Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Jumping on Big Balls

We had a busy day Saturday.

It was my turn to sleep in because I got up with Kota around 4am because she wanted a bottle (this is becoming more and more rare, thank goodness!). She wasn’t up too long, but since I got up then, Tony got up with her and Harper that morning. When I came downstairs, this caught my eye:

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Not too sure what was going on, but Harper had every single serving utensil we owned out on that table.

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Zoe got up and got busy looking for a job. She’s finding that it isn’t easy but she keeps at it. I’m really hoping something comes along soon.

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I picked up two hanging baskets of Vining Mandevilla at Lowes. I think they’re just gorgeous…I just hope they’ll live out on my deck.

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When Zoe and Landon were little, Mema used to pull these huge balls out and hold it between her knees while also holding their hands so that they could jump. Lucky for Harper he’s got an older sister willing to do the same thing for him! (Mema would’ve done it, but she was busy making dinner.)

Of course Landon wanted to give it a try. He’s just silly like that.

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Since Koko is too little for the balls, we just took a picture of her sitting in front of the azaleas. They sure are pretty when they bloom! Too bad I couldn’t get Dakota to cooperate.

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Harper asked if we could sit him up in the tree again. Last time we did, he cried the whole time but I guess he was feeling brave this week.

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Once I got a picture of him, I told the other kids to come climb up so that I could get a picture of them all in the tree. Well, that was much easier said than done.

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Zoe couldn’t get up in that tree to save her life. Brandon and Tony both tried to help but every time they touched her she’d scream in terror thinking she was about to fall to her death. It was pretty funny to watch.

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It took Landon a bit of trial and error before he finally got up there, but as you can see, he did finally do it. Tony just jumps up in trees like he was made to do it. They’ll be struggling and he’ll be at the top looking at them all like they’re idiots..

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Zoe was finally able to manage getting herself up this far. Hahaha!

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After what seemed like forever, all three were able to make it up there. You see that Landon got brave after his initial struggle! Zoe’s sitting there looking brave but I know her insides were like jelly she was so scared of falling 2 feet to the ground. Brandon didn’t have shoes on so it was killing him to climb up and down, but he’s a sport.

After all the fun we had in the tree, it was time to eat dinner. Harper finished early and decided to play with Kota a bit:

Project Life (March, final page)

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This is my final project life page for March.

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I’ve had that bunny sitting around here for years and when I came across it I knew I needed to use it on this page. I love how it turned out, and I’m so happy to move on to April, especially now that May upon us!

Monday, April 29, 2013

Happy Monday

As far as Monday’s go, today was a good one.

Harper has been doing great with potty training and we haven’t had any accidents in the past few days. He’s finally come around about telling us when he has to go and we seem to be headed into zero diaper zone with him. The only time I use a pull up with him is when we’re going to be gone a long time and when he sleeps, but I think that’ll even become a thing of the past if he keeps doing what he’s been doing. I couldn’t be prouder of my little guy!

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Yesterday I decided to make Harper an account on ABCmouse.com. I’ve been thinking about it for awhile but went ahead and did it yesterday. So far I’m pretty impressed. I loved that they had a mouse/pointer tutorial for him to get used to using a mouse. He’s so used to the iPad that initially he kept trying to touch the computer screen to move things, but once he figured out the mouse, he was set. I like that he’s learning how to use the computer and learning all kinds of great things on the site. My little guy sure is growing up…

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Dakota had a good day today too. She is officially cruising furniture now, not just pulling up and standing. We went to playgroup today and she was all over the place, it was so much fun to watch her do her thing! It’s strange to think that a month ago she couldn’t get anywhere unless she rolled there! This morning she slowly lowered herself from the toy box to the floor so she could play with a toy. She was concentrating really hard on what she was doing the whole time…and she did it! She’s also doing better with eating. She’s eating more and more table foods and even more willing to feed herself. She’s just doing things in leaps and bounds these days, it’s crazy.

Another bit of good news: Landon came home from school with a 100% on a paper he wrote in class. He was pretty proud of himself! I’m always happy to see a paper with an A on it, so I was proud of him too! Smile

Happy Monday!

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Friday Happenings

Harper is still happily playing in his box home. On Friday morning he and I did a little decorating with crayons.

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Harper was coloring the outside while I was coloring the inside and when he got a little too quiet I poked my head around the box and discovered him coloring the wall behind him. He didn’t get very far with it because I caught him, but I do have some black crayon marks I need to find a way of erasing. Took me three kids to have one write on the wall…

Dakota has been having a rough time going to sleep these days. I’m not sure whats going on, but I sure hope she gets over it soon. It’s taking a lot of time to get her to settle down and go to sleep. When she finally does sleep she wakes up so happy and is now pulling up in her crib to yell and let us know she’s awake. Harper loves going upstairs to get her out of her bed with me. He likes to stand on the side and peek in at her. When she looks up at him he says “Surprise!” and she usually gives him a big smile.

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Friday afternoon, Zoe drove up so she could spend the weekend here with us.

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Landon had a late soccer game Friday night, 8:30pm, so Mema came to the house to sit with the two littles while the rest of us went to his game.

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I knew it was going to be chilly, but had no idea it was going to be downright cold. Luckily we were able to park right next to the field and we ended up watching the second half from the van.

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The van was nice and toasty but our view of the field was somewhat blocked by all the people still sitting out there in the cold. So, since we couldn’t see what was going on, Zoe entertained me with her strangeness, which you can see in the above photo. Smile

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Baby Mugging

Baby mugging is silly.

However, I had to give it a try.

Dakota would NOT cooperate with me long enough to get a shot of her on the floor in the mug, so we had to do it at the table. She looks utterly confused!

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Harper liked seeing the pictures of Dakota in a mug and when I asked him if he wanted to do it, he was ready!

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When I showed him the picture of him in the mug, I asked him how he got in there. He said “I don’t know. Can you put me in again so I can see?” Lol, it just didn’t make any sense to the poor guy! :)

(Originally I called this baby cupping when I posted on instagram! I knew it didn’t sound right, but I was in a hurry! haha!)

Growth

*Warning. This post is a giant rambling mess where I’m just writing so as not to forget some of life’s details. Read at your own risk.

You know how it is when you live with someone every day and you just don’t notice all the subtle changes in them? I know that happens to me with the kids and one day they’ll do something new and then a few days later it isn’t new anymore…it’s just something they do, a part who they are.

These aren’t huge milestone things, obviously, just little things like a silly saying or phrase or even just a funny look a baby will give you because they just realized they could. It’s awesome to watch a baby complete a “first”.

Dakota’s crawling, shaking anything and everything she gets her hands on, banging things together, playing peek-a-boo and even playing with the dog’s rope toy (with the dog!). She pulls up to any surface she can get her hands on and has already tried to turn and walk away from whatever she’s holding in an attempt to walk. It’s mind blowing how much she’s changed over just the last month.

She likes to sit and “cook” whenever I’m in the kitchen. She slides the pans and lids across the floor and taste tests everything. Harper enjoys playing with the pots and pans too, but his way of playing is more realistic as he likes to put some of his plastic food in the pots to stir.

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It’s nice when I can engage both of them with a simple activity like this. They aren’t really all that different when it comes to play. They like the same things, they just do them differently. He’s into pretend play and make believe, she’s still learning how everything feels, smells, sounds and tastes. Mostly tastes. :)

More and more often I can pull out a toy that both kids will enjoy. A few days ago it was the car mat, cars and ramps. It was out for two days and we played with it for hours and hours.

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Harper is still working on potty training. He does pretty good, but only if I tell him it’s time to go. He refuses to tell me when he needs to go and if I don’t just make him go, he goes in his pants. We only do pull-ups at night and if we’re going to be out for a long stretch, other than that, it’s underwear all the time.

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Harper has developed a massive vocabulary. He just talks and talks and talks. Not annoyingly, but he’s just a talker with a gigantic vocabulary. He says things that surprise me. For instance, tonight while we were playing, I got up and closed the blinds. He said “Thanks for doing that the sun was in my eyes” then he leaned back on some pillows and said “this is much more comfortable”. What two year old says that? Harper, that’s who. And, as you can see, he’s got decent manners…unless you piss him off. Then he’s a big ball of 2 year old fury and you just better look out. He’ll be happily playing one minute and the next a stark raving mad lunatic. Don’t believe me? Try him.

The Box

When we had our table delivered a couple days ago, it came in two gigantic boxes. The one that had the chairs in it was the perfect size to make a little house out of, so I hung on to it thinking Harper would enjoy it.

It’s chilly again today, so today was the perfect opportunity to pull out the box for playtime.

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As happy as he was to just climb in and sit with his animals and pillows, I finally convinced him to let me cut a few windows so he’d be able to see once the “door” was closed.

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I can’t decide if he looks like an inmate or zoo animal. Cute either way, that’s for sure!

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Once Dakota woke up from her nap she just had to get in on the action. She wouldn’t go inside, but she liked to watch her brother through the windows!

Oh, and here’s a look at the new table. It’s in the gazebo on the deck and I just love it. We had dinner out there last night and I know we’ll be spending lots of time out there from now on.

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Project Life (March pages)

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Kota vs. Ginger

Now that little Kota is able to get around on her own, she’s into everything, just as I knew she would be. One of her favorite things is to grab the dog’s rope when she sees it. It’s been a chore keeping it out of her mouth, but after lots of “no-no’s” she doesn’t try that so much anymore.

Yesterday she had Ginger’s toy and was waving it around and I guess Ginger thought it was playtime…they’ve played many times since then.

As we watched her play with the dog, Tony and I were both reminded of when Landon was about her age and would do the very same thing. He just loved playing with Gingers rope! I love how gentle Ginger is with her too, she never snips at her and is always careful to only grab the rope; she really is a great little dog.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Flower Shopping

After Harper got home from his hour at Rolly Pollies, the kids, Mema and I headed out to Papa John’s farm to look at all the flowers.

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It’s hard to go there and not want to spend a ton of money.There are nine greenhouses just teeming with gorgeous flowers and it kills me to walk up and down those aisles knowing I’m only going to be buying a few of this or that. I want it all…or at least a few of each. :)

Harper grew bored with the whole flower thing pretty quickly. However, he was happy to run up and down the sidewalk and ignore me as I called him over to help me choose flowers.

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Shortly after taking this picture he fell and scraped his knee. He hobbled over for a kiss and then was happy to sit in the cart until it was time to go.

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It was pretty warm out so we didn’t stay long and we didn’t get much, but as soon as Tony got home from work, I took the opportunity to run back out there! I ended up getting a flat of pansies, 4 begonias, 4 dahlias, 8 portulaca and a flat of purslane.

Now I just gotta keep my fingers crossed that we don’t get another frost!

Monday, April 15, 2013

You Are More Beautiful Than You Think

A facebook friend posted this today and I thought it was quite interesting. Give it a watch, I think you’ll like it.

A Story About a Turd

What a day.

Despite being quite sick yesterday, Dakota slept well throughout the night. She woke up at 4am for a bottle and I wasn’t surprised because she went to sleep on an empty belly. Luckily she kept that 6 ounces down and went back to sleep until 7am. She’s now had 4 doses of her medicine and things are looking like they’re back to normal. She’s been happier today, she’s eating food again and she didn’t vomit. I’m calling the day a success.

Harper did very well with the potty training bit today too. We did have a minor mishap, and of course, I’ve got to tell this story…

Around 9am Harper was doing a little dancing around the living room so I told him it was time to go potty. I was holding Dakota and he was playing keep away from mom, so I had to chase him down in order to get him to the bathroom. I held his hand and carried Dakota to the bathroom, sat her down on the hallway floor behind me and then got Harper situated on the toilet. He immediately pooped and I was so excited that my attention was on him for a second or two longer than it should have been.

When I turned to check on Dakota, I noticed her hand moving towards something. I didn’t know what it was but it looked like a small rock. I hadn’t seen it there just a moment before when I sat her down, so I leaned in for closer inspection only to realize that it was a turd.

Yes, a turd.

I automatically assumed that the dog had done it and cursed her under my breath as I wrestled Dakota away from the offending poop and grabbed some toilet paper to clean it up. I wasn’t sure if she touched it or not, but the second I saw her reach to put her hand in her mouth, I freaked out and washed her hands, which she did not enjoy at all. When I was done washing her hands and my own, I searched for more dog poop, and when I didn’t find anything, it hit me. The poop had been Harpers. But how did that happen when I’d just heard him poop on the pot?

Well, when he was playing keep away from momma, he was actually trying to finish what he’d started, which was poop. I’d unwittingly caught him in the act and unknowingly plopped him on the seat without a second glance at the inside of his drawers.  When I did look in his underwear, there was just the faintest trace of a poop and I knew then that the turd had rolled out of his underwear as I’d undressed him and put him up on the toilet.

I was so proud that he did poop on the potty though, and made sure to reward him big for his efforts. We’ve been using smarties and m&m’s as rewards (1 piece each time he pees on the pot and originally I told him he could have two pieces if he pooped) and I was so happy about it I told him to tell me how many pieces of candy he wanted. He told me three, and guess what?

I let him have 4 whole m&m’s for that poop!

Am I generous or what!? Winking smile

And there you have it.

A story about a turd.

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Today + Reflux Nightmare

  • Today Tony worked on the tree in the front yard. He’s decided to try to keep it for the time being. He chopped off another large branch and dug up all the grass and weeds around it and added top soil and mulch. It looks pretty nice out there.

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  • Landon helped with the yard work by carrying the bags of mulch and top soil over to the tree. He tried to help with the digging, but it was tough work.

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  • The babies were happy to be outside a bit and with everyone out of the house, I did some much needed picking up and vacuuming.

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  • This little girl came in to help me make lunch and really enjoyed the pots and pans.

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  • I put one of my big plants on the deck today to get some sun, and Tony gave Dakota a ride across the kitchen floor on the rolling cart it normally sits on.

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*Just want to mention here something I learned today. And, a warning to anyone who may read this, it’s gross.

Dakota is, under no circumstances, over her reflux. We’ve had it under control for a while now by giving her three doses of meds daily. When we spoke to her doctor about it on Friday he said we could quit the meds and see what happened. When she was irritable yesterday I just chalked it up to a long day. When she didn’t sleep well last night, I thought maybe it was just a rough night. When she was moody and irritable and not eating all day today, I thought “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!?!?!”  and then, at 6pm, it dawned on me that she hadn’t been taking the medicine. So, I immediately gave her a dose and we went upstairs to do our nightly routine.

Once we were all settled, I gave her a bottle as I usually do…and it all came back up. It was awful! So, we re-bathed (it was THAT bad) got dressed and fixed up another bottle. Back when this was going on all the time, she’d vomit then eat a bottle and be fine. This time, that didn’t happen. She drank the bottle but everything came back up, again, only worse. This is probably tmi, but I saw food come up that she didn’t even eat today. Stuff from dinner yesterday, for instance. After this second explosion, we both showered, and then she was exhausted. She just fell right to sleep on me within seconds of me sitting to rock her.

I feel awful about this whole thing. I know the doctor told us we could just quit and see what happened, but I wasn’t completely paying attention to the warning signs that she was giving me. She was irritable, not able to eat comfortably and just generally unhappy. I’ve got to keep this in mind for the next time we try to take her off of the medication…not that we’ll being doing that for a LONG time!

April Fools Pranks

The two little kids made me laugh yesterday morning.  I was upstairs getting things ready for school when I heard them talking about how ...