Twos-day {zoo trip}

Nearly every other Tuesday we get together with our friends Ginger, Avery and Ezra, thus making it Twos-day (get it?!). The girls have fun, I am pretty sure. I am not really paying attention because I am having fun chatting with Ginger, so since we seldom hearing screaming and fighting, I imagine they are having a splendid time. :)

Anyway, a few Tuesdays ago we took the kids to the zoo. It was such a nice afternoon. We had a bit of a rough start as Leighton accidentally tossed her new beloved Minnie Mouse bracelet in the Koi pond, while trying to feed them. It was heartbreaking and believe me I considered wading in after it, but thought better of it. Eventually the tears dried up.

Onto our zoo day. Ginger and I are not so great at taking pictures, which who can blame us when we are wrangling 4 kids between us, but I did mange to take a few, she probably took way better ones, you know being a professional and all. :)

Lo and Micah loved the baby lambs. The rushed them. The lambs were terrified.

 After the Koi pond incident we were able to calm Leighton with the promise of an elephant show. I can't believe how many cool tricks these elephants can pull off.

 Why is it all I got was the back of everyone's head?!

Running around the gorilla exhibit during our lunch break! Wow that was a tad nuts, but fun. 

 Group Shot!

 Posing by the lions who were hiding from us. :(

 Cutest baby orangutang ever. His momma got up to go to the hammock and s/he followed and then the momma pulled him up. It was so sweet. Love is love.

And that pretty much sums it up. We parted way just in time for nap time. I absolutely love our playdate and feel so lucky to have friends/fellow SAHMs close by to do these things with. Until the next "Twos-day."

Week 3

Maybe it is more like week 156 since that is just around 3 years of having a kid.
I gave birth to this beautiful, precious, angel of a baby girl. Baby girl, did you hear me Leighton?! You are a girl, not a boy. But ever since you turned mobile the hits {literally} keep coming. Now we have thrown a boy into a mix and not just any boy, but a "if it should be climbed, I will climb it and then jump off it" kind of boy.
I knew I should have gotten that PA-C {physician assistant} or at the very least RN, good thing I have a bit of medical background with my RD; because boy do I need it around here.

So perhaps I just never noticed how many scraps, boo boos, loss of blood and broken bones we had until these last 3 weeks when I have at least one child hurt and requiring a Dora band aide nearly every.single.day. or worse a cast.

Micah broke his arm on May 9th.



Then the next week Leighton dropped a brick on her leg and ripped it open nicely {no stitches thank goodness, but our dreams of being a leg model may be dashed. ;) }


You know every time the UPS truck comes by I hold my breath hoping my Mother of the Year Award will be here...

Now here we are this weekend with a little boy I am 80% sure has hand, foot and mouth disease...but at least he is cast free. {silver lining}

I can't be for certain because he is just now starting to run a low grade temp and act all sleepy, snuggly, lovey bear. And he isn't acting at all cranky, which for my son is completely unheard of even on a good day. He doesn't even scratch or pick at the little pimply things all over his legs and hands...so who knows. Everyone I have asked says the doc doesn't do anything anyway, so I would just rather wait it out until Tuesday and take him to our beloved PCP.

I wonder if MW will be "paid off" by the time he is 18...he really knows how to rake in the medical bills. :)

So here's hoping for one boo-boo free week?! Yeah, I didn't think so either.

Summer Nights

Ah, the sweet simple joys of summer. Summertime is here and sprinkler fun has commenced. I love these two girls. They are the best of friends and both {well, maybe my daughter moreso} go after life with full force. I am looking forward to more summer nights like this one.

{all photos were taken by our very talented neighbor Ken}

Happy Summer!

16 Months {Watch Me Grow}

 My sweet boy you are 16 months today. I can't believe how fast year 2 is going. You are starting to really come into your own, a little more valiantly than I care for some days, but none the less your own. Here is what you are up to this month:

 

Milestones: 
Finally playing independently!! Hip hooray!!!

 

Signing "more" and "milk." {A little slow on this front, but better late than never}.
Not one I am terribly proud of, but you broke your R arm last Wednesday. You were on the ottoman, and reached for me and somehow as I reached for you, you slipped through my grasp and fell. I thought you landed on your back and thought nothing of it...a few moments later I realized you couldn't put weight on it to stand. I knew. So welcome son to the broken bone club.

 

Language Skills:
Really talking up a storm lately. You have added "gi" for grammy, "I nee{d}", "dink" {drink}, "bopdorn" {popcorn} and others that I am forgetting. I am still sort of shocked at how much you talk since A) you are a boy and B) you are the second born. And boy are you vocal about your wants!

Eating:
Same as always, only slowing way down. For instance there are actually a few bites of PBJ left at the end of lunch instead of you completely inhaling it.

self feeding at its best. :)

 

Sleep:
Again the same. I keep hoping you are going to drop that morning nap, but no such luck. {I know I am crazy, but I am ready to not be "boxed" in with our mornings anymore}. So two naps {830a/9a-1015/1030a; 1245p/1p-230/3p} and bed by 630p/7p-7a.

But be proud we have dc'd the nighttime bottle! Go mommy! I knew it would be no problem, just hated to do it. However the other day he found said bottles in the garage sale pile and promptly picked it up and carried all around for the rest of the day...and mommy may or may not have let him keep it in his bed as a "toy." Just sayin'

 

Favorite toy/book(s):
stroller and elmo books, oh and this controller that makes airplane noises that goes with their geotrax.{you LOVE airplanes now}!

 

Anecdotes/Quirky things you do:
* Whenever you get up you say "shh" and put your finger to your lips, since sissy is still sleeping.

as a side note you aren't a paci baby, just playing with it...a lot now, so it isn't something I have to break persay.

* You mimic every.single.thing. mommy and sissy do. I wish I could write them all down, but it just wouldn't do it justice.
*You are into every drawer, cupboard, closet etc. My house will never be clean again.

you found your baby carseat when I was cleaning out the store room for the garage sale

you were in heaven.

*Does this cute little jig when you ask him to dance.
*Starting to pose for the camera now. :)

 Stats:
Ht:  28.5in
Wt: 20#
Clothes: 9-12m
Shoes: 4
Diaper: 3 swaddlers     

Happy 16 Months Micah Bear!!!

 

Mother's Day

Ah, mother's day what a wonderful day to celebrate the ones who give us life. And what better way to celebrate than a day NOT seeing my children. :) HA! For us young moms everyday is mother's day, I was ready for a day off. And that is exactly what I got! I loved it.
The kids loved it. Being with gammy and papa is the best, especially when gammy takes you shopping and gives you your first real mani/pedi.

I spent the day having actual conversations with my husband without constant interruptions, scrapbooking and re-watching the Gilmore Girls seasons. Awesome. However, I thought their theme song summed up the way I feel about my kids and how my mom feels about her girls.

Loving you the way I do
I only wanna be with you
And I will go
To the ends of the earth,
Cause darling, to me that's what you're worth

{coffeeshop sunkissed}

Chorus
Where you lead
I will follow
Anywhere that you tell me to
If you need, if you need me to be with you
I will follow
Where you lead

{coffeeshop sunskissed}

If you're out on the road
Feelin' lonely and so cold
All you have to do is call my name
And I'll be there
On the next train

{coffeeshop golden afternoon at 60%}

~~Where You Lead I Will Follow by Carole King & Louise Goffin

Then we invited all the moms over on Sunday for a BBQ. It was a perfect weekend. Especially after another not so great week. Hey you can't get everything right in motherhood...

Micah broke his arm last Wednesday...we feel pretty awesome, well at least I do. Here's to a better week?!

Precious Love

I have to laugh, because at church this weekend our pastor is delivering a series on parenting. He opened with the thought that--if you don't know how to pray, chances are if you are a parent at least one of your kids has brought you to your knees. Can I get an Amen?! ;)

But I still love this boy with the fiercest kind of love imaginable. And I may be a bit bias, but I could just eat him up with a spoon. I love impromptu photo shoots that turn out amazing. {At least by my very novice standards}.

Again playing around with editing...I really love this vintage older feel to the photo.

I used actions from Pioneer Woman {PW} found here and the Coffee Shop blog found here.

{PW colorized}

 

{PW colorized} 

{Coffee Shop Truffle}

{PW warmer}

{PW soft fade}

Oh my love bear you are such a little boy now and I love it!

Week in Reverse

Last week was a crazy, full of accidents, bloody week. Thankfully, no one made an appearance to the ER, but there was one close call in my opinion and if you know me at all death must be looming before I would even consider a trip to the ER or doctor...

 Monday was a disaster in the fact that I thought it would be a fantastic idea to keep MW from his morning nap...I keep thinking he wants to drop it, only to find out he really really doesn't...so in effort to keep him up we went to the library, where on family picture day, he knocks his eye on a table so hard I was sure we were going to have to photoshop out a black eye! Thankfully, by picture time no black eye appeared.

Tuesday started off with a bang after a simple morning bath turned bloody. Micah got out of the tub was all dried off and dressed, when he decided he wanted to go back in and play with sissy (who was still in the tub). He started to climb the step stool, slipped and bit his tongue so hard I thought he actually bit completely through it...CSI shows had nothing on us when it came to the amount of blood lost. I was moments from yanking Lo from the tub and heading to the ER when the bleeding slowed and the tears got minimal. I felt so bad for him.

Then I get him down for a AM nap and start cleaning up the kitchen, Lo is still in the tub, don't ask, it makes her happy...I go to check on her she is crying because she now fell and has this HUGE bruise on her bum. Sigh.

Wednesday Lo decided to join in on all the accident fun. I mean why not? Blood and tears are mommy's favorite things to deal with. :) We decide to go to a park for fun and a picnic, on our way to the park Lo is running, skipping, something, because she just.can't.walk.like.a.normal.person. Oh wait she is 3...and BAM! She hits the pavement hard. Stopping her forward momentum with her face! Scrapping all the skin on her nose off! You know why she cried? Yes, because it hurt, but that was only 35 seconds of the tear fest, the rest of the 5 minutes it was because she had to get to the park and play!! Refusing to go home and clean up her face, elbows and knees...whatever, go play then!

So needless to say I was hoping for a bloodless Thursday and Friday...

So I emptied out that ridiculous bean tub and put sand in it!

 Thursday resulted in only minor trauma to Micah's lip as he got behind me and I accidentally kicked him in the face and caused a very minor, albeit, bloody lip.

By Friday I gave up trying, but pretty certain there were no major injuries.


 I have also spent all week tagging and tagging and tagging all of Leighton and Micah's clothes for our upcoming garage sale. I went to a lot of extra work to tag them per consignment sale specifications, so those that don't sell are ready come this fall! It was exhausting.

Sadly, this really doesn't do the mess justice but my huge 

walk-in closet is busting with kid clothes (mostly, Leighton's) 

and it is spilling out into the guest bed!!!

One fun thing {for me} was getting all my digi scrapbook pages organized and put in books!! Yay!
I think there are 95 pages here! And that is just for 2011.

However, there was some fun had as this weekend Lo got a new big girl bike and is really doing quiet well with it. Video and more to come. {if you click the picture you can see the nose injury...}

And on Saturday night we got to see the Supermoon, which was pretty cool. I tried to take a picture through my kitchen window...didn't turn out as pretty  or as large as what I was seeing, but nonetheless, it was breath taking. Plus, I just found it so fascinating to take a moment and watch the moon rise. Just amazing how fast it went, yet we can't feel a thing. God is pretty awesome in His creation that is for sure.

Oh and finally I got my front flower garden planted! No more kids digging in it and making a huge mess!

 

Lo and I are pretty excited about the blueberry bush! I sure hope it yields fruit this year!!

We planted purple salivia plants, purplish lilies and seeded orange poppy flowers! Very KSU of us! ;)

Hope you all had a little bit better week than I did, but a fantastic weekend!