Saturday, September 22, 2012

Y3W: Heading to Dallas!


This coming Wednesday, the old man and I are heading to Dallas for 4 days WITHOUT the kids! Ahhhh!! I'm super excited but super sad that we're leaving the kids. We had a choice to bring them, but that would have added $1000 to our trip because of airfare. A huge thank you to our family and friends who have rallied together to help take care of the kids in our absence. We know they will be safe and will have loads of fun. I'm sure we I will miss them way more :-)

So why are we going to Dallas? My husband is a HUGE aquarium hobbyist and each year the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America (MACNA) hosts a weekend long conference at a different host state. Last year it was held in Des Moines. We took the kids with us last year and only my husband attended the conference. I just hung around the hotel and took the kids to the museum and the zoo. There is going to be so much to do there so we're heading down 2 days before the conference to get a little sight seeing in!

Friday, September 14, 2012

Y3W: Random Costume Day



This was at 7:30AM this morning... they wanted to play in last years' Halloween costumes. Every now and then Brock will pull his out and wear it. They were hilarious!


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

She's only 2 1/2

My little baby. Sometimes I have to remind myself that she is only 2 1/2. She has been 100% potty trained since just after her 2nd birthday. She speaks so well, its frightening! She can carry a conversation, asks appropriate questions, tells us stories with a lot of "and then's," she loves brushing (and flossing) her teeth, she is a good pretend "mommy" and caters to her baby dolls. She is an animal whisperer. For real. Our cat is her BFF.

At today's well-visit, the doctor and the medical student that examined her first were completely blown away by her cognitive development. The medical student thought she was 4! The doctor has been telling me since her 2 year visit that Lilly was going to be really smart. I remember her telling me back in February, "I can just tell when kids are going to be really smart. You'll see." Fast forward 7 months and our Pediatrician can't stop saying how amazing she is. She told me to make sure I put her in a good school and to make sure she has a good teacher, because if I don't, she is going to get bored quickly. She pointed out how "advanced" she is for her age and to not forget that she still has 3 years at home before Kindergarten... can you imagine the about of learning that is going to take place in that little brain!? Lilly can count to 13 and can recite her ABC's completely unassisted. Its incredible. Truly. An interesting tidbit of information on development from my doctor today; when I told her Lilly was already drawing circles she said, "Wow. That's usually done at 3. 4 year old's can draw a cross, 5 year old's a square, and 6 year old's a triangle."

My little baby.

Earlier this week, she wandered into the kitchen bright and early as I was changing out the garbage. She came in with her pacifier in her hand and said, "Mamma? I'm ready to throw my 'facifier' into the garbage." I didn't question her decision since its something we have been talking to her about lately (that when she was ready to be done with it, she could throw it away; but we weren't going to buy any new ones). She's been pacifier free for a couple of days and every nap time and bed time is getting easier. Yesterday's bedtime was the worst. She was up until abut 8:30pm fussing and stalling until finally I set up an iPod in her room with some lullabies. The hardest part was Monday's bedtime when she said (through tearful eyes and scratch voice), "Mamma? I'm not ready. I need my 'facifier.'" UGH! Heartbreaking to say the least. I reminded her how proud of her I was for being such a big girl and not needing her pacifier. I also had to remind her that she threw it away and we didn't have anymore. I'm not sure I'm ready for her to give up her blankie... even if it is raggedy as all get-up! I'd rather buy her replacements over the years. Ha!

Here are her stats from today's visit:

Length: 37 inches (75 percentile)
Weight 32 pounds (75 percentile)

Monday, September 10, 2012

Let's catch up

So... originally I had intended on creating a separate post for everything that has happened since April, but... I think I'll just do one big post and get ya caught up as quickly as possible.

Easter

What would any holiday be without the collective awesomeness that is Pinterest? Like, seriously? I found this cute tradition for the kids and it was a big hit this year. Unfortunately I cannot find the original pinner now, so I apologize. We had the kids dig little holes in the front garden and bury some jelly beans. We told them that the Easter Bunny sent us these "magic beans" and that they would grow into something really cool in the morning. Take a look at how excited they were:




 
  We took some time to dye Easter eggs after we buried the jelly beans.

Easter morning... Ta-Da!!!!!
 




Lilly's "episodes"
So earlier this year, Lilly started having some weird "episodes." They are hard to describe and we still don't have any answers. As of now, the neurologist says it could be nothing, or it could either be some sort of epilepsy that is presenting itself in a weird way (because she isn't convulsing or anything), or it could be dystonia. She hasn't had an episode since June, but I believe it was a 3-month span between the first one and the one in June. She gets this weird muscle spasm in her left arm that we assume is shooting a painful sensation up to her neck and down to her fingers. The first time it happened, she was asleep and woke up screaming thinking that the dog was biting her. The most recent episodes, she thought a bug was biting her. She's never lost consciousness or anything. We'll keep you posted.

Bathroom renovation - this one deserves its own special post, so stay tuned...


Summer statistics
Lilly is 2 1/2 - as of August 6th
Brock will be 4 in 1 month - OMG!
We celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary

Our beautiful new fish tank (with custom stand built by my old man) - this one also deserves its own special post :-)

My reading list - Check it out up at the top right side under the "about me" section.

My Christmas knitting project
My mom and I are planning on making these cute little gingerbread toys!!

Menu planning
I used to be one of those moms that had to sit and think about dinner at the end of every work day... ugh! Not anymore. I now plan a menu for 2 weeks worth of meals; 10 actual recipes, 2 meals the kids get to pick, and 2 "mystery" meals. Those two meals are for one each week. With them I either use to shuffle meals around as the week progresses (lets face it; sometimes I don't want to cook) or we have a quick, few ingredient meal (fried bologna sandwiches, buttered noodles, spaghetti). I plan to start posting our menu on Sunday's after I go grocery shopping.

OK! There  ya have it. Stay tuned for posts on our bathroom renovation and fish tank!