Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Lump of Sugar

Just had to show off the sweetest lump of sugar you have ever seen!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Tomorrow my honey and I will have been married for 7 years! It seems like a long time, but I can still remember those dating years and my wedding like it was yesterday. On the other hand, I can hardly remember a time without Craig in my life. Thank the Lord he sent me this wonderful man to be my husband and to father my children. He is so good at both and I love him so much!

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Bailey Update

I am so not good at taking a picture of my babies each month on their birthday date and giving updates about what they are doing and how they are developing. So sorry girls...Mommy has good intentions but it just never happens quite the way I plan. So here is a Bailey update although it is without a picture. Sorry! Bailey is now a week over 4 months. She just had her 4 month check up and she weighed 14 lbs. 6 oz. (65th percentile) and was 26 1/4" long (97th percentile)!!!!!! Can you believe she is that long? She is outgrowing all of her sister's old clothes and is already wearing 6 month outfits and I know by mid to late summer, she will be wearing 9 month clothes. I always call her my chunkeroo, but honestly when I look at her precious little naked body, her tummy is pretty slim, it's mostly her thick little (big) legs. :) She does have those great rolls around her diaper area and thighs, and her cheeks and chin are pretty abundant, but the rest of her looks pretty average. It's really her length that is putting her into those bigger clothes. She is rolling from her tummy to her back all the time now. She sleeps on her tummy and I find her on her back in bed quite a bit (crying loudly of course!)...She hasn't rolled from back to tummy yet, but I know she can do it. She will roll all the way up onto her side and will be mostly turned, but just won't go all the way. She will do it when she feels like it I guess. She laughs and squeals at us a lot now. It's so precious and it doesn't take much attention to make her do this! Avery is really good at getting her to calm down if I can't get to Bailey quick enough. She will put her paci in and wipe her spit up if I need her to. She really is a great big sister who really does love, love, love her baby sister. Bailey is still a great sleeper, although the past 2 or 3 mornings she has woken around 5 am! I told her this is unacceptable, so we will see if she continues. :) I am kind of worried a tooth might pop through or something, but surely not this early! I pray not. I just love this squishy little girl of mine and she is such a joy in our family. I love it when she is awake at dinner time and even though it's not the easiest way to eat, she sits in my lap or Craig's and just hangs out while we all eat. I love it when we are all at the table together as a family. Don't even try to put her in the bouncy seat because she isn't having it. She wants to be where the action is and she will protest until she gets up there like a big girl. She will suck on her fingers until the cows come home and her whole hand and chin are COVERED in drool. It's precious really albeit a total mess. So there is your Bailey update...4 months and loving life.

Jumping Girl




This is the first week we have put Bailey in the jumpy seat. I never got to use it much with Avery because at our old house most of the main rooms had arched and bull-nosed entrances and doorways... So there was no molding to hook the top of the jumper to. However, this house has molding on every doorway, so Bailey will get her fill of it, I'm sure. She likes it pretty well for a few minutes, but she has had somewhat of a grumpy week, so she was never in it too long. Avery likes to push the buttons for her and show her how it works. Such a good big sister. :)

Playing outside

I think Craig loves to be outside just as much as Avery. Bailey was getting some Daddy-time here. She loves to smile at her Daddy with that big wet drool-covered chin just shining at you.
If you know my oldest little girl, you know she loves to play outside! She would stay out there all day if she could! Her Nona put her up in this tree in the front yard one day a while back and she thought it was so cool. Now she likes me to put her up there every now and then. She can't do it by herself yet, but I don't doubt it will be very long before she can. I was a total tree climber when I was a kid, so I see where she gets it. :) Bailey likes to be outside, too, and I can stretch her pretty long between naps if we're outside doing something.

MOPS zoo trip



Every year, our MOPS group has a playdate at the zoo. This year it was pretty hot on the day we went, but thankfully somewhat windy, so it was bearable I guess. I will have to say, I am not much of a zoo fan. Maybe it's because our zoo isn't the most awesome around or maybe because I feel like half of the animals aren't even out when we go, or maybe it's because Avery tends to spend ten seconds on each animal and I feel I am really just trying to keep up with her! Anyway, it is fun to go with friends and hang out and we did eat a picnic lunch there which Avery always enjoys. She was probably the oldest girl there in our group that day and really the only girl who was old enough to run around. Therefore, she had all the boys following her. It was really cute. They were yelling, "Avery, walk with me!" or "Avery, hold my hand!" or "Avery, come over here beside me!" She was really the "it" girl to be with on this day. It gave me visions of her future...oh, I am so not ready to go there! Bailey took a nice nap in her stroller and was pretty good the whole time we were there! That's always a plus! The best part of the trip was at the lion's exhibit. The male lion was roaring a lot when we were there which we rarely get to hear. It was really exciting and I think the moms loved it more than the kids! I guess it felt like we got something for our money or something! :)

Thursday, May 14, 2009

DATE NIGHT!!

Last night I got a surprise date night! After dinner, Craig was walking around the kitchen acting strange and I could tell he had something up his sleeve. I actually said, "You act like you're about to bust out with some surprise." He walked over to the computer and pulled up the movie listings. He said, "Pick one and then go get ready. My mom will be here at 8:00." YIPPEE!! I cannot tell you how excited I was! We had an hour which was plenty of time to get the girls in the bed before Grandma got here so she wouldn't have to worry about a thing. I was able to nurse Bailey before bed which is what I would rather do, and then I didn't have to worry about them while I was gone because they were snoozing away! We went to On the Border for dessert and then to a 9:20 movie. Granted we did not get home until almost midnight, but it was SOOOO worth it! We just love going to the movies together, but with two little ones, that is a rare occasion. And we had not had a date night in months! Maybe since Bailey's been born. I can't remember. :) Anyway, it was the best surprise ever. I felt like it was Christmas or something! You should've seen the giddy smile pasted across my face the whole night long. I felt like a teenager out on the town with my boyfriend. Isn't my husband the best??

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Rain, Rain, Go Away...


Sunday afternoon, we had about a 30 minute break in all this rain we've been having lately. Seriously, it has rained for like 10 straight days I think! Maybe more! Running errands in the rain with a baby and a 3 year old is not easy, people. Picture this: left hand holding Bailey's carseat with an almost 14 pound Bailey inside! right hand holding Avery's hand and this girl does not get in a hurry...she loves to dawdle. all running to get through the rain and trying not to fall so we don't all get hurt and embarrassed to boot...and guess what! that leaves no hand left for holding the umbrella! Yes, I am very, very, very sick of rain.
Anyway, when we had a small break in the rain Sunday afternoon, Avery suggested we go outside and jump in the puddles. I quickly agreed and we had to go only 5 feet outside our garage to find a nice big one. She jumped so high and hard the first 3 times that her pants got pretty wet and then she decided she didn't want to jump anymore because she didn't like having wet pants! Ha ha. So she found various items in the garage to play in the puddle with and had a blast. Bailey had her first ride in the umbrella stroller. I determined that she is probably too small and not able to hold herself up well enough to ride in this yet. But she had a short ride and of course Avery insisted that she push her all by herself. It was a fun 30 minutes outside until it started raining again and inside we headed. Oh well...it is supposed to be warmer and dry tomorrow, so we will see if the weatherman is right. I'm not holding my breath!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Aquarium

This past Saturday we took the girls to the Aquarium. It's pretty nice and they are continuously adding exhibits and building on to it. We found out we could get a Family Pass for $42.50 for being hometown residents! To go to the aquarium anytime we want for a whole year for that cheap is TOTALLY worth it! We will pay for the pass in less than 2 visits! The pics didn't turn out that great, but here are a few.


Bailey just couldn't make it through the whole thing!

Ballet Recital

Last weekend, Avery's ballet class had their recital. Since she is in the "Baby Ballet" class, they just do their recital in the studio classroom and just do all the dances they typically do each week. This was a relief to me because last time Avery had a "stage performance" she froze! And I'm sure many other girls this age would have tears or not want to get on stage as well...so the classroom recital works for them and it was cheaper for me! My camera was still with Craig on its way back from his overseas trip, so my friend Christy took all these great pictures for me. Thanks, Christy! Chloe and Avery loved doing ballet together this semester and they were so great in their recital! Hope you enjoy the pics!

Joe's Girls

At our house, we are Eskimo Joe fans! I guess it is all the OSU blood running through Craig's family that started it. All of his family, I mean ALL of them, went to OSU and while we are not big sports fans, we do love Joe's clothes! Craig's good friend Wes from college sent the girls these shirts when Bailey was born, and have I mentioned that I just love matching outfits for these two girlies? I DO!

Friday, May 1, 2009

Bushel and a Peck...

Here is a video of what I get to hear all the time--especially at bedtime. This is a song that we have sung in my family as long as I can remember. Now Avery knows it and I had to get it on record. I can't wait until Bailey knows it, too! (Notice how Avery really accentuates the word "bushel"! I love how she sticks out those little lips!)

Woodward Park

Last week when Craig was gone on his yearly Lichtenstein trip for work, my wonderful mom was here helping us out! (We would have gone crazy those two weeks without her!) One of the days we took the girls to the Picture People in the mall to have some pictures done, and while I did like the pictures, I just wasn't satisfied with the few pictures that we bought after all that searching for cute coordinating dresses! Since I had seen the beautiful azaleas in bloom at Woodward Park a couple days before, we decided to take them down there for a photo shoot of our own. And boy what a day! It started out great but ended with a scraped knee and two crying girls. Bailey took a little cat nap on a blanket in the park while we let Avery play for a little while, and it just all went downhill from there! Between me saying "Avery, look at Mommy" a thousand times, changing their outfits, Bailey needing a nap, Avery running and falling and scraping her knee, and much more, it was almost more trouble than it was worth! BUT we did come out with some really cute pictures and some hilarious expressions! Bailey is pretty squinty in most of the pictures...I guess it was just too bright for those baby eyes...but they still turned out pretty cute and we have some memories that will stick around for quite a while!

(for those that don't know, if you click anywhere on the middle of the slideshow, it will take you to the site where I make these and you can view the pictures much bigger!)