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Friday, February 26, 2010

Grace's birth announcement.


I finally got around to making and sending out her announcements! I really enjoyed making our Christmas card....so I decided in December that I would make her announcement, too! I just had to find the time! ;)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Conversations in the Car

This afternoon, after nap, we (me and the girls) loaded up and headed to Kristin's to hang out (she's making chili dogs and frito pie). I was spacing out as I usually do when I drive (is this a bad thing?) and talking to Parker at the same time. You know the drill...she talks...I answer without even thinking.

Only today....after she had repeated herself about 4 times....and I had repeated myself about 4 times....I actually started paying attention to what we were saying. I smiled and laughed and thought that I needed to write this down...to remember it. So here I am.

PARKER: Auuuhhh....I love the school bus!! (as a school bus passed by)
ME: You do love the school bus! What color is the school bus?
PARKER: It's white.
ME: It's white??
PARKER: It's orange!
ME: No, it's yellow.
PARKER: It's orange!
ME: No, it's yellow.
PARKER: It's orange.
ME: (at this point I realize I am arguing, although we aren't raising our voices, with her). Ok- it can be orange (and really....they kind of are orange!)

{time elapses}

(I had told her we could stop at Sonic and get a strawberry limeade before we left the house)

PARKER: (as we are driving by) There's Sonic! I get my strawberry limeade!
ME: We have to go to a different Sonic because this one is too busy (due to construction it is a challenge getting in and out of this particular Sonic).
PARKER: That Sonic's too busy. We have to go to a new Sonic.

{time elapses}

PARKER: This is the new Sonic!! It's not too busy.
ME: That's right...this one's not too busy.

{time elapses}

ME: Parker.....you have to leave the lid on your strawberry limeade. OK? Yes m'am??
PARKER: (very enthusiastically) Yes man!!

{time elapses}

PARKER: Lovey is talking to me.
ME: She is?
PARKER: Ya-es.
ME: What is she saying?
PARKER: She says "Ma ma ma ma."
ME: Oh, how sweet! She loves her momma.
PARKER: I have to hold her so she doesn't fall down.

{time elapses}

PARKER: We have to go to Aunt Sis's new house!

{time elapses}

I am about to get her out of the car.

PARKER: Oh know!!!
ME: What??
PARKER: I got wet! My candy canes are wet!! (she is wearing a candy cane pajama top)
ME: It's ok. It will dry.
PARKER: I have to put on a new shirt.
ME: No...we'll put on a new shirt when we get home. Go knock on Aunt Sis's door.

And off she went.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Baby Calendar

When I was pregnant with Parker...I started a scrapbook that basically catalogued my pregnancy through her first year (although- I stopped at her 10 month page...so I still have some work to do to finish it up). I made a commitment to myself then...that if I were to have anymore kids...that I would do the same.

Well....2 and a half years later....I have that second child...and have yet to start her scrapbook.

On the upside...I have this blog...something that I did not start until Parker was 6 months old. So this has done a decent job of writing down my thoughts and posting pictures. But there are still those things....even smaller things that I don't blog about that I'd still like to remember.

I have word documents saved on my laptop with each of the girls names that I can go to to write certain things down like "words that Parker says incorrectly, but it's so cute I don't want to forget." But even this isn't always accessible when I need it.

I found another idea in a scrapbook magazine (back when I was scrapbooking :) that said to hang up a calendar next to the changing table and jot things down as they happen. I thought this was a great idea...I mean....how many times a day are you standing at the changing table? I did not ever get around to doing this with Parker, but for Grace I wanted to make sure I did get around to doing it because I want to be able to write down/remember some of the little things that I wrote down/remembered for Parker. (well- that was a mouthful!)

Ok.....to my point. Sometimes it takes me a while.

I wasn't looking for a fancy calendar...in fact....I wasn't really looking for one at all. I just wanted a plain white monthly view of the calendar with little squares with the date in them so that I could write things in them. But 2 weeks ago...I visited Borders Books to find a calendar to hang on our refrigerator....and found this!


I could do without some of the decorations on the front....but it was a total accident that I found it...and even better....it was on clearance for $4.00!!!! What a steal!

I like how this calendar is laid out...beginning with a page of her first picture along with her stats and information...



Then....it entitles each new month with Your First Month, Your Second Month, etc. And you're able to add a picture for that month....

Although this is not a scrapbook....this calendar offers a little more than a 'regular' calendar.

So this is what I am doing....

I hung it up right beside her changing table....

Then I am able to write down the little (or big) things that happen....like her "birth-day...", her "2 week well-visit" along with those stats...

Her "one-month birthday"...

And her "first bottle...which was given by her Daddy"

Maybe one day I will get around to scrapbooking for her...but at least this way...I have the information needed regardless.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

All dressed up and nowhere to go....


Geoff got out the Sit-and-Stand stroller that we got from my Mom and Terry because we thought it was a warm enough afternoon to take the girls for a walk. I was so excited because a) we were going to be able to get out of the house, b) we were going to be able to all be together, and c) this is some of the warmest weather we've seen in a while, and d) it was going to be Grace's first time for a 'stroll.'

However....it took us a while to get fed, changed, etc....so by the time we made it outside...I was a bit nervous that maybe it was too chilly for Grace. So instead....we took this picture....then Geoff and Parker got in her wagon and went to the playground by themselves. Grace is napping...so here I am!

There will be plenty of times in the future for this and I am looking forward to it!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Sweet Sisters.

These are just a few pictures I wanted to share.

The other morning....I walked out of the living room briefly (we don't make a habit of leaving Parker alone with her sister) for something (can't remember now what for)....and I found this....

Parker had gotten the 'junk mail' ad book/catalogue and was doing this....


I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I reading to baby G-ace!" So sweet and so proud. :)


_______________________________________________

And Geoff took this picture of them this morning....


Happy Saturday, everybody!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Baby Grace: One Month Old


Wow. It's been one month since Grace joined our family. In some ways it seems like it hasn't been a month...and in others...it seems like this is the way it always was. Kind of.

Anyway...here are some things that are going on in Grace's life right now...
  • She eats about every 3 hours during the day. We try (try being the operative word here) to eat...then play (i.e. keep her awake without crying)....then nap....then start it all over again 3 hours later with the eating. This doesn't always happen, but what we aim for. :)
  • At night she sleeps anywhere from 2-4 hours at a time. It seems that she sometimes ends up having a dirty diaper (a pretty big one at that) during her sleep, it wakes her up....sometimes only an hour after she went back down. Also- she's been getting pretty congested while sleeping...so this has been waking her up, too. Bless her heart....as tired as I am in getting up the extra times...I can tell that she is just as tired. So once we get the snot/boogers out...she will usually (usually being the operative word here) will go right back to sleep.
  • She is starting to smile some....I would like to believe it is purposeful, but not fully convinced of this yet. :) But she looks so cute when she does.
  • She enjoys her pacifier when we are putting her to sleep. And her daddy is the best at getting her to sleep.
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And big sis had to get in on the action when we were taking pictures of Grace in her growth chair. And funny....it seems lately we are having trouble keeping her clothes on. ;)

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Parker's Paintings: Decorating the Nursery


In the middle of January, I had posted some pictures of the nursery after we moved the furniture in. If you look back (or not)....there was nothing hanging above the crib. I wasn't in too big of a hurry to get anything on the walls (as you could probably tell by the fact that we finished the nursery less than 2 weeks before Grace's arrival)....plus, I just wasn't sure what to hang or where to hang it.

But Geoff had a great idea. He thought that we could get 3 canvases and have Parker paint on them however she wanted...then hang them beside each other on one of the walls. I was very impressed of his idea....and loved it....and I thought that they would look good above her crib.

How we did it....

Be bought 3- 12x12 canvases...

And cheap sponge brushes....

And the paint that sort of matches her quilt... (and this is the cheap stuff, too...about $1 a bottle)...

Then we let her go to town! We decided the best way was to only paint one color at a time...let it dry....then go back and paint another color so that the colors wouldn't bleed into, and mix with, each other....


She really liked squeezing the paint out, too....


Then she added the darker pink color....


Then the lighter pink color....


And this burgundy/maroon color. I am so disappointed. It turned out way too red....almost ruined the paintings, in my opinion.

But it was too late. We weren't going to go and buy more. They do look a little more red in these pictures than in person....but nonetheless...more red in real life than what we had wanted.

All of the painting you see above was done before Grace was born. The rest was done after....so we have no pictures of this because...well...we had our hands full!

Once Parker was finished with her painting....Geoff went back and painted the edges of the canvases the plum/eggplant color.

We finally got around to hanging them on Tuesday.


The coloring is really off in this next picture. I was about to try to take another picture of this (while holding Grace, mind you)...when Parker decided it would be a good idea to get Grace's porcelain piggy bank off of the shelf in her closet and it inadvertently landed on her head instead....so....I had to tend to a crying toddler and kiss her head and make it all better. ;)

We like it. And we love the fact that Parker painted them (even though I don't think she realizes that she did them for her little sister. :) )

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Dump Cake: An Easy Toddler Activity

I had originally found this idea as a "toddler activity" from this book...




This book is great....it even has some ideas for 1 year olds. As I have gone through it...I find that I wish I had found out about this book when Parker was younger.

Anyway....

They have a section in the book called "Kids in the Kitchen"....and they had this "Dump Cake" idea in there. I had marked it something I definitely wanted to try with Parker. I had never heard of a "Dump Cake" before.

Then...a few weeks later....Bakerella posted a recipe of a dump cake! As it turned out...I liked the stuff that you 'dump' into the cake that Bakerella posted much better....so that's the one we (they) did.

I think they both had a good time.....and more importantly....it was SO good. Seriously! You almost think that it couldn't be that good....but it is! :)

Dumping in the peaches....

Parker watched as Geoff cut them in half....

She attempted to help shake the cake batter out...but.....


She could not help herself. She would stick her finger deep into the batter mix....place it in her mouth...then she would say, "MMmmmm...that's delicious!" It was cute...but especially funny because she would say it with almost every bite.

She did a great job laying out the butter....


Then helped some with the sprinkling of the brown sugar....but again....was more interested in eating this...




Then the walnuts....

I asked her to show me her messy hands. The adorable face was an added bonus. :)

So at the end...I told them both to look at me and say "Cheese" by their dump cake....

And they were definitely "cheesing" it....almost like they were patronizing me! Haha! :)

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