The Mitschke 5

Chaos

2012-02-08T16:17:00.001-06:00

Just a little video of what our afternoons look like these days.Ahh to have the energy of a 4 year old! And Lauren and Claire show off their walking skills.

Randomness

2012-02-08T13:09:00.001-06:00

Kevin loves to make silly faces!

So cute Claire!

Sleepy Lauren

Spelling with Cheetos

What do you mean I have to take the pacifier out before I can eat my sandwich?

Super bowl baby!

2012-02-08T13:03:00.000-06:00

Even the excitement of the football game couldn't keep our little sleepy head awake. This was Kevin the first quarter.

Family growth chart

2012-02-08T12:58:00.000-06:00

Last year I had heard all about this website called Pinterest. It sounded really neat, it's a virtual pin board that you can keep your thoughts and ideas organized on. But since I was working on the Christmas stockings I knew it wasn't a good time to join, especially since I had been warned it was addicting. So in January I had to see what the buzz was all about. The first thing I saw, I fell in love with. It's this large ruler growth chart. It's perfect to mark the kids heights, and it will move with us, no matter where we go! Love it!

Steve was awesome with his help. He went to the hardware store and found me "my wood", stain, and a sealant for it. He even got me the sand paper I would need and gave me a quick tutorial on sanding. The following weekend during the girls nap time, Kevin and I began working on it. The stain was super easy, it only took one coat because of how dark it was. A couple of days later after the kids went to bed, I marked my lines and the numbers. Then I sealed it a few days later. This weekend Steve hung it for me. Kevin was so excited to see how tall he is. To start it off we measured all three kids, and Kevin said we had to meausure ourselves too. After all it is for the family! :-) The best part though was looking at my height, I actually hit the 5 foot 2 inch mark! And Steve even checked my marks to make sure I was accurate. :-) Guess you can still grow in your 30's.

Look who's helmet free!

2012-02-01T12:50:00.000-06:00

January 31st Lauren officially graduated from her helmet therapy program. And we learned that her hair is pretty long in the front! She is now sleeping wonderfully and is loving being helmet free. She is also confusing Kevin because he is having a hard time telling the girls apart. :-)

Size comparison

2012-01-24T15:35:00.001-06:00

It has been a given that Kevin is a bigger kid than the girls. Afterall he is a boy, he was full term (plus 12 days) and while technically the girls were considered full term (35 weeks) to me they were early. And they had to share my tummy so they didn't get as much space or nutrients.

So of course their sizes would be different.

But I've been curious to compare their sizes to one another, I was shocked.

At 6 months old Kevin out weighed the girls 1 year old weights. He had over 2 lbs on Claire and 1 lb on Lauren. At 6 months! He was actually large enough for us to turn his carseat around, but wasn't at the year mark, so it wasn't safe/or legal to do so.

The girls are at the year mark, but not at 20lbs so we can't turn them around. Although when they are big enough I may not turn them around.

Their heights are a little closer. At 9 months he was taller than they are now. He was an inch taller than Claire and half an inch on Lauren.

It's interesting to see the differences.

Milestone wise, Kevin was running at this age, and I am so grateful the girls aren't there yet! Lauren is a pro walker, and Claire is a pro crawler. Although Claire is getting brave and trying to walk.

The girls have 2 more teeth than Kevin did at this age. They each have 6, Kevin had 4.

Kevin's eyes were an interesting hazel, they turned brown when he was 18 months old. The girls eyes turned brown at 10 months.

Kevin's hair was a little longer than the girls, and a shade lighter.

Personality wise all three have a great demeanor. Kevin was wilder and more of a daredevil. Lauren is pretty outgoing and pretty vocal especially when she is unhappy. Claire is pretty laid back. She likes to "sing" and make music/noise.

All in all I am one very blessed mommy!

1 year check-up

2012-01-19T20:10:00.000-06:00

The girls had their 1 year check up this morning and they did great! We tried out a new Dr and he is awesome! I think it will be a good fit!

Lauren weighs 19lbs 10 oz (40%) , and Claire is 18lbs 5oz (25%). Lauren feels alot heavier than Claire so I was surprised to learn it is close to the 1 1/2 lbs it has been for a long time. I was really thinking it might be closer to 2-3 lbs between the two.

Lauren is 28 inches long and Claire is right behind her at 27.5 inches. It amazes me how much half an inch means in percentages. Claire is measuring about 1-5% on the height charts and Lauren is about 15-20%. such a big difference for half an inch!

The girls also got their one year shots, which Kevin wasn't happy about either. Thankfully the staff was awesome and let him enjoy a cookie by the check out desk so he wasn't in the room when they got their shots. And I was happy that after their shots, they took their pacifiers and calmed down pretty quickly.

Lauren, and the rest of us, are happy that we have her last plagiocephaly helmet appointment scheduled. On January 31st she will be able to say bye bye to her helmet. :-) This will make her really happy because she is DONE. For the last two weeks she has made it clear that she is finished with the helmet and wants it to disappear, for good!

The Circus!

2012-01-18T22:22:00.000-06:00

Kevin and I went to the circus this weekend and had a blast. I don't ever remember going to the circus as a kid. So I think I may have had more fun than he did.

Lora has been taking her kids since they were itty bitty, and her Dad has been active with the Shrine for as long as I can remember and her mom is an official Circus clown. So we thought it would be fun to go the same time as them, and maybe we would see them even though our seats were on the opposite side of the arena.

Sure enough as we pulled into the parking lot I realized they were two cars ahead of us. Kevin was so excited to see them and he was really surprised to see Gram Jam dressed like a clown.

Lora is really smart and dressed her kids in bright colors, so she could easily keep an eye on them (and allowed us to find her across the arena!) and funnily enough, Gram Jam (aka Handi Clown) wore the same color. It was great seeing her and her matching grandkids.

Handi Clown more commonly known as Gram Jam!

Before the circus I talked to Kevin about what he wanted to do. His big request was to ride an elephant. Lately if you ask him what is favorite animal is, it's an elephant, because they have cool trunks! So I got him a ticket and explained to him parents weren't allowed (because I hadn't seen any with the kids) but as we got up to the front Kevin got scared, I did too, those things are BIG! And even though there wasn't a line behind us, the guy working told me to get on. I explained I hadn't bought myself a ticket and he told me it didn't matter, but that I needed to get on. So I did and they plopped Kevin in front of me. I tried my best to get photos of us, but you can only do so much when you are sitting on a huge moving animal. :-) And for the record "It was AWESOME!" and I must agree with Kevin on that one.

From there we went in search of cotton candy and Kevin wanted to get his face painted. They had about 20 designs you could choose from. Kevin decided he wanted a rainbow. A blue rainbow that is. As she was finishing the rainbow she told him she would start on the cloud. Kevin heard "Clown" and began to freak out, he didn't want a clown on his face! I explained cloud, not clown, but he really wasn't too sure about either. So a simple rainbow is what we left with.

I was very surprised that Kevin was very excited to see all the clowns. We bought a program and as you walk around the clowns will sign your program. Kevin had the lofty goal of getting every single clown to sign. I think he got about 20 of them to sign.

Kevin really wanted to see the elephants. He loved watching Bo the elephant perform.

Of course he had to have a Bo to keep him company during the show.

This is the guy who freaked me out the most. He would run around the hamster wheel as it spun. Obviously easier said than done, but he had to keep pushing the envelope. As performers do, but he almost pushed himself completely off the wheel! He was "trying" to jump rope and his foot caught the rope. I understand some of the stuff was to add excitement to the show. But you could tell there was no acting in his face has he tripped up and landed belly first on the wheel holding on for dear life. He did the same thing during the part he was blindfolded, which I do think was part of his act, but seriously I was scared of something happening and having to explain what happened to Kevin.

At first I thought this act was cool, but then I realized these ladies are hanging by their HAIR! OUCH!!!!!

These were the elephants we rode on. :-)

Kevin got really excited about this part of the show. The guys ride in on motorcycles and do tricks while in the air. One guy was in green and the other was in blue. Kevin thought it was a competition and kept asking who won. The guy in blue messed up one of his landings and ended up sliding/crashing into the wall. So he didn't do any more tricks after that, but the guy in green did. So Kevin deemed the green guy the winner.

And the whole show Kevin kept asking for the human cannonball. This guy holds 3 Guinness World Records and it was really neat to see him go flying through the air. I can see why they save him as the last act. It was pretty cool!

1st year photos

2012-01-14T20:40:00.001-06:00

I really wanted to get the girls 1st birthday photos, and from Christmas I hadn't gotten a really good one of all the kids, so while Steve was at work we headed out to get our photos taken.

Usually getting Kevin to take photos can be compared to pulling teeth. He doesn't want to do it, and if he actually does then it has to be with a silly face. Thankfully Brooke was able to gett some real smiles out of him.With thanks to constant chatter about stinky feet. What boy doesn't giggle at stinky feet?

All three kids looking cute!

My little helper!

I promised him I'd post one of his silly faces. This one was his favorite.

Claire!

Lauren's our one shot wonder, we got this on the very first shot!

These are the shirts the girls wore for their birthday, I am so happy all the cake came out of them! Claire looking cute!

Claire.

The girls together.

Lauren!

Love the drooly smiles.

Lauren

I love how Claire liked to sit in the chair.

This is the very last photo we took. It's Claire's "she touched me" cry. While Lauren just smiles on. I love my girls!

Happy Birthday Lauren and Claire!

2012-01-12T21:32:00.001-06:00

Hanging with Uncle Bert

A new doll!

Hanging with Aunt June and Mama

Girls checking out all their awesome loot! Thank you everyone!

Happy Birthday Lauren and Claire!

2012-01-12T21:09:00.000-06:00

I can't believe how quickly the past year has gone by, and how quickly our girls have grown! It has been such a wonderful year! The girls birthday fell on a Saturday so we were happy to celebrate on their actual birthday. And since they were turning one, we had it at one. :-)

We are so happy everyone was able to celebrate with us!

We had some light nibbles for everyone and then we had a cupcake bar set up. Many thanks to my dear friend Kim, who made all of the cupcakes, even the girls cupcakes for us.

And so many thanks to Lora, Heather, Della and Kristi who took charge of the cupcake bar for the bigger kids and allowed us to watch the girls enjoy their cakes.

Claire Cutie!

Getting set up for cake!

Lauren's not so sure about this eating in front of everyone thing.

The cherries were certainly a hit!

Happy Birthday Lauren!

Happy Birthday Claire!

Dig In!

Just what the heck am I supposed to do with this thing?!

Lauren's not so sure about all this...

And now she is mad...

Claire realizes there is chocolate- her favorite!

Just before this photo was taken Lauren got mad at the cake and started clawing at it, and then began rubbing her eyes.

Lauren just before her bath!

Claire realizes she's got a good thing going.

Cutest kids EVER!

2012-01-11T22:10:00.001-06:00

We took the girls 1 year photos today, they turned out wonderfully! I hope to post more of them this week, but here's one for you to check out for now. :-)

My heart just broke

2012-01-03T11:17:00.002-06:00

As we were leaving Laurens plagiocephaly appointment we saw a boy, probably 13 years old, sitting on the sidewalk throwing up.

Kevin asked why he was sick and why was he bald.

You could tell the young man felt horrible, he was so thin and frail looking. And embarrassed by Kevin's questions to me.

I pray for that young man and for me to properly explain how ugly and mean cancer can be.

My excuse!

2012-01-01T22:32:00.000-06:00

Last year I thought it would be really neat to make our family's stockings. So I found these really cute felt kits and ordered one for Steve, Kevin and myself. I figured I would do them throughout the year and then after the girls were born I'd find some for them and make them. But shortly after starting Steves (I thought his was the easiest -wrong!) I realized just how time consuming it was. So I called the company to find out if they had any hints for me, after all they couldn't take that long to make right?! Well I was shocked when the lady told me they take about 60-80 hours to complete! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So I set Steve's aside and began thinking of other options.

But after much research I realized I really wanted to do these. So in September I picked Steves back up and began working on it in earnest. Every night since then I have put the kids to bed for the night and immeditly picked up a stocking and began working on it. Through out the process I took photos of it to keep myself motivated. The idea was to do Steve's in September, Lauren's in October, Claire's in November, and Kevin and mine could wait until next year.

But Kevin kept seeing the stockings and asking where his was, so I decided I'd try my hardest to get his done in the month of December and get it hanging by the time Santa came.

Steve's:

Steve's all completed!

I wanted to add a personal touch to everyone's stocking, so I tried to make a little longhorn for Santas little stocking, it isn't great, but I'm pretty proud of it, especially since it was my first stocking.

Laurens:

To personalize Lauren's I traded out the bows and made them pink for a little girl affect. And the stocking was picked because dogs gravitate to Lauren (to her delight!) and it coordinated really well with Claires.

Claires:

Claire's all finished! I also made a pink bow for her bear to give it a girly feel, and it was chosen because we have a tendancy to call her Claire Bear.

All three hanging together.

Kevin's:

Now Kevin's was the hardest one to complete. It has a lot of beadwork and details. And his stocking was the only one with a snowman. A friend suggested I change the snowman to a Santa so we all go together and at first I thought she was nuts, I'm not that creative, and I certainly didn't have the time. Christmas was 20 days away! But I finally realized she was right, the snowman should be a Santa. So that started Kevin's personlization. Creating a Santa from scratch.

In this photo he is almost completed. He is missing his eyebrows and the cord to the trains bell. Kevin's favorite color is blue, so I changed the bow on the trains wreath to blue for him.

I also found a tutorial online on how to make a liner for them, which seemed like a great idea to keep them in good shape for a longer period of time. So with many thanks to my families patience with me, I finished Kevin's stocking and lined everyone's stocking on Steve's birthday. December 22nd. I had two days to spare! Woo Hoo!

As for mine, I have a year to complete it! :-) This is what my stocking will look like. To personalize it I am going to try to find a way to write my name along the top of it, rather than the tag hanging. I think it will look better if ours are all a little more uniform.

The finished product after Santa came to visit.

Happy New Years!

2012-01-01T12:33:00.000-06:00

I usually don't make New Year's Resolutions, it seems like all I do is blow them at some point in time. But this year I have decided to make one, and I love that it will be public so folks can keep me accountable. :-)

My resolution is to blog more. I know I haven't blogged like I used to, mainly since September. And I do have a really good excuse, really I do! :-) But I am going to make that another post. :-)

So for today I have changed up the look of the blog for the year, hope you like it! And over the next few weeks I am going to be working on all those posts I should have been doing the last few months. After all I have a lot to catch folks up on- the pumpkin patch, Halloween, Kevin's birthday, Christmas, New Years, the girls milestones, and soo much more!

So feel free to check back oftenover the next few weeks, because I promise I am going to be a posting fool! :-)

And Happy New Year!

Happy New Years!

2011-12-31T23:59:00.002-06:00

We wanted to end the year with a bang, so Steve went and got us some awesome fireworks! To kick the night off he lit a few and then we headed to a neighbors house to hang out. They also have kids so Kevin was really excited to play with some of his friends. Around 9 we headed back to our house to shoot off more fireworks and to let the kids play with the sparklers.

The girls weren't interested in staying up too late, so we tucked them in, and with video monitor in hand we got the fireworks and Steve began setting them off in the street in front of our house. At first Kevin was afraid of the sparklers, but after a while he got brave and wanted to check them out for himself.

We had to tell him though when Steve was going to set off a loud one because he kept trying to cover his ears and would do it while he was still holding a lit sparkler!

Around 10:30 the kids were all tired and asked to go to bed. So we tucked him in and Steve and I relaxed and watched a bit of the New Year's shows. Sadly we did miss the ball drop though, we turned on the tv at 11:01 and it had already dropped in NYC. We did watch the guitar drop in Nashville though. :-)

Aunt Polly and Grammy

2011-12-30T21:52:00.001-06:00

For a few days my Aunt Polly came down from Arizona and my Grammy came down from Gun Barrel City, TX. The kids and I met up with them for lunch while Steve began brewing his next awesome beer. Aunt Polly has never met my kids so that was a neat treat and Grammy hadn't met the girls yet.

Christmas Kitchen

2011-12-27T21:49:00.001-06:00

The girls got a kitchen from Mama and Papa (Barbara and Harvey) and it is a huge hit, with all three kids. At first we kept it in the girls room, but because they all like it so much we have now had to move it into the living room so they can play with it all the time. It makes all sorts of neat sounds, like water boiling, the microwave and the oven both ding. And everyone's favorite is the telephone!

Christmas

2011-12-25T21:44:00.001-06:00

Santa Came!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T21:38:00.005-06:00

For Christmas Eve we went to Barbara and Harvey's house and spent the day with them along with Steve's sister, Kim and her boys Daniel and Phillip. Unfortunately Uncle Eric had to work so he couldn't make it this year.
After lunch we went to Church and after coming home the kids couldn't wait to dive into the presents. We all got really spoiled!

N.O.P.

2011-12-22T21:32:00.002-06:00

Our little Christmas Elf came back this year, it was great to see N.O.P. and for the girls to meet him for the first time. It turns out that he likes to play like my kids do. It was fun to see what mischief N.O.P. got himself into each day.

Playing with Kevin's blue Lightning McQueen

Enjoying one of our cookies.

And on Christmas Eve morning we found him holding baby Jesus. Guess even he didn't want us to forget the real meaning of Christmas.

It was sweet that N.O.P. even left the kids a note when he left with Santa. He had a blast hanging out with us and we look forward to seeing him again next year!

Off she goes!

2011-12-18T21:10:00.002-06:00

And Lauren walks!

Cookie Baking

2011-12-13T21:24:00.005-06:00

Kevin decided he wanted to give his teachers at school cookies for Christmas. So I made a list of people we could give them to. I came up with us needing to make about 80 cookies.

In my Mom's group a few months ago our leader, Kim, taught us different techniques to decorate cookies and shared her recipes for the cookies and two icing recipes. I thought these would be perfect for Kevin's gifts.
While he was at school I made the dough and after I got him from school we would cut them out and bake them. The next day we would decorate them.
Making the cookies was pretty easy, I made three batches and was hoping that could cover my 80 cookies, after all each batch of cookies usually makes about 20-25 cookies. I called Kim to find out if she thought three batches would make enough. And I was shocked when she told me that one batch usually makes 100 cookies!!!

Sure enough after school Kevin and I rolled them all out, and cut them. He picked to make stockings, bells, stars, and Christmas trees.
After they were all baked, we finally counted them. We had over 260 cookies!

The next day, after a few icing lessons from Kim over the phone, Kevin and I learned a quick way to ice all the cookies. I iced while he put M&M candies :-)

Kevin's Christmas program

2011-12-08T21:08:00.002-06:00

Kevin had the cutest Christmas program at school! His class sung "Away in a Manger"; "Oh Christmas Tree" and "Up on the Housetop"
At the end all the kids sang "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

Kevin did a great job singing! At the finale he did get hidden behind other kids so it was a bit hard to find him. Next year I know to dress him in green instead of red (everyone wore red!)

Second time meeting Santa

2011-12-06T20:57:00.002-06:00

Our friends the Jones' have a personal in with Santa. When he isn't at the North Pole, he also lives down the street from them! He was kind enough to come visit the kids and read to them from Twas the Night Before Christmas. All the kids had a great time!

The girls enjoyed listening to Santa read.

A much happier Claire this time.

These were some of the kids who met Santa, what a funny photo!

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-03T22:54:00.003-06:00

Every year our church has an event called Breakfast with Santa. In the Family Life Center they have a pancake breakfast, games for the kids, and little tables set up where you can buy items. We have been the last 3 years and it is alot of fun. Of course we had to take the girls this year.

At our table Kevin found this little mystery present. After constant asking we bought it for him and he was the proud owner of a white and silver ball ornament. :-)

Our friends Leslie and April were in charge of the crafts and they did an outstanding job! My favorite was where they painted each kids hand and placed it on a blue piece of paper. They then turned each finger into a little snowman, cut the hand out, laminated it and made it into an ornament. I was so proud that the girls actually let us paint their hands, I know they are going to be something I will treasure!

Just before we left Santa came in looking for a friend of his, Kevin was so excited to see him again and he wanted another picture with him.

Girls meet Santa

2011-12-03T22:48:00.001-06:00

This was our first attempt of the girls getting to meet Santa. Lauren was cool with everything, Kevin was doing a perfect fake smile, and Claire was terrified by the bearded stranger.

Neighborhood Holiday party

2011-12-02T22:46:00.002-06:00

Last year we had our first neighborhood kids holiday party. This year our amazing friend Kristi decided to host it again! She bought crafts for all the kids to make, they were really cool ornaments. And all the kids got to play. For dinner we all chipped in for pizza and then everyone headed home to get our kiddos ready for bed. This year we had 6 families in attendance. That made 15 kids! It was a blast!

Kids working on the crafts

My girls found the stash of books while Kevin ran around like a mad man having fun!

As Della put it, It's like herding cats! 13 out of the 15 kids, one snuck out of the photo, and Reni was too small for us to let any kids hold him.

Kevin Mater!

2011-11-27T21:02:00.000-06:00

Ahh the fun you have with birthday cards!

The Big 4!

2011-11-23T21:09:00.000-06:00

It is tradition to get Kevin's photos taken near his birthday. I love how these capture his personality perfectly! He is mischievous, sweet, silly, smart, kind, and pretty good looking too! :-)

4 years!

2011-11-19T20:58:00.001-06:00

The weekend before Kevin's birthday we were excited to celebrate his birthday. We held the party at our church in a little house they have on property called Payne Cottage. Or as one of our friends Sani pointed out it is building #4 so that had to be where Kevin was having his 4th birthday. :-)

Kevin is totally, completely crazy for the movie Cars, so we did a Cars 2 theme. He was very excited to have Lightning McQueen things at his party. :-)

The weather for the most part was pretty nice so we did alot of our activities outside. We started with the kids getting Cars 2 tattoos. They were really great tattoos that went on really well, and to every parents dismay, they didn't come off very easily! :-)

We also had tables set up where the kids could paint their own wooden cars. Since I figured at some point in time the girls would get a hold of a car (or two) I made sure that all of the cars and the paint used was suitable for all ages. The kids put on aprons and went to town decorating their cars. Afterwards they got to put them in their own little boxes and take them home.

The one thing Kevin really wanted at his party was a pinata. I looked high and low and could only find really small ones, that were pretty expensive, so I was really happy to find a lady on craigslist who custom made one for Kevin. It wasn't perfect, but Kevin didn't mind, especially since it held a lot of candy! :-)

Everyone enjoyed a light lunch and then on to the cake! The kids really enjoyed the cake, and all the kids wanted to take the cars home that were racing across the top of it. They were a little sad to learn they were all for Kevin to keep. And I was really excited that I managed to sneak a few cars on the cake that Kevin had been wanting, Miles Axelrod and Professor Z (the bad guys).

Then it was on to the presents, Kevin was so excited about all of his gifts. Last year he wanted to play with just one and not open the rest. Well a lot has changed in a year! All he wanted to do was tear into them. Forget the cards, he just wanted the presents. Me on the other hand I really wanted the cards. :-)

Every year I have taken all of Kevin's cards and cut out and kept snip-its of each, I put them all together into a collage and add it to his baby book. I'm hoping when he gets older he will enjoy going back and looking at them.

I think everyone had a great time, even the girls. Although it wasn't as fun for them.

The girls chilling out in their stroller, and using their feet to play with their piano, while we unloaded the car.

Calleigh and the impossible to get off tattoo. Her mom said it was still on her in perfect condition, two weeks later! She finally had to rub like crazy to get it off.

Stealth Navi.

Dylan getting his tattoo. If you ask Kevin he will tell you that Dylan is his best buddy. The two boys see each other at school, but they aren't in the same class (they were last year) but they both light up when they see the other. At Kevin's party he and Dylan were almost inseparable.

Kevin and Beck painting. Beck is also one of Kevin's best buddies, they were also in the same class last year, but not this year. Beck is a little heart stealer. He has the most amazing eyes, and loves to give hugs.

Painting cars takes a lot of concentration!

Three of my most favorite kids in the world (and Kevin's too!). Travis, Allison and Kaylee Walker.

Navi has one heck of an arm!

CANDY!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Kevin, Happy Birthday to you!!!!!

Who needs a fork? Kevin decided to just dive in!

Presents.

During the whole party the girls were either in their little "baby jail" or they were being held by grandparents, and close family friends. Earlier in the week the girls were diagnosed with hand, foot, and mouth disease. It sounds worse than it is! And it is quite common. Technically Claire was no longer contagious (she got it 2 days before Lauren) but Lauren was. Just in case we kept the girls away from the other kids so they wouldn't get anyone else sick. And a huge thanks to the Jones family for loaning us the baby jail, the gate is technically ours that they use, but the toys attached (which is a great idea!) were all theirs.

My little Tom Tom

2011-11-18T21:06:00.000-06:00

Kevin had a really cute Thanksgiving feast at his preschool. The kids were all dressed up and we enjoyed a lunch of turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls and Kevin's favorites, cranberries. They even had apple and pumpkin pie for dessert. Steve was able to get off work and the 5 of us got to have lunch together. The girls even enjoyed the turkey (their favorite!)

I took several photos- the table, the kids, and there were even photos of us as a family. But somehow they completely disappeared off my camera. :-(

I did take this photo though with my phone. I'm grateful to have at least something! And I am very grateful to call this little Tom Tom mine!

Wurstfest

2011-11-13T20:23:00.001-06:00

Every year for my birthday we try to get down to New Braunfels for Wurstfest. It is a good time and we all enjoy it. After so many years we have our routine down, and we have a usual spot to meet. Kevin really enjoyed his Brat this year, and the girls enjoyed eating his potato pancake. All three wanted the apple sauce to themselves. :-)

Yumm! Brats!

Potato pancakes, yea!

Steve has this necklace that has fake little beers on it, Claire was desperate to try some. :-)

And this is my favorite photo! Anne and Claire have this connection, Anne sings Bruce Springsteen to her and she calms down immediately. Anne so much as walks near Claire and she starts to giggle and grin at her from ear to ear. The two of them have a great bond, and I love how this photo captures it!

Ready for football season!

2011-11-06T15:05:00.000-06:00

6 months ago we first heard the term positional plagiocephaly and were a little nervous about it. The back of Lauren's head was pretty flat so we did what most parents do, we got a second opinion. We learned that putting kids to sleep on their back is great for preventing SIDs, but it can also make the back of kids heads flat. Which is what Lauren has. We tried alot of different positions for her and to just give her head time to round itself out. But at her appointment at 8 months they told us it really wouldn't round itself out any more than it already had.

Her face, ears, eyes are all symmetrical and her head shape doesn't affect her hearing, vision, or sinus' so it is a purely cosmetic thing. I liked the way the Dr put it, it's like braces for your teeth. They aren't a necessity, they just make things look a little better.

So after much debate we decided to go ahead and do the helmet treatment they recommended. Our first visit was just a getting to know you visit. They asked questions, took notes and took measurements of her head. The second appointment they put a stocking over her head (cutting the face portion out) and hooked up a little monitor to her head. Our technician took this little laser looking gun and pointed at various areas of her head. Then on her computer after a few button pushes a 3D image of Lauren appeared. They use these meausrements to make her helmet.

In two weeks we went back and got the finished helmet. In the first week we had to "break" her into the helmet. I was very happy that she did awesome in the transition! We were even able to speed up the transition period from 7 days to 5 days.

She wears the helmet for 23 hours each day, in her hour off we check her head to see how the helmet is fitting, and we give her a bath and clean her helmet. We have found that sometimes when she sweats the helmet sticks to her a bit more, so we often put baby powder in it so it helps it move when she is hot. So if you ever see a white band on her forehead, you know why. :-)

They estimate she will need the helmet for 3 1/2 months (mid January) but that all depends on her growth spurts. Every 2 weeks we go back and have her reevaluated.

At each appointment they take measurements of her head and observe any changes. If she is growing they will go inside the helmet and shave out some of the foam on the inside, that gives her head more growing room. And if we ever notice any problems all we have to do is call them and they will work us in the same day.

My little oompa loompa

This was her first day, everytime she crawled it pushed up on her forehead, we went back and they fixed it.

Day two

Why not decorate it?

Our lovely Lauren!

Cavities!

2011-11-06T09:40:00.001-06:00

We were very surprised to learn that Kevin had two cavities at his last Dentist appointment. Turns out he has weak enamel on alot of his teeth. The dentist reassured us that we couldn't have prevented it at the time. To fill them they gave him an oral sedative and after 20 minutes he was feeling "good". The procedure was over in no time and we were good to head home. Because of the sedative though he couldn't walk on his own and could barely hold his head up. The poor guy was like a limp doll (a heavy 40 pound one at that!) :-)

Barbara, was awesome and stayed with the girls while just Kevin and I went. Which was a huge help. The car ride home was a bit crazy.

The sedative causes amnesia so Kevin didn't really remember alot of his visit, and he was very confused. So the car ride home he just cried and threw a fit about the things he didn't remember. He wanted a new toothbrush, they gave him one, but he didn't remember so he was upset he didn't get one. He wanted to eat the sugar free candy pop (lollipop) they gave him, but there was no way I was going to let him have it in the car! When we got home we propped him up on the couch and he got to have movie day most of the day. Which was great because he could barely walk on his own.

The night before Kevin fell and gave himself one heck of a knot on his forehead.

20 minutes after his sedative, he was feeling "good"

The car ride home was a bit of a mess!

Propped up to watch movies with his sugar free "candy pop"

Halloween

2011-10-31T20:57:00.001-05:00

I was really excited about Halloween and the kids trick or treating this year. Kevin's first year was so much fun, and I couldn't wait to see what the girls first year was like. I found them these super cute costumes off ebay. And Kevin wanted to be Sulley from Monsters Inc. I figured he would change his mind, so I kept waiting to see what new he would come up with. I was shocked when he didn't change his mind, even after several other suggestions. So off to ebay I went again and managed to get his. He liked his so much that he had to wear it around the house several times "to break it in" for Halloween. As for the girls I didn't know how they would do with the hat part of their costumes, but they kept it on the whole time.

Our little flower, Claire.

Lauren Bug- or butterfly I should say. :-)

Daddy's girls!

Our monster!

Off we go!

Trick or treat!

And the girls just watched. They stayed awake the whole time Kevin trick or treated, they didn't say much just took it all in.

RAARRRRR!

The funniest story of the night came from Kevin. As we were trick or treating we would run into other kids here and there, and sometimes we would go several houses in a row with the same kids. But they were kids we didn't know. There was one kid in particular that was dressed from head to toe, so you couldn't see any of their face. Kevin asked me what they were dressed as and I guess they were a swamp monster, Kevin said they were asparagus. :-)
Two houses down we run into them again, and Kevin says, Look there's the asparagus! I finally asked the adults (out of ear shot of the child) what the child was dressed like, they said he was a zombie.
By this time the kid has heard Kevin call him asparagus, and he was ok with it. We went about 5 more houses with them and they just laughed everytime Kevin asked where the asparagus was going.

UT Band Practice

2011-10-15T20:25:00.000-05:00

My Mom's group had an outing to the UT Band Practice before the Oklahoma State football game. We thought it sounded like fun so we got all dressed in our UT gear and headed out. It was held in the bubble. The main way to get in is by a rotating door, unfortunately the double stroller wouldn't fit, so the band let us come in the special loading and unloading area they use for big equipment. Because the bubble is the exact size of the foot ball field, with about 10 extra feet on each side, it can get pretty cramped. We didn't realize this until the band members were practicing less than a foot away from us.

At first Kevin didn't really like it, it was too loud for him. But his buddy Sean had come too, so he sat by him and the two of them enjoyed the band together.

For a while the girls just hung out in the stroller and watched.

After a while Lauren fell asleep and Claire was getting restless, so she got up and enjoyed the band with Daddy.

Claire found the artificial turf to be quite interesting.

After an hour the kids had enough and we left.

Some of our friends were leaving a the same time so we stood outside and chatted for a bit. The kids loved it because they got to run on the football field next to the bubble.

Pumpkin patch

2011-10-10T22:27:00.001-05:00

It has turned into a tradition that Kevin and I go to his favorite pumpkin patch. I wasn't really sure how I was going to handle all three kids solo, but I was willing to give it a shot. Before I would let Kevin run around I made him take the obligatory pumpkin photos. He had a blast! He kept finding different pumpkins and asking if he could take them (all) home with us. Or he would find a unique one and bring it to show the girls. As for the girls they were quite content to just go around for the ride.

Claire really loved sitting on the pumpkins, she just thought it was the neatest thing ever! Both girls were teething like crazy, so they were constantly drooling and trying to gnaw on anything they could.

Lauren wasn't so sure about this pumpkin patch thing. And her teeth were bothering her so much she wasn't her smiley self.

Kevin found a unique white pumpkin and had to show it to Lauren.

Finally a smile!

Kevin went off running around and left the girls and I behind, but thankfully they weren't going anywhere too fast. :-)

Of course he had to decorate his pumpkin.

As we went over to the swings area we spotted one of his classmates from last year (Sam), the boys are in different classes this year, but they see each other almost every school day. They were on a neighborhood playdate, and the whole group welcomed us into their folds and really helped me out!

Kevin's favorite part is the hayride. It goes through a wooded area, decorated for Halloween, and then there are two stops a playground and a corn maze. The driver of the hayride was awesome and let me fold up my stroller and put it on the hayride. And Sam's mom and her friends were awesome and held Claire while Lauren and I got on the hayride, and also helped us get off. Without them I'm not sure how I would have gotten on and off with both girls and trying to catch up with Kevin.

Claire really enjoyed the hayride, but she wasn't too sure about all the Halloween decorations.

As long as Lauren had something to chew on she was good. :-)

Kevin loved sitting next to his buddy Sam on the hayride.

Kevin and Sam.

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch, we were there for over 5 hours, and Kevin could have stayed longer but the girls needed to get home and they were closing. :-) Next year we will do it again, but I think I will make sure I get some friends to go with us, so I can get a little help on the hayride.

And she stands!

2011-09-30T22:02:00.000-05:00

Lauren has now figured out how to pull herself into a standing position. And she loves to do it whenever she can!

A sad reoccurance

2011-09-30T22:00:00.005-05:00

We have the same pattern happen every day it goes something like this...

Two little girls looking so cute.

And then Lauren attacks- Actually she just wants to stand up, and Claire is the closest thing she can grab onto to support herself. Unfortunately she always hurts Claire. At the time of the picture I didn't realize how badly she grabbed her! Poor Claire!

And then she will tackle her. Poor Claire is traumatized by this now. Sometimes Lauren will just gently touch her and Claire will cry because Lauren touched her.

Bath time is fun time!

2011-09-23T21:55:00.000-05:00

Claire loves to take baths, mainly so she can splash everyone and everything. And she is so cute when she is doing it you can't get mad at her, you just clean up the mess and change into dry clothes. :-)

Mr. Fix it

2011-09-22T21:53:00.000-05:00

Our dishwasher went on the fritz, and after Sears came out to fix it several times we finally got it working again. But everytime we got someone to come look at it, we got the same guy. He and Kevin formed a bond. He'd show Kevin what he was doing, and even indulged Kevin. Kevin came out with his hammer and he let Kevin "help him". He even told Kevin he couldn't have fixed it without him. It was so sweet!

Lauren's on the move!

2011-09-22T21:47:00.001-05:00

Lauren had decided she has had enough of rolling around the living room, in September she decided to try this crawling thing. :-)

Kevin vs. the Stinger

2011-09-15T15:07:00.000-05:00

Poor Kevin had the fright of his life today. As he was getting into the van when he reached down to touch his cup and a "mosquito bit him", unfortunately from the sound of him screaming and the stinger left in his finger I knew it wasn't a mosquito. Thankfully Lora wasn't too far and heard his screaming, she ran inside for some ice while I tried to figure out just what had happened.

I was able to pull the stinger from his finger, but the offending insect wasn't around to be found. So we aren't really sure what kind of a bug it is that stung him. We do know that it hurt like crazy and he isn't allergic.

Thankfully it is an hour afterwards and he is doing much better, the second I put meat tenderizer on it he said it stopped stinging. Which is awesome because you could tell it still hurt, mainly by the fact he kept waving it in the air like it was on fire. And he is really happy because he is getting to watch Rio instead of taking a nap. :-)

So I would say even though it hurt like crazy Kevin definitely won the battle.

My Bevo

2011-09-12T21:41:00.000-05:00

Kevin really loves Bevo, Really loves him!

Mommy's helper

2011-09-11T21:43:00.000-05:00

Kevin is so amazing! And he is such a HUGE help! This was done on his own accord, and he was really proud of himself, which in my opinion he should be!

Texas Fight!

2011-09-10T21:39:00.000-05:00

Steve's parents managed to score us two tickets to the UT/BYU football game, and our AWESOME neighbors offered to babysit. In fact 4 neighbors all helped us out. Julie and Audrey took the first shift, and Anne and Deb took the second. Of course we had to dress the kids up in their finest UT gear to watch the game on tv.

Julie and Audrey

Kevin is obsessed with Bevo, crazy obsessed, so I had to get several photos of Bevo for him. The next morning when he got up he couldn't wait to see my Bevo photos. :-)

I really love how they changed things up and spelled USA on the field. It felt very fitting since the next day was September 11th.

Getting ready for the players to run out onto the field...

The game was great, quite a nailbitter in fact, but thankfully UT managed the win with a final score of 17-16.

The Left Lean

2011-09-08T21:30:00.000-05:00

All three! Gotta love it! :-)

8 Months old

2011-09-07T21:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Claire!

It cracks me up how alot of the time the girls will do the same exact thing at the same time, and sometimes they do it as if they were mirrors.

Silly Lauren!

Hugs!

2011-08-30T21:16:00.000-05:00

Lauren and Bailey snuggling together!

Teeth!

2011-08-29T21:15:00.001-05:00

After dropping Kevin off at school the girls and I headed to the car. As I was putting them in, I gave them each a little tickle and to my shock I saw a tooth popping out of their gums! Teeth, Both of them! Really?! So of course I had to try and get photos, Claire was willing to show me. Lauren on the other hand just wanted to stick her tongue out at me.

Funnily enough, a few days later Claire's broke all the way though, Laurens on the other hand decided it didn't want to come out afterall. It receeded into her gums (I didn't know they could do that!). And it decided to not pop back out for another 2 weeks.

Claire showing off her new bottom tooth!

Lauren- What you want to see my tongue? No my tooth? Well how do I move my tongue out of the way?

1st day of school

2011-08-29T21:08:00.001-05:00

On August 29th Kevin started back at his preschool, Council Oak Preschool (aka COP). His teachers are Ms. Sharon and Ms. Susan in the Mighty Monkey class. Kevin is really excited about being a Mighty Monkey :-) He was really excited about going, and I was nervous about getting all three of the kids out of the house on time and getting some before school photos, especially after such a laid back summer.

So we got up bright and early, got all packed and loaded, and headed to school. When we got there I looked at the clock and realized we were 30 minutes Early! I'd say we had plenty of time. So we hung out and had a good ol time, and I got a bunch of photos! :-)

Before school Kevin made sure to have his "responsibilities" his nap mat, backpack, lunch and cup.

At the church where his preschool is they have this really cool statue of kids playing. I wanted photos in front of it, so we can see an active measurement of how much he has grown over the year.

And of course we also had to get one in front of the fountain.

And with still more time to burn we played on the swing and I let Kevin play around with my camera.

And of course we had to get silly photos with his sisters!

"When can I go to my class?" "Can I go now?"

"Can I go NOW?!"

"Mom, I don't want another photo! I want to go play!"

"Yes! Cars!"

His lunch in his little cubby.

Backpack hung up.

"So many toys to play with!"

And just like that he was off, no tears, no goodbye really. Just new things to see and do, and new friends to make! Me on the other hand turned into a blubbering fool. :-) It is great to see them go off and have fun, but still makes you sad that they don't miss you. :-)

Posing with Bunky

2011-08-19T10:20:00.000-05:00

I decided to get the girls to pose with Bunky on their 7 month birthday. Kevin thought it would be fun to grab his Bunky and join in on the photo shoot. I love how cute they are together and just how sweet they are to one another!

Puffs

2011-08-18T16:17:00.000-05:00

The girls both love to eat puffs, and they look so cute when they are eatting them too!

Watch out world!

2011-08-18T10:18:00.000-05:00

Lauren is almost on the move! She can do a slight crawl, she has the leg motion down, but hasn't quite figured out how to move her arms at the same time.

Green Beans

2011-08-17T16:14:00.002-05:00

Who knew green beans were not only yummy, but a great way to spell too!

Mommy's little helper

2011-08-17T10:13:00.000-05:00

Kevin has been a big helper lately. If I get up to get something he will automatically sit in my spot and sit with his sisters and entertain them until I get back. He is such a great helper!

Kevin speak

2011-08-16T21:36:00.000-05:00

Kevin has really good speech, I'm really impressed with how easy it is to understand him. But he has a few words that just throw you off.
"I put my clothes in the hamburger" = I put my clothes in the hamper.
And he loves repeating quotes from the Cars 2 movie. His favorite is "Finn McMissle, British intelligence. Mater, average intelligence. Only he changes both of them to average intelligence. And embarrassingly he can't say the word average. Instead it sounds like he says "f-ing intelligence" I'm constantly correcting him I'm not looking forward to the first time he says it in public, luckily he only has said it at home. :-)

Big Bear

2011-08-02T09:30:00.000-05:00

I'm still not sure what came over me but the other day we were at Costco and I saw these huge 53' teddy bears. I grabbed one and pretended it was chasing Kevin for a hug. He giggled like I hadn't heard in a long time, and the girls both grinned at the bear like crazy. So crazy me, bought it. Kevin knows that is for him AND his sisters but he can keep it in his room.

The first night I went to go check on him before I went to bed and he had pulled the bear into bed with him. It scared the life out of me! But after recovering I thought it was so cute and sweet! So I snuck in and took photos. Luckily I got quite a few without waking him up.

It is now over a week later and I still find him sleeping with his bear. He also likes to sit in his lap and read books. I love the idea of getting the girls pictures with their bunky's, I'm thinking I might be able to do the same with Kevin and his big bear.

Also the bear has gone through many names- Beary, Teddy, Coco, Chocolate, Paws, and finally Big Bear. I think Big Bear is the name that has stuck.

Where's Kevin?

2011-08-01T21:33:00.001-05:00

Toy box

2011-08-01T09:22:00.001-05:00

The girls love playing in their toybox.

1st restaurant highchair

2011-07-31T21:19:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we went out to lunch with my mom, and the girls got really fussy. So I was daring and put them in the high chairs. They are both still working on sitting up on their own, so I didn't know how well it would work.
They really enjoyed it, and it cracked me up how they both preferred to sit with one arm thrown over the side. Next time though I'll get covers for the highchairs first. They seemed a little too interested in eating the highchairs :-)

Bailey the amazing

2011-07-26T10:27:00.001-05:00

Our cat, Bailey, is so awesome! We adopted her from the Humane Society after Kevin had turned 1. In choosing her I actually took Kevin with me. It was important that our kitty be kid friendly. And a sure test of that was taking Kevin with us. Well Bailey has the same sweet, wonderful temperament today that she had when we got her. If anyone cries in the house she will immediately go to them and try to cheer them up. And he loves that the kids spend time on the floor with her. She will frequently go lay next to one of them or try to get pet here or there from Kevin. And it is amazing what torture she will take from kids. We have had kids come over and lay on her and all she will do is purr. And Kevin loves to "hug" her. And she just takes it, usually with a purr or two. She does of course have her moments though, but those are so few and far between.

Kevin's first movie

2011-07-25T22:03:00.000-05:00

On July 1st we took Kevin to his first movie in a theater. He had been seeing the Cars 2 commercials for a while and we promised him we would take him. On July 1st Steve had the day off, so together we took Kevin to see it. Since it was his first movie we decided to take him to the Alamo Draft House. He really enjoyed getting popcorn to snack on, and getting a corn dog for lunch. His favorite was the candy I brought along. Especially since I wouldn't give him any till he ate all of his corn dog, but Steve gave it to him when ever he asked. :-)
He really enjoyed the movie, even now he still reenacts parts of the movie with his cars. An added bonus is that after the movie we noticed Kevin's friend and former classmate, Beck. We stuck around to watch the credits and the boys enjoyed having the theater to themselves. They enjoyed making silly faces at each other and we let them run up and down the isle of the theater.

I'd say we had a great time, and Kevin really enjoyed his first movie theater experience.

Outside the movie

We tried to find a movie poster, but this was the closest thing we could find.

Kevin and Beck loving playing in the theater.

Such sweet, silly boys!

6 Months

2011-07-18T21:48:00.000-05:00

Sadly I have been slacking on the girls monthly birthday photos. I get a ton of photos of them through out the month, but haven't been good at getting them on their actual month birthday. So when the girls turned 6 months I made a point to get photos on such a milestone birthday. I can't believe the girls are already half a year old!!! Where has the time gone?

Both girls are doing fabulous! Both girls are doing tummy time alot of the time. Lauren loves it and likes to roll around the floor, or do her version of the inch worm and manuver towards something. Claire on the other hand is quite content to just chill. Both girls really love chewing on their Sophie the giraffe toys, their crab rattle, and their taggies ball. The girls love to giggle and Kevin can really make both of them giggle!

Vacation Bible School

2011-07-16T12:04:00.001-05:00

Kevin had a blast at VBS this week. He loved hanging with his buddies.

Such an awesome son & big brother!!!

2011-06-28T22:38:00.000-05:00

Today as I was washing the dishes both the girls started getting fussy, they were sitting right next to one another so I asked Kevin if he would mind going and talking to them. Whenever he sits near them and talks to them they light up, so I was hoping he could get them to stop fussing long enough for me to finish the dishes.

A minute later I peeked over the counter and I loved what I saw. Kevin was standing between the girls and was singing "The Wheels on the Bus" he was doing the hand motions and all. He was showing them both how to do the hand motions and everything. Both girls were grinning at their big brother from ear to ear. It was such a priceless moment!

Kevin is such an awesome big brother, and he is such a huge help to me too. Alot of times we have a tendancy to get caught up in the girls, especially since there are the two of them, and they are experiencing alot of things for the first time. But Kevin deserves a huge amount of recognition. He has been fabulous!!!! He is very kind and sensitive to his sisters, and he is now being that kind to other babies as well. He has turned into a little man when it comes to our life with the girls. When I am doing laundry he is always asking if he can help. Today he took the initiative and put his underwear, pajamas, and all of his clothes away (He isn't ready to hang them up yet, but I was really impressed with him taking them all to his room and putting them where they belong).

If you ask him for something, a pacifier, burp cloth, toy for the girls 9 times out of 10 he will get it for you. He has even started taking his plastic dinner plate into the kitchen after meals, and if you ask him to throw away something he will gladly do it (diapers too!)

I think the last few weeks my eyes have really been opened to the fact he isn't a baby anymore, he really is a big boy. He is now sucessfully potty trained, even at night, which is something I hadn't expected for at least another year. And he is getting really good at communicating. He will tell me when he needs my attention, not just when he wants it.

And yes, life is not completely perfect (just ask Steve, Kevin refuses to spit out the toothpaste when Steve asks, instead he swallows it no matter how much we tell him not too.) And he still throws at least one temper tantrum a day, but he is 3 1/2 so I'd be shocked if we didn't have a temper tantrum, or I would check him for a temperature. :-)

I am so proud of my little boy, he really isn't a baby anymore. I am so proud of who he has become and look forward to the man he will someday be. But I am certainly not rushing it! Instead I want to enjoy the wonderful little boy who still likes hugs and kisses from Mommy.

I am one very blessed Mommy!

Peas

2011-06-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

The girls have loved begining to eat solid foods. So far they have tried rice cereal (neither is a fan); bananas- HUGE hit!; green beans- Claire likes them but Lauren doesn't; Peas- both like them; and Squash- both love it!

Claire seems to be the one who loves to eat the most, I can't seem to get it in her mouth fast enough. To make things easier I have been feeding them at the same time, just after we have all eatten. They really seem to enjoy hanging out with us while we eat and then enjoying their dinner.

They both are really showing signs of wanting "big people food". When you are eatting the often will open their mouths as if to take a bite and sometimes lick their lips. They also get this longing look in their eyes. While we were on vacation Steve gave into Claire's pleading look and let her try some of his chocolate cake. As you can imagine she went crazy for it.

Jet Ski

2011-06-23T21:21:00.000-05:00

Uncle Eric rented a jet ski and let all the kids go for a ride with him. Kevin had a blast! Eric even let him drive for a bit and he really enjoyed himself. Because there were so many kids we did have to double up a bit, but Ben didn't seem to mind riding the back.
Thanks again Uncle Eric.

Atlantis

2011-06-23T10:20:00.001-05:00

It is a family tradition to head over to Atlantis each year and check out part of the aquarium. They have a section that is right in front of the restaurant that you can check out without paying an admission. Unfortunately this year they changed the rules. To see it you have to buy a day pass. We learned about the new rules when we walked up to a staff member and security stationed in front of the entrance. When Kevin learned that he wasn't going to be able to see "Nemo and Dory" he sat on the floor and began to cry. It broke my heart and Steve's too. We turned around to find out how to buy day passes when the security guard told us to go in after all.

We are so grateful to that security guard!

Kevin thought it was awesome that as soon as we walked up to the side of the aquarium you saw a large sting ray just chilling out. He thought that was the neatest thing ever. The girls are too young to grasp the concept of the fish, but the fish seemed to grasp the concept of kids. We had this one fish who was very curious about the kids and kept swimming up to Kevin, checking him out and then swimming down to the strollers to check out the girls. It was pretty neat.

As usual we had a blast at Atlantis, it is always a family favorite. Next year we will have to see if we go again. It will cost us over $100 next year and thankfully we will get to see more fish and go through the whole aquarium for that price. Or we might wait until the girls are older and will be able to enjoy it more before we shell out the $$ for it.

Crabs and Snails

2011-06-22T18:07:00.000-05:00

Next to our condos there are several rocks right along the shore. One day the tide was pretty low and the kids went exploring the rocks. The found several cool crabs, one that was pretty big, or "eating size". And they found a ton of different types of snails that were stuck to the rocks. Kevin and Helen fell in love with the snails. Kevin liked to just look at their shells, but Helen enjoyed prying them off the rocks and checking out all angles of them. She even tried to take several of them home, but we finally convinced her that they wouldn't live in the condo's like we did. :-)

It was really great seeing Kevin and Helen play. They are about 2 1/2 weeks apart in age and in many ways they are complete opposites, but they got along wonderfully!

The great wall

2011-06-22T13:57:00.000-05:00

All of the kids built this huge wall one day, it was made to protect the "city". Which was about 5 itty bitty mounds of sand. It had a mote, a tunnel you name it, it had it. The kids loved checking on it all night to see if it was still standing. Sadly it was pretty much gone the next day.

Cousins

2011-06-22T08:48:00.000-05:00

Kevin really loves hanging out with his cousins. And he was really excited to show them his new toy, a Leapfrog Explorer video game. He got it on the flight over and loves it! He had fun showing Daniel and Phillip his games, and they were really nice and taught him how to use it. Daniel got one for Christmas, and Phillip got one for his birthday, so they are both pros.

I loved watching the three boys, all in just their underware, leaning over the game playing together.

Claire's first dip in the pool.

2011-06-21T17:01:00.001-05:00

The first time Claire went into the pool she was not a happy camper at all! She cried in both the boat and then the ladybug float. But when I held her she was happy. And after holding her for one minute she fell fast asleep. So we think she wasn't too upset about the water, but that she just wanted to take a nap.

Lauren's first dip in the pool

2011-06-21T09:45:00.002-05:00

She wasn't so sure about the boat we bought the girls, but she was alot happier when she was being held. She enjoyed watching all the kids play, but really didn't like getting splashed.

Girls first flight

2011-06-20T21:36:00.000-05:00

The girls did really well on their first flights, I was really impressed. Both were very hungry, but Claire fell asleep before the plane took off. Lauren on the other hand was very vocal and made sure everyone heard her. Thankfully after her bottle she was her sweet self. Halfway through the flight Claire woke up and wanted her bottle. And Mama was very happy to feed her.

Every flight from going and coming from the Bahamas was pretty good. The girls would fuss for a bit, especially Claire, since we learned that sucking on a pacifier didn't help her ears, but actually eating and swallowing would. And Kevin was really good. He sat in his seat the whole time and didn't get too fidgety. He also did really well with his potty training and we got to see the inside of every plane's bathroom. :-)

Lauren wasn't too happy in the beginning.

Daddy giving Lauren a bottle

Happy girl!

Claire enjoying a bottle from Mama.

Copy Cats.

2011-06-14T22:14:00.000-05:00

Petting Bailey

2011-06-14T10:27:00.000-05:00

Bounce house

2011-06-13T10:18:00.000-05:00

We went to Kevin's favorite spot, Hoppin Hippo, last week. And as usual we had a blast (we are so sad they are closing at the end of this month!) It is such a low key place that I felt confident taking the girls into one of the bounce houses, and Kevin just happened to be willing to be in a quick photo. He wasn't too happy about it, because he wanted to go play, but he did it to make Mommy happy. :-)

Hugs

2011-06-12T13:13:00.000-05:00

A Kevin sandwich

2011-06-12T10:12:00.000-05:00

Kevin loves it when one of the girls goes "flying" he loves to get in the middle and make a "Kevin sandwich".

I love you this much!

2011-06-11T15:10:00.000-05:00

Flying!

2011-06-11T12:11:00.000-05:00

I was impressed, Kevin took this photo with my camera. Not bad for a 3 1/2 year old.

Getting baptized

2011-06-10T17:25:00.000-05:00

On May 22nd the girls got baptised at our church. It was an awesome service and thanks to Kevin it was pretty entertaining. :-) Both of the girls did great and there was no crying. Kevin though was curious the whole time to see the water they used to baptize the girls. He wanted to see it so badly he tried to climb up to see it! At the end Rev. Trigg was sweet and picked Kevin up so he could see it.

Getting ready to be baptized

2011-06-10T10:06:00.002-05:00

On May 22nd we were really excited to have the girls baptised. The girls looked so cute! To save their dresses from getting messed up by spit up I put them in cute little bibs with their initials. And they wore their first "bling" :-) My best friend/sister from different parents, Lora gave the girls their first bracelets. It was so sweet to see them wearing their first jewelery.

Sweet Potatoes

2011-06-09T13:30:00.000-05:00

The girls tried sweet potatoes the other night and they were a HUGE hit! Lauren really liked them, but Claire Loved them! Both girls are alot like Kevin in that they really don't like Rice cereal much. But give them a solid food and they love it. So far they have only had bananas and sweet potatoes and both have been huge hits. :-)

Last Day of School

2011-06-09T09:57:00.000-05:00

Kevin has really loved the school he started in January. I'll admit it was the best decision we ever made! There are 10 kids in his class, 4 of them are boys. Kevin is always telling me about all the adventures he has with Dylan, Sam and Beck. Kevin really loves his two teachers, Ms. Tonna and Ms. Carol. He really enjoyed music class with Ms. Crawford and Ms. Judy was his favorite substitute teacher. It has been a great year, and we can't wait until next Fall.

Sweet Dreams

2011-06-08T22:09:00.001-05:00

First Cereal

2011-06-08T09:53:00.000-05:00

At the girls 4 month appointment we got the go ahead to try rice cereal. I waited until Steve was back in town before the girls tried it. Lauren thought it was Ok. Claire didn't really want any, she wanted to sleep instead.

This is what Hungry looks like.

2011-06-07T21:38:00.000-05:00

This is how we roll.

2011-06-07T09:48:00.000-05:00

Lauren will now roll all over the place. Claire on the other hand just prefers to hang out on her back or her side.

Exersaucer

2011-06-06T09:50:00.000-05:00

They love it, but don't really like it when Kevin positions the lizard thing towards them. :-)

Preschool Mom's Tea

2011-06-06T09:43:00.000-05:00

At Kevin's school they have a Tea with the Mom's. It was so sweet. Kevin loved eating the blueberry muffins (he had his, mine and two extras!) and he gave me an awesome flower that he made himself. He painted the flower and then inside a mini muffin wrapper he glued his photo and attached it to the flower. And gave me a sweet card with his handprints inside. It was a sweet day. And thanks to my awesome Mother in Law, Barbara, I was able to spend the time with Kevin one on one while she was at home watching the girls.

Claire checking out her new highchair.

2011-06-05T21:36:00.001-05:00

The same expression

2011-06-05T09:37:00.000-05:00

Everyone will say that the girls look just like Kevin when he was a baby. Thought it was funny to catch Kevin and Lauren giving the same expression.

Kevin's camera

2011-06-04T15:32:00.000-05:00

I realize the other day that I have never looked at the photos Kevin has taken with the camera Grams gave him for Christmas. I thought it was pretty funny some of the photos I found. Most of them are pretty blurry and not that good, but hey it is only a .3 megapixel camera, so I'm not expecting a lot from it. Although I did add a memory card to it and change the megapixel size to 2.0 so maybe the next ones will be better.

Daddy saying a silly "Cheese"


Cousin Daniel

A pregnant mommy sleeping.

Mommy saying Cheese.

Lauren- I love her look here, it looks like "What the heck are you doing?!"

Claire screaming "Get me out of here!"

A happy Claire


Not sure whose head this is, but found it pretty funny.

Uncle Kurt with a mustache. :-)

Time to feed the girls.

Holding hands.

2011-06-04T15:05:00.000-05:00

Disappointed

2011-05-22T23:06:00.001-05:00

I know everyone is disappointed that I haven't blogged in a while. But I promise I will try my best to post some new posts in the next few weeks.

I can dream, right?!

2011-05-14T10:36:00.000-05:00

As many of you know our house has been an adventure in potty training for about 9 months now. It has been a true adventure with ups and downs. Lately I have just taken a back seat to it and have been waiting for him to tell me when it is "time". For those who don't know, Kevin is backwards of most kids (but I'm not complaining!) He will poop on the potty, but won't to pee in the potty. During summer break we plan on having alot of outside time, and seeing if he will pee out there. :-)

Well this morning he hollered he needed to go (a good sign) and he went, and then told me he was going potty just like Andy, Navi, Sani, Kyra, Macy, Dylan, Beck, Sam, Kaylee, Allison, Travis, and Calleigh. And then it dawned on me, every one of his close friends are potty trained! Which obviously he already figured out. I am hoping this means he will decide to be potty trained too! A girl can dream, right?

Smartie pants

2011-05-04T22:19:00.000-05:00

You know those moments when your kid does or says something and you are in awe. Because you realize just how stinking smart your kid is. In the last week I have had two of those moments.

The first one came when we were driving down 35 and Kevin starts talking about how we had lunch with Mama, Papa and Grams. Which had happened Easter weekend. I asked him what about the lunch was he talking about. And he told me, we ate at that restaurant with them. Confused I looked at him in my little rear mirror and realized he was pointing out the window. I looked to see what he was pointing at and it was Outback Steakhouse. Indeed we did have Easter Sunday lunch at Outback, but not at that location. It was a different one over on 183.
I was shocked that he had remembered the sign and knew that it was that restaurant we had eaten at.

The second one came today. As we were driving home I was busy paying attention to the cars around me when Kevin yelled "That says TOY!" Confused, because we were no where near a toy store, I realized I was behind a red pickup that said TOYOTA along the back.
I had to laugh, and was very impressed that he noticed it, and that he actually read the word, rather than just spelling it.

What can I say, my kid is a smartie pants!
:-)