All girl!

Most times when Kingsley wakes up, she asks for shoes. Today she asked for her shoes...

on her elephant. Hooray for my sweet girlie girl!

Wish I could bottle up those words!

John went to the gym this morning, choosing to do his morning run inside rather than endure this insane heat. About 20 minutes later, the sky grew really dark and we began hearing thunder. Jack got very worried about Daddy saying "it can't rain when daddy is running outside". I told him that Daddy decided to run at the gym instead. It was quiet for awhile, and then he looked at me with concern and confusion and said "it's a little too small to run in the gym."

There's been a lot of discussion lately about what pee and poop are, where they come from and why. We've explained that pee comes from what you drink and poop comes from what you eat. Tonight I explained a little further that your body uses what it needs from the food you eat, and then turns the rest into poop - to which Jack's response was "just like I like to take the juice from watermelon". Well, yeah...kind of.

Jack and I made bread this afternoon in the shapes of sharks, fish and starfish. He requested to have honey on his, which naturally made his hands filthy. As he washed his hands in the sink after eating, he noticed some of Finn's flakes were on the counter; I explained to him that the cleaning ladies were on their way and they would clean it. This led to a conversation about what their job entails. After he finished washing his hands, he got off his stool and walked away. I asked him to come back and put it away, to which he replied "you can put it away. My job is just to play. It's not my job to put the stool away."

A Nod to Finn: Fish Week

Our first order of business: watercolor fish and homemade fishing poles. Both kids painted three of their own fish, which I had outlined on watercolor paper.

It was fun to watch how differently they painted - partially because of their age difference, and partially because of their personalities (Jack is much more methodical and clean whereas Kingsley is more free-spirited and messy). Jack definitely stuck with it longer though, while Kingsley became more interested in sticking her fingers in the paint.

Once the fish were painted, I cut them out and pasted a magnet on the backs. For the fishing poles, we attached a string and magnet to the ends of old reels from blinds. And off to our boat (ie my bed) we headed!

Kingsley lost interest pretty quickly, and decided to pet the dog and hug her baby doll instead. I worried a bit about Jack's frustration level, but he got really good really fast, and totally took to "fishing"! He exclaimed "mama!!" or "i got a bite!" as each fish entered the boat, then put each of the fish in his bucket after catching them. Once all six were caught, he'd dump them back and start again. For over an hour he was completely entertained! Yay for new and exciting projects!!

Welcome to your new Home Finn!!

This afternoon we bought the kids their own fish. As we drove home, Jack asked what we were going to name him; I gave him a few choices, but he came up with the name "leaf", which stuck for a few minutes. As we got closer to home though, he decided Finn would be a better name - and so, we welcomed Finn to his new home. John filled the 'tank' and Jack got to feed him for the first time - and reminded us we can't feed him too much, just like Oswald (on TV) can't feed his fish too much either.

I love that he even needed to introduce Teddy to Finn.

Kingsley has shown a lot of interest in Finn - not surprising, since she seems to love all animals, although I'm starting to wonder if it's really Finn or just the idea of standing on the counter that has her so excited.

I've now requested a bunch of fish books from the library, and will be doing several fish art projects with the kiddos over the next week or so...

22 Weeks

I'm now 22 weeks pregnant, and feeling like my belly is definitely getting bigger and am pretty much only in maternity clothing. I took this picture though, and was reminded of how much bigger Im going to get, and in reality how small my belly still is.

On a side note - Jack is still napping every day, in my bed. I know they say you're not supposed to allow your children to sleep with you, but how can I resist this???

Bears for Breakfast

Jack has been showing a lot of interest in the woods and/or the forest lately, and is particularly curious about the animals that live there. So...my first step to satiate his curiosity was to take out lots of great books from the library with pictures and stories of forest animals. We've read a few of them (our favorite is The Busy Tree) and I've been saving a few in hopes of tying them in with some sort of project.

This morning I read one of the books I've been saving: Bear Wants More and together we made (pancake) bears for breakfast. Flipping them proved to be little more difficult than I imagined, so only Jack got the really successful bear, but Kingsley was completely happy nonetheless - give her syrup to dip food into, and she's content! Just to add a little more fun, we ate our bear pancakes at a bear picnic. We invited all the bears we could find (including Teddy and YaYa of course), and sat on a blanket on the floor. Both kids really enjoyed themselves - a great way to start the day!

The Start of Summer 2010

Happy Memorial Day!!! We had a bunch of our friends and Jack's friends and cousins over for dinner to start off the summer. The weather was supposed to be iffy, but it held out for us thank goodness. The kids LOVED running around the golf course and sand trap, and Kingsley of course was the only kid to find a tiny puddle to play in too. All the adults had a great time as well, and were shockingly able to sit down for dinner after the kids finished, without much interruption. Ahhh...the calm before the storm of two more baby cousins being added this fall!! Looking forward to a GREAT SUMMER!!!

Sign me Up!

As Jack practiced his little golf swing in the house last week, I complimented him on how well he was playing. I asked if he'd like to take a golf lesson, and without hesitation he turned to me and said "sign me up!".

Of course, I without hesitation did just that. He drove his own golf cart to the driving range today with his golf clubs that he got from Christmas, and met Coach Leslie. He learned about the ready position (where his feet and tee should form a triangle), and back-through-and-show-your shoe (which helps him to remember that his swing shoudl form a circle. Despite his attention span dwindling by the end of 30 minutes, he seemed to really enjoy himself! He paid attention well, tried really hard and then told me (as he ate a granola bar afterwards) "golfing sure does make you hungry".

Jack at 3 1/2

Jack - you continue to be the most wonderful boy we know. You say the funniest things, ask the most intellectual questions, and are very insightful. You are a thinker, a conversationalist and definitely a talker! You are sensitive, silly and sweet.

You are into:
- the food chain (what eats what)
- the woods (you love pointing out trees and shouting "woods!", and I don't have the heart to tell you we live way too far in suburbia to have that many woods near us; you also love learning about what animals live in the woods)
- reading
- imagination and pretend play (my bed and our couches are constantly acting as boats that keep us safe from fish, sharks and sea monsters swimming below; you are often a t-rex leaving footprints on the floor)
- building forts and/or 'homes' for yourself, when you're pretending to be an animal
- your electric golf cart

Goodbye Peace Preschool

Today was the official end to Jack's stay with Peace Preschool. We brought his teachers little mugs filled with a 'school' of Swedish fish as our way of saying thank you, and then enjoyed a picnic lunch with his best friend Cooper.

19 weeks

I'm 19 weeks pregnant tomorrow..and it's definitely a girl! John, Kingsley and I went for my ultrasound this morning. Everything looks great, and sure enough - we're having another girl. We were 99% sure it was a girl, but somehow as the ultrasound tech said the words "it's a girl!" I teared up as if it was the first time the idea really hit me. Oh - I really can't wait!! The idea of two little girls in our family gets me giddy!!!

2 week trip to NY & SC

I'm ashamed that I didn't take a million more pictures than I did over the past two weeks. All I came back with were a few beach pictures of the kids, but we did a whole lot more than playing in the sand!

NY:

Jack had been really eager to take a subway ride, so we took the train into the city with him and them took the subway to the Museum of Natural History. He probably enjoyed the train and subway more than anything, but John and I had a blast in the museum. Jack was able to point out several of the dinosaurs from just their skeletons, so of course we were beaming with pride! The museum truly is amazing, and walking through there with Jack was unforgettable. We finished the day with a hotdog in Central Park...just perfect!

Grandma loved spending time with the kids - taking Kingsley on walks and playing ball with her in the front yard, and reading books to Jack and letting him stay up WAY past his bedtime (we came home late from dinner to find him shining a flashlight through the window).

SC:

We took another trip to aquarium with both kids - Jack was definitely more interested than Kingsley, asking lots of questions as usual. He especially liked the blowfish and jellyfish, and of course the sharks.

Mimi and Papa loved spending time with Jack and Kingsley - it had been so long since they'd seen them. After a week though - I know they were equally excited to have a quiet house! Mom kept saying "this is why they give young people kids".

Kingsley at 16 months

Kingsley - you are at the point of really starting to amaze us - understanding more and more everyday. You have the BEST smile and laugh, and really light up our lives.

You are:

- bold, daring and adventurous

- not afraid to get dirty

- fearless

- happy

- fiesty and tempermental - you definitely know what you want

- REALLY cute

- outgoing and flirty

You know how to:

- say mommy, daddy, dog (comes out "dee" or "doh"), bird (comes out "bah"), and thank you (comes out "da-da")

- point to your eyes, nose and mouth

- find airplanes and birds in the sky, and love pointing them out

You love:

- to follow Jack and copy most things he does

- watermelon, dipping just about anything in ranch, hotdogs, tofu and pasta with red sauce

- playing with dolls and stuffed animals - holding them, patting their backs, and pushing them in a cart or stroller

- jewelry, bags and your hairbows (you actually ask for them) - such a girl!

- music and dancing

- playing outside

- climbing

Our day in pictures

A lazy morning...

And a delicious Chinese dinner, with some leftovers (which also doubled as a purse)...

Crafty Corner: Nature Names

This morning, after I peeled my eyes open and had a much needed cup of coffee...I got the kids dressed, and we went out for the first part of our art mission. I told them we were going on a nature walk, gave each a pail, and instructed them to pick up anything from nature that they wanted. Of course we needed to talk about nature - what it is, and what we were allowed to take. I explained that all the plants and animals we see are part of nature, so sure enough Jack asked if we could get a bird. He pleaded that we could let it go after, but my answer remained a solid 'no'; we were to stick with leaves, flowers, twigs, flowers, grass etc. that were found on the ground (and not growing on a tree or shrub).

The morning was awesome! Jack was really excited to get out there and fill his bucket, and was equally excited to find a crunchy brown leaf as he was for a bright yellow dandelion (weeds were fair game). Kingsley loved just holding her bucket, and was much more careful and considerate in choosing items to go in hers (most were colorful flowers - purples and pinks - which I found really interesting).

When we got home, Kingsley chose to color with crayons, since I don't think she's quite ready for glue. Jack, on the other hand, was ready for his glue stick. His filled bucket really was beautiful, and though each letter of his nature name didn't get filled as I had envisioned, it turned out perfect. What a beautiful way to spend a morning!

15 month old piranha

I called John today to tell him about my worries that CPS might call us concerned about the bite marks on Jack's arms - the bite marks left by none other than his little baby sister. It started off as once in awhile when she was pissed at him taking something. Ok, fine - you can't talk and you're frustrated...I get it. But - two days ago she got Jack twice within an hour timeframe, which clearly caused concern that this problem is becoming increasingly worse. Then yesterday as we're leaving the library, big girl wants to walk out to the parking lot herself; I go to pick her up, and what does she do? Yup - pulls out those fangs and goes for blood. I kneal down, tell her no (as we're in public, so I can't smack her in the mouth like I'd like), and immediately the woman behind me asks "Oooh...you going through the biting stage?" While I was embarassed by this eyewitness account, I was relieved to hear that this may just be a stage that will pass. In the meantime, she suggested next time it happens I should bite back. So...look out my sweet little piranha!

16 weeks

So I'm definitely feeling the baby move! I wasn't sure for the last week, but these last two days have made me positive...very excited!! My belly is starting to grow, although when I look at it in this picture I realize it's barely noticeable. That didn't stop Jack from asking as he pointed to my belly however: "is that big thing the baby?" Leave it to him to ask something like that!

I went to the doctor this morning and brought Kingsley with me, who was of course a huge hit. She looked adorable (as always),a nd was on her best behavior, until a small bit of crying at the phlebotomist, but who's not scared of them?? I weighed in at 114lbs, which means I've gained 7 lbs so far (if I estimate my starting weight at 107). The baby's heart rate was 150 and in less than 3 more weeks we'll have an ultrasound to find out for sure if it's a girl!

Too Cute Tuesdays

Seeing as Jack JUST got a little booboo on his toe this afternoon, which of course made the entire world stop, I was so excited to find this on etsy (recommended by mommy moment). So cute! Plus - it would totally come in handy during my forever-ongoing quest to achieve organization (both in my purse and everything beyond).

Oh my gosh...too cute! When John's cousin had twins, we bought them what I thought were the cutest shirts to buy for twins - an "I'm Olivia, he's Tyler" and an "I'm Tyler, she's Olivia" onesie. But - I think I found ones that top that. One says "I love" and the other says "you". Oh my gosh - love them!! Maybe when baby #3 is born, I could get these for the kids to wear to the hospital?? oooooh!!! yes! One will wear "I love" and the other will wear "you, ----" (filled in with whatever we name the baby". (Found the shirts on lepetitkids.com - they're made by Petit Bateau).

Also loving the idea of "wordless wednesdays" (came across this on Thrifty Craft Mama, where she just posts her favorite picture from the day, without writing anything) and the idea of "work of art wednesday" (from because I love doing projects with the kids, but don't always make the time for them, particularly since Kingsley is still into eating crafts vs. making them).

Dad

I got out of a bubble bath with both babies, feeling like it was a really good day and night. Our bath was super cute...Jack showed off his new skill of dunking his whole head in the water, while Kingsley giggled at me doing 'this little piggie' to her toes. We pretended my bed was a pirate ship, and as we were looking for pirate treasure...Dad called.

Fun night...done. We talked for a minute, and then he shared the news that he's been diagnosed with Stage 1 Bladder Cancer. He'll start treatment when he gets back east in the next few weeks. I of course was hysterical, to which mom blamed on hormones. I on the other hand can't figure out what about the sentence My dad has cancer is NOT serious/upsetting/scary/life-changing/rattling/you-fill-in-the-word.

Happy Earth Day!

Jack picked this tree out himself and helped me plant it (using a paint roller?). We bought one for Kingsley too, but haven't gotten that one in the ground yet. I hope to plant a tree for each child each year on Earth Day - we all loved this, and how cute is it going to be to watch them grow with their trees?!

My big girl's haircut and my baby girl moving?

My beautiful baby girl got her first real haircut today. I've trimmed it a few times, but John had been on me for months to get it cut and "clean up the ends". I just couldn't decide if I wanted to let it grow just a little longer so it could fit in a ponytail, or cut it into a little bob. Well - ended up bringing her to Dolittle's today where she sat like a big girl in a firetruck and got a totally adorable, big girl bob. I LOVE it! Of course I couldn't resist buying her a big new bow to go with her little 'do! Despite Jack's first reaction of "Kingsley looks like a boy", I think she couldn't look more like a girl and/or more adorable.

I continue to assume baby #3 is a girl, since my forehead looks like a mogul mountain and the ultrasound tech gave us a 90% yes on it being a girl. So...I've titled this blog "my girls" because I'm almost positive I felt the baby move for the first time two days ago. I wrote it off thinking I just was imagining it, but then again last night I'm almost positive I felt it again as I was laying in bed. Can't wait to relax tonight and am really hoping to feel it again! So exciting...

...and a project finisher!

Totally beaming with pride!!! Absolutely LOVE the new shelves we made for Jack's room. LOVE!

We may have had to take three trips in total to Lowe's, and I may have wanted to lock Kingsley inside the house so I could work, and John may have been thinking the whole time that this was supposed to be MY project instead of OURS, but by the time Jack got up from his nap...we were ready to mount them to the wall. They look amazing, and what's even better is Jack loves them. I chose about 15 of his (and my) favorites to display, so he has a really easy time picking out books and recognizing all of his different choices. And did I mention they look amazing?

I'm a project starter...

Jack continues to ask for the same books over and over again. We're on a Runaway Bunny and Wish for a Fish kick at the moment. Two weeks ago it was Truck Stuck and The Mitten. Last month it was still Christmas books. Despite having 50+ books on his book shelf, he never really seems to pick out different ones, which has got me to thinking. Maybe we need a better way to display his books? I love the book racks from PBKids and Land of Nod, but am not in love with their prices. So...google to the rescue - I have found a project on OhDeeDoh (one of my favorite blogs) with a DIY book shelf project. I'm totally inspired and insist on completing my own. Immediately.

As John and I walk through the aisles of Lowe's and I continue to add items I need for the project, he puts an end to it by saying..."See, this is what you do." And when I ask him what he means, he goes on to say that I like to start projects but never really finish them. Case in point - the dining room chairs I decided to reupholster over a month ago, which are still sitting in the dining room with the new beautiful fabric laying neatly next to them. Fine - point taken.

But, I am now more determined than ever to finish this one...today.

Knocked Up

Seriously...is this movie just as funny when you're not pregnant, because it's pretty f-ing funny right now! Have definitely laughed several times out loud from the "I know we're supposed to be nice to each other right now, but I'm having a really hard time right now; I'm really struggling" to "I've sacrificed my vagina". Funny stuff!

Share the News

We told Mimi and Papa about baby #3, which actually went better than expected! Mimi seemed genuinely excited, and Papa said he needed to sit down. As we told them, Jack listened in on the conversation and he too learned of our news. He, of course, had lots of questions. Is it a girl or boy? What does it look like? What clothes is it wearing? Does it have hair? My favorite question came when he asked to see the baby. I lifted my shirt, he looked around on my belly, and was clearly confused. He scanned down to the little freckle on my belly button, tried desperately to look through it and then asked - is that a teeny tiny hole to see the baby?

He has since kissed the belly several times, and even got his sister to kiss it (since she copies just about everything he does).

Easter Sunday

Easter was completely fun! Okay - so we missed church (totally didn't do ou homework, and showed up to mass an hour late), but the kids looked adorable, we had amazing food at the club for brunch, and the day couldn't have been more beautiful.

I think I enjoyed making their Easter baskets more than you're supposed to enjoy that, but putting everything together was so fun! So - to see Jack run down in the morning with a look of both excitement and shock was thrilling! He loved everything in his basket, from the new movie to the candy to the motorcylce and monster trucks. Kingsley's basket was a success too - she loved her new flower towel (the first pink towel I've bought), and of course our little fatty was psyched to find candy. She also loved some of Jack's monster trucks, particularly the pink one. I was feeling a little badly about not getting her some of her own, but big brother Jack did a great job sharing.