Dr. Seuss

 

Last weekend, Abilene held the first Children's Arts and Literacy Festival (CALF). This year's theme was Dr. Seuss and we were excited to be part of it. Bogie's was open for the kickoff during Artwalk on Thursday night and opened on Saturday as well. Emily, Anna, Pearlie & I attended readings of Dr. Seuss books and various other activities during the weekend. We got to hear The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Horton Hears a Who, Yertle the Turtle and The Sneetches (Papa joined us for that one). It was really a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to next year when the theme is "I Spy, Walter Wick."

The Cat in the Hat

Emily on stage at The Grace

 

Emily & Pearlie listening to Horton Hears a Who

With Horton Hears a Who statue

 

Emily & Pearlie

Mommy & Emily

Emily & Yertle the Turtle

Swimming!

Yesterday was Emily's first day of swim lessons. As any good mom would, I stayed and took pictures! She did great and loved Teacher Sherri. I didn't get to take her today because I was working and I really missed it! But, I'll get to take her again every (week)day for the next two weeks.

Emily loves her new goggles and wore them for breakfast last Friday

Listening to Teacher Sherri tell the rules

Swimming with Teacher Sherri

Splashing on the side of the pool

Jumping to Teacher Sherri

After naps yesterday, Emily wanted to swim again, so I set up her swimming pool at home and the girls played for a little bit in there. Anna wasn't too sure about it and kept wanting to get in and out of the pool. (Emily would tell you that's the first rule Teacher Sherri told them...don't get in and out of the pool!) Weird, because she LOVES baths! I guess I need to make sure to get toys in there before they're in the water next time.

BookSneeze

Hey guys, I have a favor to ask. I'd really like to be a BookSneeze blogger, but I have to have 30 followers. Right now, I have 22. If you read my blog but aren't a follower, would you mind doing that? Toward the bottom of the page, there is a button that says "Join this site". Once I get 30 followers, I can get free books to review. Thanks for your help!

*Update...I'm up to 27. Just need 3 more of you to subscribe!*

Firsts and lasts

We finally got Emily's hair cut last Friday and, while I like the ease of the new cut, I miss the curls my baby had! I don't know if they'll come back so that's a little heartbreaking. I do not, however, miss the screams and fighting we had while combing her hair every night, while she was overly tired anyway. That much, at least, has been better. So, now, the pictures.

Before

After

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Monday night was Emily's end of year program at preschool. Hard to believe that it's already been a year! She did great and sang with her class like any proud mama would want her to! She's second from the left on the front row (actually doing the motions!).

First day

 

 Last day

What a difference 8 months makes!

Food blog

Since I talked about food so much here, I thought I'd follow up with a couple more food-related items. Some time ago, I found Muffin Tin Mom and loved the concept. I haven't do it too many times, but Emily does enjoy it when I do. We'd had a rough morning yesterday, so I decided it was time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style. Here's the lunch I came up with.

2 shamrock PB&J sandwiches, shamrock Velveeta, shamrock strawberries, hot dog and green milk to drink

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I've been pinning like crazy. Ok, maybe not as much as some of my friends, but I do pin things that look like fun for Emily (and me!). In the past couple weeks, we've tried a couple of my food ideas.

Last week, we made fruit snacks to take on our trip to Aunt Jenni's. I followed the recipe here. They were good and not too messy and tasted just like Jell-o. (But, they do melt in the warm car!) But, I think I want to try these too.

Today, we tried fruit leather from this recipe. Emily didn't like them and I thought they were only okay. Don't know if I'll try another recipe or not. But, this recipe of dried strawberries looks like something to try.

Mish-mash of thoughts (and some pictures :-) )

To the seven of you who still check this blog for updates (LBE, you know!), I frequently have blog posts written in my head, but by the time I leave the bathroom in the morning, they're gone. :-) All that to say, when I started this blog four years ago, I had no idea I would ever have over 22,000 visits. I started it to keep my family updated on my pregnancy with Emily. So, thank you for visiting!

I've heard that, in your busyness, you will make time for the things you really want to do. Cleaning is not one of them for me. It is definitely a chore. This blog has become a chore to me...one more thing I have to do. And, for now, I'm doing it once a month, on Anna's birthday, because that's what I did for Emily. And I'm all about being equal. (Starting to learn that fairness and equality are not the same thing.) But, it's where I am right now. I don't often just get a chance to sit and enjoy quiet time on the computer. Usually, it's a mad rush to get the finances taken care of or get an email or two sent or a giveaway entered. All that to say, I'm still here and I'll still post at least once a month until December, but I probably won't do much more than that. It's hard to put yourself out there when there's very little interaction on the part of the reader.

What usually goes through my mind is questions. So, I'm putting them out here today. Answer them or don't. At least I've asked. And there's about as good a shot of them being answered here as on Facebook where I usually post them.

How do you know when to cut your daughter's hair for the first time?
How do you really get kids to eat veggies & fruits, not just crackers and goldfish for snacks?
Will feeding my kids always be a struggle?
Will I ever feel like I know what I'm doing? (Ok, I know the answer to this one!)
How do you break into a group of people and start real friendships?
Does anyone have suggestions for good, portable, non-carbohydrate snacks that 15 month olds and 3.5 year olds will eat? (read: no crackers)
(Can you tell food is a big issue right now? For the past month, Anna would eat only crackers or goldfish or bread or some spoon-fed things. The doctor said it's time to start playing chicken...literally. Force her to eat fruits & veggies, meats, cheese before giving her breads. A snack and 2 meals have been awful so far!)

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In other news, the weather has been awesome lately (at least some!) so we've been going to the playground. This week has been especially nice because we can use the one at the elementary school just a few minutes away. One of the perks of spring break! Here are a few shots from the playground (from a couple weeks ago and this morning.

 At Fort Imagination a couple weeks ago...now a favorite picture!

 At home, jumping from stepping stone to stepping stone

My little hams this morning at the playground

Valentine's Day, Zoo Class & 14 months

On Tuesday, we went to Granddaddy's house for Emily to give him his Valentine. Through 10-15 takes, this was the best picture. Such cuties!

The Abilene Zoo has preschool class once a month where they learn about various things about animals. This month, they learned about big animals and made rhino horns. So cute!

Emily is so intense when playing using someone's phone. Here, I think she was playing a game on Pearlie's phone. I love her concentration.

My baby girl is 14 months old today. She now has 8 teeth (as of Friday) and eats fairly well. She has meat days and cracker days. Some days all she'll eat is meat (plus her muffin for breakfast) and other days all she will eat is crackers. I guess I still need to work on veggies, though. She won't touch those. She's about 19 pounds and 29". A growing girl!

Italy

Many of you know we went to Italy on our honeymoon. We loved our week there and would love to go back.

However, that was a bit out of my price range when I started planning a date. So I settled on this idea I found at The Dating Divas.

After we dropped the girls off at my parents' house, Phillip and I went back home to make calzones. We've made them before, but I think they were the best we've ever made. Maybe because we used more meats than we've ever done. They were so yummy and filled our plates and tummies!

While those were baking, we finished mixing up the strawberry gelato and got the ice cream freezer going.

After supper, we retreated to the living room for our Italian "foreign film." We watched "The Italian Job." There's a long-standing joke that I can't stay awake to watch that movie. Ok, so it's not really a joke. I think we've watched it five or six times and I've seen all of it one or two times! But I made it through this time because we took a break to get gelato in the middle. Pure deliciousness!

If you need some date night inspiration, I highly recommend The Dating Divas!

13 months

13 months. Is that really right? This last month has flown by!

At 13 months, Anna weighs 18.4 pounds (a gain of 2.4 pounds in 1 month!). She has started eating table food most of the time, but we still have to feed her messy things like applesauce & yogurt. Yep, you read that right, we started her on yogurt this week and haven't seen any major issues with the milk! Yea!!! I guess her little tummy just wasn't ready for milk a year ago but is okay with it now. She will eat many meats and most fruits. I'm still working on getting veggies back into her diet since I stopped spoon feeding them to her.

She's running all over the place and loves to be chased. She also loves peek-a-boo and her bunny blanket that she sleeps with.

She sleeps about 12 hours at night and takes 1-2 naps during the day for a total of 2-4 hours.

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Emily (3 1/2) runs all over the place and never stops talking. She's really enjoying preschool and making friends. She loves watching Little Einsteins, but will still watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Word World when we force her to (it doesn't take much convincing, usually!). She weighs about 30 pounds and seems like she hardly eats anything. She tries my patience, but makes us laugh quite often too!

51 weeks

 
Is that right? 51 weeks? Anna still seems so much like a baby. But, she's walking now! (Need to get some better shoes for her...her feet are smaller than Emily's were when she started walking!)

Speaking of walking, she got her first walking injury today. At church, she fell and cut her eye. But, she was a trooper. I'm not sure she even cried! It doesn't look too bad now. Just a little red and a little swollen. Hopefully, since we got ice on it pretty quick, that's all it will be! (Of course, this happened just days before all her 1 year pictures! Oh, well!)

She's starting to eat table foods, but we still spoon feed her cereal and other veggies & fruits (with meat mixed in!). I guess it's time to start feeding her breakfast! Until now, she's just had cheerios, if she's even awake for breakfast since she's still nursing. But, I'll try to find something (maybe baked oatmeal?) that she can feed herself. (Nutrigrain bars were great for Emily, but they have milk in them. I have found some recipes online to try, though.)

And, I wanted to include Emily in this post, too! She's such a good big sister. She really looks out for Anna and lets me know when Anna's getting into something she shouldn't. Such a helper!
 

50 weeks and other stuff

Anna continues to take more and more steps. I think she'll be walking by her birthday. She's had a few stomach issues lately leading me to think she has an issue with large quantities of grapes. No big surprise...Emily did too.

Friday night, Highland had a Mother & Daughter Mad Hatter Tea Party. Emily and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had tea party food (she loved the cupcake that said "Eat Me"), made hats, painted tea cups and Emily painted our fingernails (mine & hers!). Then we got to watch a little of Alice in Wonderland, but I think she wasn't quite ready for that yet. Maybe next year.

Saturday morning, we went to Breakfast with Santa at Westgate Church of Christ where Robert & Lauren go. As you can see, I got a picture of the girls with Santa. :-) Typical! But, I also got 2 great pictures of the girls and Emily made frames for them to go in on the tree.

Mom and I spent a couple hours yesterday getting food and the house ready for our annual Christmas party. It's nice to be able to share that responsibility!

Tonight we're off to a Christmas program at the Paramount. I can't wait to see what Brandon has put together!

11 months

Can it really have been 11 months? I mean, it feels like Anna's been with us forever, but she's still my baby (I know, she always will be!). She'll be walking soon and she's starting to wear some clothes that make her look big, not like a baby. :-( (Yes, I know I'm the one dressing her...but these are the clothes I have!)

Some fun pictures...(notice Anna's mohawk in the one on the left!)






Yesterday, Emily and I had some one on one time and it was great. The Abilene Zoo has a preschool class once a month for 3 and 4 year olds. Emily and I learned about bears yesterday and got to see the bears at the zoo after learning what they eat and how they get their food. Such fun. I look forward to more of these classes with her.

46 weeks

This week has been big for us.

Anna has taken several unassisted steps and will walk anywhere you'll guide her on your fingers. She's so close to walking by herself. Possibly by Thanksgiving!

Emily is now diaper-free! She'd been dry overnight for a couple weeks so we decided it was time to try panties at night. After one wet morning, she's been dry ever since. We do, however, take her to potty just before we go to bed, just to make sure! She's even woken me up in the middle of the night to take her to potty. So exciting!!

45 weeks, Halloween

I'll start with today's picture, then back up a bit to tell you a little about what we've been up to. At 45 weeks, Anna is very close to walking. Yikes! She took a step or two today (unassisted), but you might argue that she was falling forward and caught herself with her foot. (Wait, isn't that what walking really is?) Anyway, it won't be long. She still only has 2 teeth, but uses those to gnaw Cheerios, bananas and (cooked) carrots.

Last Thursday was the Costume Parade at Emily's preschool. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was kind of like a Trunk or Treat in the atrium of the church. What fun! Emily's class was one of the last ones to go so we had to wait a while to see our little frog. As you can see from the pictures, she was a bit stoic. She hardly looked at us and never smiled!

at home before school

Anna was the pre-show!

I think she was just overwhelmed with it all!

Saturday, we headed to the ACU football game. The girls dressed in their matching purple shirts (probably for the only time, since Anna's is a 6 month and she wears 9 months!). They enjoyed hanging out with Grandpa & Pearlie.

Then, Saturday night we headed out to a Trunk or Treat. This one had games (Emily wanted nothing to do with them) and trunks (much more her style!), a candy apple tree where you could make a caramel apple and decorate it with sprinkles (see picture), stew & cornbread and a photo setup where they took our picture and should be emailing it to us. The picture was really cute and I'll post it when I get it.

Tonight was the Trunk or Treat at Highland. Unfortunately, my camera stayed home. My dad got a couple pictures and I got a couple videos, but they're really not all that exciting. Emily was much braver this year and actually walked up to the cars to get candy! One more night of trick or treating tomorrow night (at Granddaddy's place) then we'll settle in and enjoy the candy for the next few months!