A day with the girls

Sans kids. That was the best part!

This past Saturday, I met up with my two sisters and two of my cousins for some shopping and laughter. They were crazy and had been up since before dawn since they hit a consignment sale first. I, on the other hand, chose to sleep a little later and met up with them around 9am. Still early in a lot of people’s books!

We had a great time! We laughed, talked and shopped. We found some super cute stuff and some even better bargains! My bargain of the day was a pair of Sev7n jeans, normally $89.50, for $6.99! They might be a little tight but I am seeing the scale go down so I couldn’t pass up a cute pair of jeans at that price!

The weather put a damper on our fun though. We had to cut our day short because Mother Nature is bi-polar and thought snow was something that we needed. I made it home in one piece, going no more than 60 the entire way. And that was maybe for 5 minutes. My eyes hurt from straining with the snow but it was all worth it.

We are going to have to do this more often.We already have a day planned in May in the works!

We are turning into our mothers! Only thing worse was if we would have lined up by birth order!

Me and my two sistas!

Ariel takes the cake

A short time ago, Emily and I were able to go to Disney on Ice. We had amazing seats, cheap I might add, thanks to a great mom in our playgroup. It was nice to be able to spend some quality one on one time with Emily. Zachary spent the day with Grandma so he was a happy boy.

Emily and I both really enjoyed the show. The Ariel part was her favorite, of course. Although she was really grooving to the Lilo and Stitch segment as well. I realized that I need to expose her to more Disney movies other than the princess ones as she has not seen Peter Pan nor The Lion King. I have to be careful what to show her as she is really sensitive and gets scared easily. It really was a great show though.

After the show, we ate lunch and headed to the mall. Emily had her tonsil follow-up so we really got to spend the entire day together. It was really nice talking to her and watching her play at the mall. We definitely need to do that more often. I sometimes forget what a really cool girl she is. She’s funny and never stops talking!

Emily and her souvenir

Being silly, as she did not want her picture taken!

 

Park time!

The weather this early part of the week has been unseasonably warm. I am so NOT complaining. We have enjoyed every moment we have been able to be outside. Zachary LOVES being outside more than anything. I honestly don’t think he would care if I took him out even when it was cold.

Tuesday we ran a few errands after our botched gym attempt. (Separation anxiety??) Then we hit the park! The park is so much more fun now that Zachary walks. Harder to manage with one kid going one way and the other wanting to be pushed on the swing but more fun than pushing a stroller or watching Zachary crawl. Both kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves and were not ready to go home. Even though it was lunch time. I do have to say that Zachary is a dare-devil and has no qualms about “climbing” up the steps to the big kids slide. I have to follow behind him and slide down with him. I am sure that’s a sight!

Survived

Emily’s spring break is this week. I had nothing planned ahead and was just going to go with the flow. The weather was predicted to be amazing for the first part of the week so, on the fly, I decided on Sunday night that we would head to the zoo Monday morning. .  Just me, Emily and Zachary. Myself, a 4 year old and a one year old. I was the only adult. Catch that? You are probably thinking that I must have been out of my mind. I, myself, have doubted my sanity a couple of times.

Actually, the day was perfect. The kids woke up in a good mood and entertained themselves during breakfast while I packed a picnic lunch for us. We made it out of the house and to the zoo before 9 am and all the crowds arrived. We didn’t have a plan of attack and just hit things as we saw them. Emily told me that her “must see” animals were the flamingos and the elephants so we tried to see them early on to reduce some complaining. Zach did great as well as Emily. I am always amazed at how well she does at the zoo not being in a stroller. I was getting tired of walking so I knew she had to be!

After seeing quite a few animals, Emily wanted to stop at the Penguin Cove. I share this story more in detail but I am still laughing about it. Let me preface this story by saying that we don’t normally stop at the penguins when we go to the zoo. I never really understood why. Emily made it crystal clear! We walked just inside the doors when she demanded to go back outside. It stunk. There was no way she was going to walk through with that smell. She was so adamant about it that I couldn’t help but laugh. Zachary didn’t seem to care either way.

Here’s my super woman story. It was me and two kids at the zoo. We managed to ride the carousel both kids on an animal for most of the ride. And we managed to take a ride on the train. That might not seem like a super feat but I managed to get both kids on the train and fold up the stroller so it could ride with us. And I was holding Zachary for about 20 minutes. We picked a really bad stop to get on at but Emily was determined to get on the train at that station. I really didn’t think that it would take us 4 or 5 trains to get a seat. We really weren’t that far back in line. I thought we would be on the second train and fold up the stroller so we could make a quick board. Wrong. Two seats emptied. That’s it. There was NO. WAY. Zachary was going back into the stroller at that point.

After we rode the train for a few stops, we stopped for fuel. Food that is. I found some picnic tables that were off to the side and let Zachary get out. He was so happy to stretch his legs out and walk around. It still catches me off guard to see him walking around. He fell several times but he enjoyed the heck out of himself.

So the three of us survived a trip to the zoo alone. It can be done. I am pretty proud of myself and both kids. They did great and made it fairly easy for me. I am determined to get more use out of our zoo membership this year. Last year I think we made it once. But in my defense, I was in a cast from early April to mid June and then it was so stinking hot! Plus I had an infant. No excuses this year. I am going to wear that card out!

This was as close to the “penguins” that she would get!

He was tired! This no morning nap thing isn’t 100%

And of course I forgot my camera in the car so all I have are my iPhone pictures.

Natural lighting

I read an article last week on using natural lighting with photos. I have a plain ol’ point and shoot but I LOVE taking pictures. There are so many different functions with my camera that I will never know how to correctly use them all. I would love to eventually get a DSLR  but in the meantime I am always looking for ways to take great pictures. I don’t know why I haven’t done more with natural lighting because I LOVED the way these turned out. I just popped Zachary in the highchair during snack time and started snapping away.

 

A visit from Nancy

Nancy is the class mascot of Emily’s preschool. Every child gets to take Nancy home and spend time with her. There is a binder that accompanies Nancy and you are supposed to write about your adventures with Nancy. The kids can draw a picture or you can take some pictures and add to the journal.

Nancy got to come visit this past Tuesday. Emily was ecstatic since it was her first day back at preschool since her tonsillectomy and she also got to be the line leader. Big day!

Nancy enjoyed a yummy lunch provided by Cafe Emily and then took a restful nap. She really enjoyed playing dress up and Uno Moo. Emily really enjoyed showing her how to play Angry Birds on the iPad.

Wednesday’s festivities included a trip to the gym and Target. After naps Emily, Nancy and Emily’s brother Zachary enjoyed a fun walk around the neighborhood.  Nancy also got a chance to play with Savannah as well!

It was so much fun having Nancy visit us! We had a grand time!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

For each petal on the shamrock
This brings a wish your way –
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.

Recovery

We are almost finished with the full two week recovery from Emily’s tonsillectomy. When I say “we”, I really mean we. Yes, she was the one who had to endure the surgery and subsequent surgery physically but we all felt the recovery.

A few months ago, Emily was referred to an ENT because her tonsils were very enlarged and she was having sleeping issues. Long story short, the decision was made to have her tonsils removed. I don’t regret that decision for a second. I know we will see the full effects in the near future but already she doesn’t snore any more.

I won’t share all of the details of the procedure but will say that the recovery has been felt by all of us. I am not used to getting up in the middle of the night! She goes back on Friday for her post-op check up and she actually went to preschool this morning. I hope we are on the road back to normal soon!

 

Silly girl playing with her syringe before the surgery

 

 

Bottle-free

Boys are definitely different creatures. We are learning and doing things much differently with Zachary. Emily was “eh” about the bottle so she was finished with it at 13 months. We figured it would take Zachary a little bit longer, as he loved his baba. We started off slowly, trying to find a cup that he would drink milk out of. Success. Then we dropped the morning bottle, then the afternoon bottle. The bedtime bottle was the one that we were afraid of. The kid was always ready for a bottle. He got his pjs and sleep sack and then settled in for a baba and books. I think we were more scared than anything.

February 24 was the final evening bottle. We decided to drop it on a Friday in case the sleep was disturbed. That Friday, he got his pjs and sleep sack. Stephen read him his bedtime books and put him to bed. He was a bit confused but went to sleep without a fuss. And has never looked back. We totally underestimated the boy. Now we are working on the binkie. Hopefully, it will be just as easy……Not holding my breath though. The binkie is another beast with a whole other set of problems. Big sister being one of them…….

The many faces of Zachary

Going through breakfast with Zachary is an adventure. You have to watch for the land mines of food thar he has tossed over the side of the high chair. You have to dodge the tossed milk cup and bring your ear plugs. If he runs out of food, you will know it!
Here are a few facial expressions… All within a two minute period!