By Request...

...more Kate! People think that she's a boy all the time. Maybe because she doesn't have much hair? Or because I have a navy blue baby carrier? I'm not sure. It doesn't matter really. I think she's gorgeous!

She starts out happy.
Oh oh. She's starting to get a little upset.Okay. I'll stop.Here's another video of Kate in action. I hate how I sound on these things but I figure friends and family like to see them.

Celebrate

Today is my baby brother Jon's birthday. He was just married on December 17th in a small ceremony at my mom's house in Florida. Just four days after Kate was born so unfortunately we weren't able to attend. I'm so happy for him and his wife. Happy birthday Jon and congratulations again to you and Danielle!

Make Do

The other day David put together a sandbox for Caroline. She calls it "the beach." He threw in a couple of Jonah's toys and it keeps Caroline occupied for, well, almost an hour I'd say. That's pretty good for Caroline. Our kids don't need one of those fancy turtle sandboxes! (Should I use that thing anymore for cooking?) Hard economic times call for a little creativity. The nice thing about very little kids is that they don't know the difference.

Giving Thanks

David and I love to watch Caroline when we say prayers at dinner (Yes, we say prayers at dinner.). I've tried to catch her on video but it's difficult because she's very aware of the camera now.



Here's my second attempt...



She cracks us up!

A New Game

Yesterday the weather was yucky and rainy so I decided to take the girls out and get a new game. Sometimes I've just gotta get everyone out of the house regardless of the weather. I had just seen on the internet how the game Let's Go Fishin' is great for toddlers and decided it was a good day to give it a try.

They both seemed to really like it. Who knew that it would be great for babies too.Come on Kate! You can do it!The game even came with a bonus mini wind-up Let's Go Fishin'. I think Caroline was better at it.I can already tell that I'm never going to get them to smile at the same time for a picture. I think going out was worth it, even though I did forget my wallet on the counter and had to turn back around and get it.

Craft Time

This winter I've tried to come up with different indoor activities to occupy and entertain Caroline, especially since we've been mainly housebound with the baby. It's more difficult than it sounds to find things that are age appropriate for a one year old and that capture her attention for more than 10 minutes. One activity she has really liked has been painting with watercolors. I like it a lot too since watercolors are cheap and washable. It's a win-win.
I really like the end results too. I might frame this one.

Kate's Turn

Kate doesn't say "Sky!Sky!" And David doesn't actually throw her into the air. She seems to really like it though. (Please don't notice that David's in his robe. He was very upset that I took pictures while he was in his robe. Please don't notice the glasses either. He was upset about that too.)Hmmmm. Is Caroline showing a little of that sibling jealousy I've been hearing about? Or maybe she's just trying to get in on the fun.

Shoes and Hats

Lately Caroline has been into shoes and hats.

She likes to wear this hat backwards for some reason.Here she is in Daddy's boots.Another hat.That's it really. It's just kinda cute.

Snip! Snip!

It's been completely amazing to me since Kate was born how many appointments one family of five can have. Keeping up with appointments is a job in itself. Kate had a 2 wk dr check up in January and a 2 mo check up in February. Jonah has a 10 yr dr check up in March. Caroline has her 2 yr check up in April. Kate has a 4 mo check up in April. I had a 6 week follow up check up in February. David has had 3 different dr appointments since Jan because of headaches he's been having. David, Jonah, and I all had dentist check ups in February. David and I each had a cavity so we had additional dentist appointments. Do you see what I mean?! In addition to dr and dental exams, we all had to fit in hair cut appointments also.

When Jonah was little I had to start getting his hair cut fairly early since he had so much and it grew so fast. I have some pretty nightmarish memories of trying to get his hair cut. He would completely freak out. I found out by accident that if a man cuts his hair his behavior is impeccable so I started taking him to barbers. Now he and David just go to Supercuts.
For Caroline I found this awesome place in town called Cookie Cutters that specializes in cutting kids hair. They have fun chairs for the kids to sit in, the kids get to watch a movie while their hair is cut, AND the kids get a balloon and a sucker. I love it! I think they do a really good job too. For now I like Caroline's hair short. It's easy and right now in my life I need easy. Plus I think it looks cute.
And I finally got my hair cut. I got my traditional post baby hair whacking. A couple of months after I have a baby my hair starts falling out like crazy, something to do with hormones, so I just get it all cut off. After Jonah I seriously thought I was going bald. I didn't know it was a normal postpartum thing.
(Picture inspired by dear friend Jennifer Deskins.)

Excuses

Well I didn't get a chance to post yesterday blowing my chances at winning our friend Phil's challenge to post every day in March. I started an entry but then one of the kids started crying. Plus the weather was absolutely beautiful so we spent almost the entire day outside, including a walk to the playground.

Here's a photo I snapped of Caroline in the morning. She insists on wearing her snow boots all the time now, just like her brother and his cowboy boots. That's not such a bad thing for KY spring mud.Then David had to work late. I let the kids eat dinner outside. I loved to eat dinner outside when I was kid. Actually I still do.And then Kate just would not cooperate at bed time. She wanted to hang with mom and dad.And then finally I went to bed. Completely pooped from the day's activities.
Okay. I'm done with the excuses.

Get Out of My Head!

Months ago I noticed Jonah going around singing some kind of crazy song. Something about peanut butter jelly time. I just thought it was just one of those silly songs that kids sing. But then I saw on the Today show that "It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time" was one of the top 10 You Tube videos of 2008. So I looked it up....



...and now I can't forget it.

Katie Cam

I love a baby's coos and babbles. It seems like they really believe they are telling you something. Like a secret mommy-baby language. Like most kids though Kate shuts down when the camera's on so it's hard to record her "talking." Here's a little of what I did manage to get...

Up, Up, Up, and Away!

Caroline will walk up to David and say, "Sky!Sky!" So then he throws her up into the air over and over until his arms give out.
I wish someone could do that to me. It looks like fun.

Gratitude

I always knew he was one in a million. And I'm glad he's mine.

Answers

The question that people most asked while I was pregnant with Kate was "Where will the baby sleep?" Well, like Caroline did, Kate is sleeping in a bassinet in our room until she somewhat sleeps through the night (not there yet). Then she will move into the crib and Caroline will move into a big girl bed. In the same room. Caroline helped speed this process along by starting to climb out of her crib when Kate was only about a month old. So we went ahead and got her the big girl bed. She's made the transition fairly smoothly. She gets up sometimes in the middle of the night and we just put her right back in bed. She had already started doing this though when she figured out how to climb out of the crib. David and I have had a few rough nights where there was very little sleep to be had between the both of them repeatedly waking us up. I am nervous about putting them both in the same room, that they'll wake each other up even more or Caroline will climb into the crib and hurt Kate, but it will just have to do for now. We'll see.

Calgon Take Me Away!

I love being able to stay home full time with my kids. Well most of the time I do. Then there are moments like the one below when I'm ready to drop the kids off at the nearest daycare facility and head back to work. Usually these moments occur when there's a lot of whining and crying going on. Fingernails down a chalkboard got nothing on little children whining and crying. One child whining and crying I can usually handle but when more than one get going... ugh! (And yes that includes Jonah.)



Or moments like the one where Caroline just poured a little bottle of bubbles in my hair. Yes. This just happened. I guess she wants my attention.

Grizzly Adams

During his paternity leave David grew a beard. Once he returned to work he realized that it kept his face nice and warm in the cold weather. So he ended up keeping the beard for a couple of months. I liked the beard.He just recently shaved it off. Do other men like to shave off their facial hair in funny patterns or just my husband? He thinks he's hilarious. Also do other men leave a layer of little hairs all over the bathroom? I guess it's a small price to pay for being married to such a manly man.

Gag!

I recently came across this video. It must be from before Caroline's first birthday when I was trying to teach her to say (or gesture) how old she was.



I hope this doesn't mean she's prone to bulimia.

Shape Up

For my birthday (I'm 35! Ugh!) David and the kids got me Wii Fit. I had said something about how I would like to have it so I wasn't totally insulted or anything. Trying to get rid of this baby fat you know. Anyway. David's been using it too. He said he wants to get rid of his beer belly (which I think is silly). When either of us use the Wii Fit Caroline wants to work out too which is funny. Here's a couple of photos of Caroline doing some yoga exercises with David.

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
I guess it's never too early to start!