute... and we ended up with a bunny. Eve has named him BunBun. She still reminds me every day that we need to go back to the store to buy the baby goat for Grandma Helen's deck. She seems to think it is very important, but the goat is already sold so we can't even go just to see it.

She stayed the night at Grandma Mil's on the Saturday night before Easter and woke up to help make dinner for e'rybody. She told everyone she was doing this. She was so excited when we showed up at Mom's to show us the purprise she made us.... jello eggs. She ate really well that night, she had a hand in every part of dinner so she felt awesome about it. I thought it was cute.

We also had a fun Easter egg hunt. Eve found 70 eggs all by herself. She thought it was so much fun. They were filled with small toys, stickers, and just a little bit of candy. It was perfect for her.

Do you notice her cute dress she is wearing on her Easter egg hunt? My mom made it for her, isn't she awesome?

My confession

So I will admit it. Secretly I was hoping that Eve was right and she would get a baby sister. There are so many sweet little sets of sisters we see that it had made me feel like Eve would be missing out if she got a brother instead. Then I had to look at my reality... who was my best friend growing up?

Maybe it had something to do with being only 16 months apart but my brother was my partner in crime. Anyone want to "farm" Dad's newly planted bean patch, oh Andrew was game. I remember the hours and hours we spent playing. Sometimes I am sure he didn't like it, like the time we dressed him up as a girl... but I didn't do that alone. When it was just the two of us we always had a blast. Whether it was jumping around the living room furniture rocking out to We're Coming to America, or spending hours upon hours outside making mud pancakes.... those were the days.

I was also so protective of him. I remember when one of my friends thought she could boss him around on the playground... think again, that is my little brother. If anyone is going to boss him around that is going to be me. As I remember it there wasn't much bossing going around, but I am sure he probably would remember more bossing than me. He really was my very best friend. He is one of the most caring people I know. So after getting a little reality check I think I am okay that this baby is a boy. Eve will have fun with him I am sure.

Baby Roskam

So here is a picture of our little baby boy. We really didn't get good pictures, he was moving around so much the ultrasound tech was very frustrated.

And this baby makes 4!!!

So pretty much all of our family members know now. And of course there are the people that have seen me putting on my "winter" weight. There is no denying it there is a baby in there!! Eve is finally warming up to the idea. Of course there are the days when she wants to take back her wish to have a baby sister and wants to stay the baby forever. Overall I think she believes that the baby will come out the size of all the little sisters she has seen . . . an instant playmate. Hopefully she won't be too disappointed when she discovers that babies do a lot of crying and pooping before they grow big enough to actually play with.

I am adjusting to the idea pretty well, I think. I don't know what I am going to do when Eve is not the baby anymore. But I know that I loved (and still love) my siblings and feel that they really make my life better.

As we have been sitting around playing the waiting game Eve has said that there is a baby sister in my tummy, no baby brother. I think it is hilarious because one of her favorite people in the entire world is my brother, Andrew. Every night when she goes to bed she has to talk to me and remind me of the things that Andrew has done for her and tells me how much she loves and misses Andrew. To prepare her in case there is a baby brother in there I have explained to her that Andrew is my baby brother and maybe her baby brother could be as awesome as mine.

So some day in the middle of August another baby Roskam will be born. Since I am such a momma's girl, and I love the experience I had having Eve here we are making it work to stay here at least until after the baby is born. Ian is so good to me! Plus it just makes sense for now, there are so many jobs available here for the summertime and none of the jobs up north panned out so a job, even a seasonal job, is better than no job. And that means I get to craft with my mom! Stay tuned for pics of the adorable owl nursery we are working on!

And there will be lots of crafting since this baby is a boy!! Ian couldn't be happier... Eve will take some convincing.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

Last night it started snowing. It looked like we were going to get a bunch of snow by the morning but we only had a little more than an inch. Grandma Helen's deck makes a perfect winter wonderland playground. No dirt and plenty of snow to make a snowman. Eve was more interested in throwing snow at daddy but she helped roll the snowman's head. After Eve went in I had to give the snowman a little style. His tiny carrot nose and cracker eyes were not really doing it. We had fun this morning in the snow and as I write this just a few hours later the snow is almost gone. So, Eve and I are satisfied that we got to make a snowman this go around(it is her first one) even if it will be short lived.

Ian

Loving the Fablic

We have been having fun working on sewing projects lately. One day Ian was nice enough to give me an Eve-free craft day, which was awesome. Another day this week Eve decided that she would help me out while Ian was busy working. It was actually pretty funny. She emptied out all of the fablic (what she calls fabric) and made a bed for her baby. She then helped me create a castle... which was an artistic masterpiece of course. She even helped with fablic selection, she decided that we just had to make something with Elmo fablic. She decided to make a pillow case and was a huge help with sewing it. It really cracked me up. When Ian got to my mom's house after he was done working Eve could not wait to show him the work she had done on the crafts!! So maybe one day she will be crafting with me and actually helping.... a girl can only hope.

It's Official

This picture is totally unrelated to our announcement but I had to share it some time. Gotta love the bug eyed little girl.

After several months of denial and job searching we have decided that we will be moving back to Anchorage. Its not that we don't love living in Ketchikan. The prospect of actually getting a job that either of us consider a career is much greater in Anchorage than in Ketchikan. So we will be moving out of our apartment to house sit for my grandparents for six weeks then we will be packing up and moving around the middle of March. There is a possibility that I will be getting a job before then but we will see how it goes. Once we finally move we will be living with... you guessed it... my ever loving parents who are happy to house their bum children with families in tow while they get settled.

For our friends in Ketchikan we have a couple more months to kick it in K-town. As fun filled as the coming months will be we will be sad to leave the life we had started here. At the same time we are also excited for the sweeping changes that moving north can bring. We feel that we have been stagnating as we have fruitlessly attempted to commit to living in Ketchikan. We will be seeing most of you before we leave but we hope that you will come and visit us up north some time. My parents have a large house and I'm sure they more than welcome the guests. Just remember that unless you feel like skiing summers are the time to visit.

We are grateful for all of our friends and family that will be helping us in the coming months.

Ian, out.
Peace.

This public service announcement brought to you by the number 7 and the letter Z.

Potty Time

First thing Eve said this morning is "Mommy I spilled!" I thought what did she spill in her crib, did she pee? Then I went into her room to investigate... she got water babies for Christmas and she must have decided to undress the baby and during this process pulled the plug on the baby and the baby was peeing all over her crib. She wanted out of her crib so that she could put the baby on the potty.

She was hilarious today. This video was so funny. She spent a good half hour with that tiny little baby moving from one "toilet" to the other, and picking off little bits of toilet paper to wipe the baby's butt. Kids crack me up!

Santa

Eve loves Santa. She told me this... she loves that Santa brings her presents. She had a really hard time waiting the entire 5 days between her birthday and Christmas... it just isn't fair to get a taste of opening presents and not be able to open every present in sight!! On Christmas Eve we decided that Eve could wait in her room and Santa would come deliver one of her presents early. She was so excited to hear the loud noise and the HO HO HO of Santa and then be able to run out into the living room and there was this amazing toy from Santa. She played with it well past bed time.

Christmas was wild, she woke up and we opened presents here, then we went to my mom's house and Eve indulged in a TON of candy, then we moved the party over to Ian's grandparent's house for more present opening. By the time we opened presents at Ian's grandparent's house Eve's enthusiasm was not the same at all, she still enjoyed it but after an entire day of presents and candy she was kind of exhausted!!

Then we went home and watched a movie as a family. It was fun to be with all of the different relatives and have so much Christmas! Eve still thinks that there should be presents to be opened and wonders where Santa went. Next year will be a blast... she might connect the Christmas decorations in stores with Santa... then we will be in major trouble!!