Parmesan Anyone?

Here's what happens when a 3 year old is left to her own devices....a mountain of parmesan on her spaghetti!!

Andrew Update: 3 months

Yes, our little guy is growing fast. I remember a few days after he was born, I felt an overwhelming sadness over the fact that I knew he was going to grow up faster than I wanted (and surprise, surprise...he has). Fortunately, I think a lot of that emotion was postpartum, because we are thoroughly enjoying the stage Andrew is in.

The best part of entering 3 months is the fact that he is becoming more predictable. Although he still gets up between 3:30-5am for feedings, they are short and he goes back to bed immediately. I am definitely feeling more energized throughout the day. He is also starting to develop more of a schedule. The times of feedings and naps are not consistent every day, but usually 1 1/2 hours after he's been fed, he gets fussy. Within usually less than a minute of me holding him in a cradle position and popping that plug in, he's asleep. I think he has his father's ability to fall asleep in an instant.

Perhaps Andrew's best quality right now though are his smiles. He shares them liberally with everyone (short of Katie, probably because she's always in his face...let the sibling rivalry begin!). They are very contagious too. He's not a big talker, but already laughs (which is just about the best sound in the world). He's grabbing toys too, and kicking in the bathtub (which seems to crack himself up).

So maybe this rough start in our last baby is taking a turn for the better. Because you can't get much better than a smiley, predictable, laughing baby!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

The girls are chattin it up around home. Here are a few of the things they said:

In the car:
Kyra: Hey mom, (looking at a billboard) why does that sign have a picture of the cupcakes we had the other day?
Mom: Well, it's called advertising. They make a big sign of their cupcakes to try and get people to buy them. That's how they make their money.
Kyra: Just like we bought them!
Mom: Yeah.
Kyra: So they get all the money that we give them.
Mom: Yes.
Kyra: Well that's not very nice. They should share their money.

While walking Kyra to the bus (and Kyra was racing ahead of us):
Katie: Kyra!! You have to wait for yourself.
(love it when they mess up those pronouns)

If you'd like to read more tiny talk, just visit Mary's.

Splash Getaway

A week ago we were able to get away for our first vacation of the summer. The hub's job has finally calmed down a bit (he was terribly busy all summer...of course great timing with a little one, but certainly job security and that's nothing to complain about, so I'll quit). So, we decided to head north for an extended weekend to one of our favorite places...Petoskey, Michigan. That whole area is simply breath taking. Of course I love it even more in the fall, when all the leaves are changing, but we couldn't have had a more beautiful weekend to go (mid 70's and sunny).

We stayed at the Boyne Mountain Ski Resort with the hub's parents. We've been there before and always enjoy it, because they have lots for the kids to do, and great shopping for me too! We all enjoyed swimming, going up the ski lift and enjoying the view, bike riding, and pie tasting. The girls even caught a rather large trout in the local pond (which may have been a little more exciting for their fish deprived dad, I'm not sure:). We went to the beautiful marina in Petoskey, and enjoyed shopping downtown too. Of course, I was able to go to one of my favorite stores, The American Spoon, and test their dips. Mmm, go figure one of my favorite stores involves food! They certainly do have great bbqs, jellies, and salsas though.

But I'd have to say the highlight of the weekend was going to the indoor water park. We were a bit hesitant in going, just because our girls are not the biggest water fans. So, we checked the place out first and the girls both said they wanted to go. The entrance fee isn't the cheapest though, so I told Kyra she had to promise to go on some of slides or else it wasn't going to be worth the money (this cheap mamma's gotta get her money's worth you know!) She happily agreed (of course probably not knowing what she was getting into).

Fortunately, the hub's parents were willing to watch Andrew for awhile too, so we could focus our time with the girls. So, when we arrived, we perused the park, and I found a slide that looked suitable for Kyra. It was a rather tall ride, but the slide didn't look too steep, and it required a inner tube that you could share with an adult, which I figured would be less scary then sliding directly on the slide itself. It wasn't until after Katie and I waited at the bottom to take their picture that I found out I had put them on the scariest slide in the park. Yes, way to go momma. I had put my eldest daughter, who was afraid of water to begin with, to plummet to what she probably thought was the end of her short life. Yes, the ride began with a drop into pure blackness, then shoots you out into a huge bowl that twirls you round and round (kind of like you are twirling in a toilet bowl), until you drop into the bottom of the bowl and are flushed out into a lazy river. Yes, she came out screaming at the bottom. I felt so bad. There were so many more easy going slides I could have started her out on, but I had to chose the worst. Even the lazy river frightened her because around the bend were some rapids and a waterfall that pours on you. I doubted she would ever trust me again.

Fortunately, she did. The first hour or so of our time, she hesitated, going only on the kiddy slides or in the pool. But eventually, our forgiving girl went on some larger slides, and even after a few times down with the hub's or myself, went by herself. It was a great time, and it felt great to have some alone time with our girls. I even tried my hand at boogie boarding down the pressured wave. Yes, the weekend away was just what we needed after this busy summer adjusting to our little one, and a great entrance into the new season of fall.

First Day of Kindergarten

Kyra's first day of Kindergarten was yesterday. I wasn't the slightest bit worried about how she would fair her first day, because I know she is a confident, social, and bright little girl (who has been very eager to start the new school year). I was however, a little nervous about how a few things would go. Getting her ready by 8am (since she's used to getting up at that time and because we have an infant), having her get on the bus (I never did this as a child), and hearing how she would do tying her gym shoes were just a few of the challenges.

It turns out getting ready in the morning was a piece of cake. She anxiously got out of bed at 6:50 am, and was ready by 7:30 am. And Andrew (at least on this day), woke up just in time for me to feed him and go back to bed so I could put her on the bus. The bus, however did not go so smoothly (at least for me). We live on a fairly busy street and have a long driveway, so we all walked up together 10 minutes early. I had my camera in tow, and was ready to take a picture of her getting on the bus. I knew we would have to wait a little while, since they are still getting their routes figured out, but we ended up waiting more like 20 minutes. So, we played "I Spy" and counted all the buses (that weren't OURS). Needless to say Katie was getting tired. Seriously, I should have had lawn chairs at the end of the drive or something. At this point, I also saw that Rudy had gotten loose. Somebody must have forgotten to shut the door tight. And of course, it was too late to take him all the way back to our house, so I just hoped he would behave and not try and get on the bus with Kyra.

Finally, Kyra said "look there's my bus!" But I said, "no babe, it's going in the wrong direction." But she was right. All of a sudden the lights started flashing. We were supposed to be the last stop before the bus arrived at school, but it was going in the wrong direction (not to mention across the street, where I would have to walk her across). So, I quickly grabbed her hand and told Katie to grab the other. But Katie picked this moment to be grouchy and refuse. So, I had one anxious child in one direction and one reluctant in the other. I was taken off guard with the bus going in the wrong direction, my children racing in the opposite directions, and a dog who was on the brink of traffic (which by the way was backing up by at least 8 cars!). By the time we got over to the bus, and I was making sure my dog would not follow, Kyra was gone. No goodbye or anything. It wasn't what I pictured in my head at all. No picture of her first bus ride, or wave to her beloved mother who has loving raised her, just gone: ) Actually, this is more of what I should have been picturing in my head, because this is more how we roll (late and disorganized). It makes for a good story though. I think I will be talking to transportation though, or changing my mind and driving her to school, because taking her across the busy street every day just isn't going to work (I would have driven her, but I thought it would be easier with a sleeping baby).

Alas, she made it to school and loved it. When she got back, I asked her how the day went and she said it was fabulous. I asked her if she was able to tie her gym shoes that she has to keep at school, and she said no they fell apart (we tried finding tennis shoes with Velcro, but the only ones in her size were $50!!, so we frantically tried to teach her how to tie them the night before!). I guess we'll have to keep working on that one. But, when asked what was the favorite part of her day, you know what it was?

The BUS RIDE!!! Go figure.

Wordless Wednesday

For my mom, who hasn't seen the little guy in a month!!