Heart Attacked!

The kids were extra excited about Valentine's Day this year. I think it was partly because at the end of January I checked out a bunch of books that were Valentine themed: Berenstein Bears, Arthur, etc. The kids even started making their own Valentines for grandparents and even Steve and I any chance they got. So the night before Valentine's Day we "heart attacked" the kids' room while they were sleeping.

It was fun to wake up to their squeals and laughter...

P.S. Kylee has a big bed now (pictured above) and is mostly potty-trained too. 

"Big Sister Boot Camp" is going pretty well so far.

Keep Smiling Berta!

Remember when Kylee got her new Monkey Berta?

Well, she still loves her!


Yesterday while I was getting lunch ready I noticed that Kylee had Berta by the neck and was hitting her head first into the fridge. It was sort of disturbing for me so I asked Kylee to be nice to Berta.

Kylee stopped and held Berta up to me (still holding her by the neck) and said,

"It's OK. Berta likes it. See? She's still smiling!"

Happy Valentine's Day from Cody!

Cody is all ready for his Valentine's Party at school on Monday!

We {Heart} Punxutawney Phil

Tonight in an effort to redeem our lame sick selves we decided to have some fun decorating cookies. Regardless of how we each felt about actually eating the treats by golly we were going to at least decorate them. 

Let's just say it was all in celebration of Groundhog Day. 

Cody was so excited this morning before school when he saw the baked cookies just waiting to be decorated. And poor Kylee was completely not herself a good portion of the day (about the time we pulled out the cookies she seemed to perk up...but only a bit, poor girl)

 Gotta have a cookie to celebrate the famous Groundhog.

Cody says this one says "Cody" written fancy 

Kylee liked nibbling on hers while decorating it.

I could tell she wasn't all the way herself yet because she didn't even eat one whole cookie by bedtime. 

 Cody chose chocolate blue frosting...? Hence the weird color.

Taking time out from nibbling her cookie to decorate it some more.

A small glimpse of a silly face. 

There's nothing like frosting to make you happy.

A volcano of love...? Steve said it represents how "his love erupts for me."

 I think he just wanted to load on the frosting because he ate it right after he made it :) ha ha

Tonight after singing songs at bedtime, telling Cody I loved him more than turquoise frosting, and giving Kylee her goodnight kiss Kylee said something in a super quiet whisper that I couldn't understand. Something about cookies. She had to say it again before I got it...

"I love you more than cookies."

I haven't done "I love you more..." with Kylee before. She came up with that one all by herself.

Happy Groundhog Day to ya!!

Big News for the Cramer's...

There are so many things I have wanted to update on but we haven't been very alive or well these days. We have had the flu at our house for quite a few days now...and just when I thought it was over Kylee threw up today! Looks like we are starting over again!

Let's just say that I am really grateful that I have a washer and dryer and that it can run constantly day and night for a week at a time (or longer?)

And now for a few bits of BIG news for our family...

First of all, we found out that we are having another

girl!

So fun! And now the name game begins. Only now we have two kids who are old enough to have opinions. I thought it was tricky enough between Steve and I to come up with a name. Now Cody and Kylee chime in with their "no way" or "yeah" in response to our name ideas. Kylee has even figured out that she can really bug Cody if he overhears her saying, "Cody likes the name Sally." She sure knows how to get a rise out of him. Pretty entertaining for the rest of us though!! And not only do we have a name to figure out, but we have a little girl who is currently the baby of the family who will have to scoot over a little and make some room for a new little Miss. Hmmm. Never had to figure out that one before. :)

Second bit of news is we have a

job!

Steve's first day of work is May 16th at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. Hooray for not being unemployed!!! And now to find a house in MD so that we aren't homeless...and so we can move a few weeks before bundle of joy #3 is born. Some moments I feel like I am completely looney--graduating, new job, moving, and new baby? What?! I am just grateful that all of those things are GOOD changes! :) When we had our ultrasound a few weeks ago the technician was surprised to find out that we were possibly moving right before we had our baby. Steve said, "moving is a good thing! It means we will have a job!" SO TRUE. And we are so grateful for that! What a blessing!

And now for a little story:

The other night Cody was laying in bed and as I was saying good night he said, "Mom, did you know there's only 7 more days until the Super Bowl?"

(Hello! We live in Steelers Country! If this kids learns anything in Kindergarten it's how to be a Steelers fan!)

I said, "Yeah. Pretty cool."

(We aren't the best fans. We really are shameful for living in Pittsburgh, but I at least knew that the Steelers were going to be in the Super Bowl even if I couldn't tell you who the other team is...Don't worry! Steve's mom educated us on that one so I know now.)

Then I asked, "Do you know what the Super Bowl is?"

Cody, "Nope. What is it?"

Easy Bake Cakes

We got a Christmas package the other day from my parents...the kids had so much fun opening up their gifts.

Kylee got an Easy Bake cake and cookie set. She was so excited! Cody was just as excited to open it and has been anxiously waiting for a day that he would be home to make cakes too.

Kylee putting the raspberry cake mix into the molds.

A fun little letter stamper for the fondant modeled by Cody.

Licking the batter.

Then they mixed up the fondant frosting and we decorated the cakes with fun shapes and designs.

Kylee and I made the square one, Cody made the round one, and Steve made the heart one.

Then the kids licked and licked the bowls and spatulas clean and then started in on the cakes.

They were having lots of fun.

Cody ate his cake in two seconds and then started in on the heart one, but we made him split it with Kylee.

Good thing there are more cookie and cake mixes! These kids are hooked.

THANKS MOM AND DAD!

Cody's Treadmill Trick

More Than Other Mares

Cody came up to me and said, "Mom, sometimes I get nightmares. Sometimes I get nightmares A LOT."

I said, "Oh, really?" (He is a very good sleeper and never wakes up from bad dreams).

Then he said, " Yeah! I have nightmares way more than I have any . . . other . . . kind of . . . mares."

CHRISTMAS 2010: 2 Weeks of Fun!

Fresh off the plane in the Vegas airport! We made it and the kids were soooo good!

First Stop: In-N-Out (of course!)

Playing at the park in December is awesome!

Kylee could swing all day.

Cody was big enough this year to go shooting with Grandpa. Before the big shooting day Steve and Cody went over some basics in the backyard with a pellet gun. Cody was loving it.

Love those safety glasses.

We also played some baseball in the backyard. Cody and Kylee were impressing us with their skills and had a good time.

Because of the three hour time difference our kids were waking up at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning ready to play! So here we are putting up the Christmas tree bright and early. It's amazing what we accomplished every day of vacation because we were up so early!

Cody made a surprise bracelet for me and his aunts for Christmas.

Kylee played with the beads too!

OK, so I played with the beads too.

A Science Project: Fun with cornstarch and water.

The kids on the treadmill.

Dad with no homework = wrestle time all the time!

Uncle Tyler and Aunt Lacey and the kids getting ready for family prayer. Cody isn't mad in the picture...he just has a lot of energy he usually has to release before calming down. Sometimes he turns into a tiger while we're reading scriptures. You try reading scriptures with a straight face when you have him purring and growling in your ear.

Cody learning to throw a football.

Kylee with Aunt Raquel.

Grandpa Airplane got to be home for a couple of days before Christmas before taking off on Christmas Eve day. I'm glad the kids got to hang out with him even if it was just for a few days.

A puzzle is always on the agenda.

Cody standing on the exercise ball.

And his sidekick, Kylee, who has to try everything that he does.

The whole bunch except for our photographer Grandma.

Kylee hanging out with Aunt Raquel and Uncle Brady.

We looked up for a quick picture in the middle of an intense game of 2 person tetris. I'm pretty sure I wasted Steve...poor guy...he's used to it by now.

Granpda Airplane showed Cody some of his coins and taught him about money.

Kylee is a chocolate monster. Just like her mom.

Cody decorating Christmas cookies and Kylee eating them. She's a cookie monster too. (Just like her mom again)

Nice cookie!

On Christmas Eve we went to watch a light show put to music put on by a family in Grandma Tammy's ward. They had seats for us and served us hot chocolate.

Christmas Eve presents. Both Cody and Kylee messed up their jammies earlier that day and they weren't clean in time for bedtime. So the kids got to wear t-shirts to bed.

Christmas morning!!

Cody popped up out of bed, got dressed, and then ran around the house waking everyone up. I thought it was so funny that he got dressed. Maybe his mom's giant t-shirt for pajamas wasn't manly enough for him...?

Kylee promptly put on her snow boots and then her new dress as soon as she opened them.

Great gifts!

He just can't hide the excitement.

She skipped the pants but remembered her boots. Hot stuff!

Blowing bubbles in the backyard in her snow boots.

I loved that she could be outside so much.

Christmas Skype call with Grandpa Airplane in Germany. He even got in on a game of Monopoly Deal--too bad we all knew what cards he had.

Aunt Raquel shared her new iPod with Cody.

Hanging out and checking out everyone's gift.

The girls having fun. Kylee didn't part with her new chapstick. The lid was never on.

My parents and sisters made a quick trip down to Vegas for the day. We had a few hours to pack in the fun. Grandpa Dean got an education on How to Dress a Polly Pocket.

Story time with Grandma Ellen: Arthur's Chicken Pox for the 100th time.

Someone new that Kylee could recruit to go outside and blow bubbles with her.

And another visit to In-N-Out.

After being well-fed.

More time with Grandma.

A quick trip to the park for some Bocce Ball before the sun went down.

A few minutes on the playground before we go.

Just visiting before the fam took off.

Nerf Gun wars galore. I love how Cody shoots with his hip.

Helping Grandma clean the floor.

This girl loves to clean.

Watching the German Pancakes bubble.

Story time again!

Making necklaces.

Playing with Polly Pockets.

This kids loves Transformers these days.

Bocce Ball before we have to go in the morning.

Crazy kids.

One more chance on the swing before we leave.

Singing and laughing.

Grandma Tammy and Kylee were singing at the top of their lungs while swinging. So cute!

We had lots of fun! It was so good to see some of our favorite people in the world.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!