Entries by Crystal Kugler

This blog has missed the welcoming of the new year! In a few short days we'll be celebrating Memorial Day. Where has the time gone?

A few weeks ago Elizabeth finished Kindergarten. She had a second ballet recital. While we may be done for the year we're still working on phonics and math - sneaking them in when we can. Yesterday she lost her third tooth! She has an other one that is loose and she loves to wiggle it.

Jonathan did a few weeks of Preschool at Anne Wein Elementary this year. He LOVED riding on the school bus and being with friends!

Timothy is an active 2 year old boy (maybe that should be BOY?). He loves to explore and to lead the way. He also loves finding things he can drum on (current favorite is an empty water jug).

Naomi.....She's a mama's girl and she lets the whole world know! She is learning how to move and she's working on crawling. She loves to eat cereal! Naomi likes to growl instead of coo. She has a lot to say when it's quiet - I'm guessing with 3 older siblings it's hard to get a word in edge wise.

Nanny! Oh yes...how can I NOT tell you about our awesome, wonderful NANNY??? Our dear friend Katrina has been threatening us for months (no, make that years!) that she was going to move up here. She finally made it! What a blessing it is to have a second pair of hands and eyes in the day! (Thank you my friend!)

Our house....yep, it's there and WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS!! We had our loan approved and we've been slowly getting things done. In a couple of weeks we hope to have a sheetrocking party! (Anyone wanna join us?) Then it's on to mudding and taping, painting, flooring, cabinets......all of that work sounds LOVELY!

Seeing how our last entry was back in August about the van (yes we still like it!), I think it's high time for an other entry!


In October Jonathan turned 4! He's still in love with Disney's Cars and he also likes Toy Story.

We welcomed Naomi Faith into the world on November 11th, 2010 at 10:28am She weighed 10lbs. 1oz. and she was 22 inches long. She is our snuggle bug

On the 6th I had my 29th birthday. I was surprised by my dad and step mom, who met us (Joshua and I) at the restaurant.

On December 11th Elizabeth had her first ballet recital! She did a wonderful job!

I quickly made the kids lunch today. By quickly I mean it was microwaved. Even more specifically the kids ate cheese pizza made out of pilot bread. As the kids were sitting down I cautioned them that it was probably still hot because it was just cooked. Elizabeth looked at me, then at her "pizza" and said: "You didn't cook it, you MICROWAVED it!"

My other favorite quote from today is Timothy saying "no" over and over and over again.

One of my "guilty pleasures" is dumpster diving. A lot of people up here do it, and there are all sorts of treasures to be found. Most of the time we don't get anything, but it is amazing what people throw away/give away.

On a recent "expedition" I spotted some Alaskan ingenuity at it's best. And no, we didn't get this.

It's been a busy month so please forgive us for not updating you sooner.

Our baby boy has a name: Timothy-Isaiah John Kugler. Timothy means honoring God; Isaiah means Yahweh (God) has saved; and John means Jehovah (God) is a gracious giver

The first week and a half of Timothy's life is a bit of a blur. He was jaundiced to the point where he was admitted to the hospital over night to get his biliruben levels down. After that we were in and out of the local clinic checking on his weight. Today he had his one month check-up at the birth clinic. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he weighed in at 11lbs. even. He gained 2lbs 2oz from his birth weight of 8lbs. 14oz.

So, all in all, Timothy is quite healthy and going strong!

A while back I heard about this product called Baby Legs. Think of them as long socks minus the feet. Great for crawling around hard floors, keeping legs warm (of course!). I've seen adults use them on their arms. I like the idea of of using them on little ones, sounds like a great alternative to pants when it comes to changing diaper!

They have a contest going where you can win 20 pairs of Baby Legs, and you can get bonus entries if you link to the contest on your blog (as I'm doing now). Go here to sign up.

In order to get to Jonathan's appointment I had to wake him up from his nap. He got to keep his binky (pacifier) to the car. When we got to the car I offered him a granola bar as a snack. He held it firmly in his hand, and I asked for his binky. He was quiet for the whole ride to the eye clinic. When I went to get him out of his seat, there was his uneaten granola bar. Feeling really badly, I offered Jonathan his binky. He took it, still clutching onto his granola bar. I asked for the binky back when we got inside. (they have a small play area and I didn't feel like losing a pacifier) He willingly gave it up. We get inside to sign in where he tells everyone he's sick (he's not, this is the eye doctor). All the while he's clutching onto the granola bar. We sit down in the waiting area and I ask if he's going to eat the granola bar.

"Yes" he says as he just sits there. I ask a second time and it was like the light bulb went on, "oh yeah, food". He then proceeds to start counting (mouth full of food no less), "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9."

I corrected him, "7, 8, 9." He practically shouts "10!" I asked if he knew what came after 10.

"9?"

I told him that 11 came next. He then says "12."

"What comes after 12, do you know?"

"10".

I said "10, 11, 12."

"13"

"Very good Jonathan. Who taught you that? Did Elizabeth teach you that?"

"No"

"Did you learn that from Elmo (we have a TV game that uses Sesame Street for learning)

"Animals!" (There are animals on the Elmo game.)

Today Jonathan had an other eye exam, to see how he was adjusting to his prescription. When we went to sign in, he said "I sick". I was quick to tell him that he was not sick but he persisted. I reiterated the fact that he was not sick. I also told him that we were seeing the eye doctor not his medical doctor. To which he replied: "ok"
I am happy (elated perhaps) by the fact that Jonathan does not have to wear his glasses! He will have to wear them again if we see his left eye start to drift (and also bring him back to the eye doctor). Dr. Zamber was very impressed with how far Jonathan has come since getting his glasses.

I admit this post is a bit late, but it's here none-the-less.

Last week we had a second ultrasound. We took Elizabeth and Jonathan with us, and Joshua's mom was also in attendance. The kids like to see the "baby in mama's tummy" and I hope it's helping Jonathan to understand why bouncing on mama is not such a good idea.

After the technician looked for some vital markers we got down to business: finding out the gender. Baby did NOT like having an ultrasound machine wand poking around, and baby was very mobile! As to the gender we aren't a 100% sure. In one shot we saw what appeared to be girl parts and in an other we saw what appeared to be boy parts. (We are leaning towards boy.) No boy names picked out yet but we do have a girls name.

Elizabeth has said some cute things regarding baby #3, such as: "I want the baby to be a big brother" and "I want a baby brother AND a sister" (there's only 1 baby in there!) Elizabeth has a friend in her class at church who recently got a baby brother. Her friend also has a big brother.

We've been trying to work on Jonathan's volume control (or what seems to be the lack there of) for some time, it seems to us we've been working on it since he was born.

I carried Jonathan into my room so he could see his daddy for a few minutes. Joshua whispered to Jonathan, asking for hugs. After getting one hug from Jonathan, Joshua (whispering) asked for a second hug to which Jonathan whispered back "down"!

This is the first time he's EVER whispered.

Of course when I try asking for hugs using a whisper, Jonathan tells me "no" almost as loudly as possible.

I always knew he understood!

I love listening to Elizabeth talk! With her limited vocabulary she tries so hard to form her thoughts into sentences.

On the drive home from church tonight the sun was right in her eyes. She asked for her sunglasses like this: "I want my sunglasses! I don't want my eyes to be bright!"

Thank you Kerry for doing this!

Elizabeth was playing with two pieces from a Lego set pretending they were a cell phone. She was telling her "caller" all about putting toys away and how Jonathan was helping her.

Elizabeth:Jonathan's helping me put toys away!
Me: Elizabeth who are you talking to?
Elizabeth: It's Izzy mom!
Elizabeth (to phone):sigh Sorry about that....

There are all kinds of car games out there: Wabash, I Spy, games involving the license plate, and Slug Bug just to name a few. I think Joshua may have cornered the Fairbanks market for one car game. Slug Subaru. A long while back we were told that Subaru has 28% of the market on car sales in Fairbanks alone (supposedly). And I tend to believe that. So the next time you're in the car why not play a round of Slug Subaru. Just don't hit too hard ok.

Today I got into a conversation at a Tupperware party. We were talking about some of the kiddie products and the customer said that she was surprised that I had children. I asked her how old she thought I was and she said that I looked "about 18 or so". I laughed politely (or is it out of sheer shock?) and I told her that I was 26. I said it was a blessing because when I'm 65 everyone will think I'm 55.