Today was the beginning of week three for swim lessons. Peanut has made great progress so far, and Bug has blown everyone away with how well he does in the water.
Today Peanut did three bobs - one in her lesson and two with me afterwards. She also jumped from the side of the pool to her teacher without holding on multiple times, is getting better at blowing bubbles with putting her nose under, and is working on the beginnings of backstroke. She has made so much improvement in just two weeks!
Bug has no fear. He loves the water and gets his face all wet and kicks, walks around in the pool, etc. He is doing fantastically and is having a great time!
Next week we are all going up north with my in-laws to spend a week at the cottage for the 4th of July. It will be a very full house, I'm hoping we don't have any major issues since it will be incredibly crowded. Fingers crossed.
Last week we met with a home builder to talk about ideas and plans for our potential build. They are going to take a few weeks to work on plans and we will meet up again after the 4th. Then if we like what we see we will get together with the bank and figure out if the budget makes sense for now. The last thing I want is to get in over our head with a mortgage and two small kids. Things always come up, so I'm hoping we can keep the costs reasonable. We shall see. I'm excited for the possibility though!
Monday, June 23, 2014
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Anniversary Trip: 5 Years of Marriage!
Hubby and I took a vacation to Virginia Beach for our five year anniversary. It was a great trip! We dropped the kids off on our anniversary (Friday), just before dinner. We went to a great restaurant near our home, then came back and watched a movie and had a relaxing night in. The next day we did a long bike ride into campus and walked around the gardens, went out to lunch, and cleaned and packed at home. Sunday we had a mostly lazy day in, with more cleaning and vacation prep. Bright and early Monday morning we left (somewhere around 4:30 I think), grabbed some snacks for the road and headed to the Pittsburgh Zoo. It was a great stop and a nice break in the trip before we continued on to Virginia Beach.
We stayed in the Oceanaire resort for three nights. We walked the boardwalk a couple of times, spent some time in the pool, went out to eat, toured the naval base, watched the military jets take off, and toured the Virginia Air and Space Center, but our highlight from the trip was definitely doing a dolphin viewing kayak trip. We saw so many dolphins! They were really close, too, almost close enough to touch. It was a very neat experience that I hope we can have again in the future. We both loved it.
On the way home from Virginia Beach we stopped in Colonial Williamsburg to walk around and pick up a souvenir for Bug, since we had found one for Peanut but not for Bug yet. Mission successful, we returned with an animal umbrella for Peanut and a pop gun noisemaker for Buggy. The kids had a great week with Grandma and Grandpa and enjoyed their vacation as much as we did! The trip was also a successful transition from nursing, and Buggy did great!!
We stayed in the Oceanaire resort for three nights. We walked the boardwalk a couple of times, spent some time in the pool, went out to eat, toured the naval base, watched the military jets take off, and toured the Virginia Air and Space Center, but our highlight from the trip was definitely doing a dolphin viewing kayak trip. We saw so many dolphins! They were really close, too, almost close enough to touch. It was a very neat experience that I hope we can have again in the future. We both loved it.
On the way home from Virginia Beach we stopped in Colonial Williamsburg to walk around and pick up a souvenir for Bug, since we had found one for Peanut but not for Bug yet. Mission successful, we returned with an animal umbrella for Peanut and a pop gun noisemaker for Buggy. The kids had a great week with Grandma and Grandpa and enjoyed their vacation as much as we did! The trip was also a successful transition from nursing, and Buggy did great!!
So many accomplishments!
Wow! Summer has started and that means our crazy schedule has begun!
Last week was Bug's first week of swim lessons ever! He was a trooper with four days in a row - he was AWESOME the first two days....so happy, loved to be in the water. The last two days were a little bit colder, so he was a bit fussy, but he hung in there and had fun with his teacher, Miss Emma. We have swim lessons all summer, so hopefully he'll be a pro by the end! The first week he was the only kiddo signed up, so he got a private lesson instead of doing the mommy and me class that we anticipated. I'm curious to see if he will be the only one again for this week.
Peanut did her first week of summer swim lessons last week too. She missed one of the four days for gymnastics (which will happen most of the summer, but we knew that going in), but did a good job for the other three days. We really need to work on putting her face in the water and I think she will be ready to pass the level she's in pretty quickly. It's just a matter of how long it takes her to get comfortable going under the water. We'll see I guess.
Speaking of gymnastics, Peanut was invited to the shooting stars class, which is the advanced gymnastics class for kids ages 3 and 4. We are so proud! They basically work on the same stuff as the other class, but are good listeners and direction followers, and have a slightly better grasp of the basic gymnastics elements (beginning cartwheel, forward roll, etc). Way to go Peanut, we love you! No matter what sport you choose to play, or what activities you choose to be involved in, we will support you 100%. Follow your dreams and give it everything you've got <3.
Peanut is doing so well with her letters and letter sounds for school. She can't wait to start Preschool and I'm certain she'll do great. We might have a rough transition with being away from home and without family, but she's going to rock Preschool academically. So very proud of our smarty pants!
Buggy is getting more teeth, walking like crazy, crawling up the stairs, babbling all over, and causing all sorts of chaos in our home, but he is the sweetest, most loving little boy ever. He gives tons of hugs and kisses and cuddles, and is the happiest little guy. He loves to eat and is constantly asking for food. His favorite food is bananas and his favorite toys are balls and dishes and dolls. His laugh is contagious.
Last week was Bug's first week of swim lessons ever! He was a trooper with four days in a row - he was AWESOME the first two days....so happy, loved to be in the water. The last two days were a little bit colder, so he was a bit fussy, but he hung in there and had fun with his teacher, Miss Emma. We have swim lessons all summer, so hopefully he'll be a pro by the end! The first week he was the only kiddo signed up, so he got a private lesson instead of doing the mommy and me class that we anticipated. I'm curious to see if he will be the only one again for this week.
Peanut did her first week of summer swim lessons last week too. She missed one of the four days for gymnastics (which will happen most of the summer, but we knew that going in), but did a good job for the other three days. We really need to work on putting her face in the water and I think she will be ready to pass the level she's in pretty quickly. It's just a matter of how long it takes her to get comfortable going under the water. We'll see I guess.
Speaking of gymnastics, Peanut was invited to the shooting stars class, which is the advanced gymnastics class for kids ages 3 and 4. We are so proud! They basically work on the same stuff as the other class, but are good listeners and direction followers, and have a slightly better grasp of the basic gymnastics elements (beginning cartwheel, forward roll, etc). Way to go Peanut, we love you! No matter what sport you choose to play, or what activities you choose to be involved in, we will support you 100%. Follow your dreams and give it everything you've got <3.
Peanut is doing so well with her letters and letter sounds for school. She can't wait to start Preschool and I'm certain she'll do great. We might have a rough transition with being away from home and without family, but she's going to rock Preschool academically. So very proud of our smarty pants!
Buggy is getting more teeth, walking like crazy, crawling up the stairs, babbling all over, and causing all sorts of chaos in our home, but he is the sweetest, most loving little boy ever. He gives tons of hugs and kisses and cuddles, and is the happiest little guy. He loves to eat and is constantly asking for food. His favorite food is bananas and his favorite toys are balls and dishes and dolls. His laugh is contagious.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
My kiddos are growing so big!
Wow there is a lot to update!
Last weekend, Peanut had her yearly gymnastics performance. She did such a great job! The difference from last years performance to this years is astounding. So much more confidence and a smile that was 1,000 watts from the moment she stepped into the building until the moment we walked back outside. She was on cloud 9 and she was so proud of herself. She was great with the dance, although at the end she was worried about not having enough room to do her forward roll so it took some coaxing to get her to do the element, but she did! The bars went fantastically, she did everything she was supposed to do and with a huge smile on her face. Beam was awesome, until she stepped off half way through the high beam. She got back up by herself like a big girl though and kept on going (even if the kick height did go down by about half :). Floor was great, we definitely need to work on the backward roll but she was so good and so proud. Trampoline was just right, my girl is definitely a jumper :). We were so proud of her and it was so nice to see her confidence shine through. Don't ever let anybody take that confidence away from you baby girl.
Bug had a reaction to his MMR vaccine from his one year old check up, so unfortunately he had a nasty rash over the gymnastics performance and a few days afterward. He was kind of grumpy but is on the mend now and his rash is almost all the way gone. He has also started to throw fits when he's mad or he doesn't get his way, which are insanely cute when isolated but they are becoming more frequent which is not okay. Gotta get over it, little man. You're not going to get your way all the time - sorry buddy!
Bug and Peanut have been playing together more which is incredible to see as a parent. The way they love each other and help each other melts my heart. Bug has also been giving kisses like crazy which is just amazing and makes me so very happy. I love those kisses from that sweet little boy.
Peanut just last weekend started drawing people for the first time and I adore them. They are heads with faces, arms and fingers, and legs with toes. Adorable. Also hilarious - her crab drawings. Those are heads with faces and arms with fingers just like the people drawings, only the crabs don't have legs or toes. Makes me giggle! Peanut and I have been working on letter sounds still and she's been really interested in how you spell words so we've been trying to sound out how you might spell out the words she wants to learn to spell. I love that she gets excited for those types of things.
Bug has been really into playing with the pots and pans lately and pulls them all out and bangs on them quite a bit. He also really enjoys playing in the ball pit we got him for his birthday and playing on the couch cushions when I pull them onto the floor. He has been really into "reading", too. He pulls books off of the bookshelf and looks through them then tries to put them back. So fun to watch him, I hope he continues to love to read!
I am trying to wean bug which is harder than I anticipated. We are down to one session a day now, and while he is doing okay with it my body is not regulating like I had hoped it would. We are going out of town in just a couple of days so hopefully my body will get it together like it should! I am running out of time!
Hubby and I are headed to Virginia Beach for our anniversary next week and I am so very excited for a getaway. I love our kids but I need a break from the constant talking and touching. I've been looking forward to a vacation for quite some time now - we are overdue! I'm really hoping that we can get back to an all inclusive here in the next few years, but with hopes to buy a house and the possibility of needed a new car anytime now I am not sure if that is going to happen. Fingers crossed!
Last weekend, Peanut had her yearly gymnastics performance. She did such a great job! The difference from last years performance to this years is astounding. So much more confidence and a smile that was 1,000 watts from the moment she stepped into the building until the moment we walked back outside. She was on cloud 9 and she was so proud of herself. She was great with the dance, although at the end she was worried about not having enough room to do her forward roll so it took some coaxing to get her to do the element, but she did! The bars went fantastically, she did everything she was supposed to do and with a huge smile on her face. Beam was awesome, until she stepped off half way through the high beam. She got back up by herself like a big girl though and kept on going (even if the kick height did go down by about half :). Floor was great, we definitely need to work on the backward roll but she was so good and so proud. Trampoline was just right, my girl is definitely a jumper :). We were so proud of her and it was so nice to see her confidence shine through. Don't ever let anybody take that confidence away from you baby girl.
Bug had a reaction to his MMR vaccine from his one year old check up, so unfortunately he had a nasty rash over the gymnastics performance and a few days afterward. He was kind of grumpy but is on the mend now and his rash is almost all the way gone. He has also started to throw fits when he's mad or he doesn't get his way, which are insanely cute when isolated but they are becoming more frequent which is not okay. Gotta get over it, little man. You're not going to get your way all the time - sorry buddy!
Bug and Peanut have been playing together more which is incredible to see as a parent. The way they love each other and help each other melts my heart. Bug has also been giving kisses like crazy which is just amazing and makes me so very happy. I love those kisses from that sweet little boy.
Peanut just last weekend started drawing people for the first time and I adore them. They are heads with faces, arms and fingers, and legs with toes. Adorable. Also hilarious - her crab drawings. Those are heads with faces and arms with fingers just like the people drawings, only the crabs don't have legs or toes. Makes me giggle! Peanut and I have been working on letter sounds still and she's been really interested in how you spell words so we've been trying to sound out how you might spell out the words she wants to learn to spell. I love that she gets excited for those types of things.
Bug has been really into playing with the pots and pans lately and pulls them all out and bangs on them quite a bit. He also really enjoys playing in the ball pit we got him for his birthday and playing on the couch cushions when I pull them onto the floor. He has been really into "reading", too. He pulls books off of the bookshelf and looks through them then tries to put them back. So fun to watch him, I hope he continues to love to read!
I am trying to wean bug which is harder than I anticipated. We are down to one session a day now, and while he is doing okay with it my body is not regulating like I had hoped it would. We are going out of town in just a couple of days so hopefully my body will get it together like it should! I am running out of time!
Hubby and I are headed to Virginia Beach for our anniversary next week and I am so very excited for a getaway. I love our kids but I need a break from the constant talking and touching. I've been looking forward to a vacation for quite some time now - we are overdue! I'm really hoping that we can get back to an all inclusive here in the next few years, but with hopes to buy a house and the possibility of needed a new car anytime now I am not sure if that is going to happen. Fingers crossed!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Bug at Age 1
Bug's first birthday party was today. I love that little guy, he is totally my buddy. Here are some fun facts about Bug at the age of one:
He babbles all of the time. He says uh-oh and got it. Usually when he says uh-oh it's because he threw something on the floor on purpose.
He is starting to walk. He is really steady on his feet but he isn't very brave about walking across the room just yet. Usually if you don't hold his hands he sits down and chooses to crawl instead.
He loves crawling up the stairs, but he's pretty good about waiting at the bottom of the stairs so you can follow him up.
Bug is really into taking objects out of a container and then putting them all back in. Over and over again, he gets frustrated when things don't fit like they are supposed to.
He loves cabinets and drawers and pulling everything out of them, but he also loves to hide new things in them. Often I look in my pan drawer and find spoons, snacks, etc. in there from him. Love my surprises. :)
He gets so excited to nurse first thing in the morning that he does this adorable giggle. I absolutely love it, it will be the hardest part about weaning for me.
He adores his big sister. She can make all sorts of funny noises and he just laughs and laughs. He also likes Grandpa M's zorbits.
He does this squinty eyed smile because he thinks you can't see him when he does it. It is absolutely adorable. So stinking cute!
Bug loves to eat. Anything and everything, pretty much. He inhales food, but he still is a little guy at around 30% for both height and weight (at least since the last drs appt).
He loves playing with socks and shoes. Almost instantly he pulls them off when we get in the car.
When anyone reaches to grab him away from me, he almost always "teases" them by turning away from them and into my arm. I love that he loves me, because I love him so much!
Lately he has been getting up in the middle of the night, and while his daddy wants to just let him cry in the crib, I can't because my favorite times are cuddling with him in bed while he gives me the cutest grins and coos and snuggles. We cuddled for something like four hours last night (the night before his birthday party) before I handed him off to his daddy for food and going back to bed because I couldn't get enough of his cuteness!
He babbles all of the time. He says uh-oh and got it. Usually when he says uh-oh it's because he threw something on the floor on purpose.
He is starting to walk. He is really steady on his feet but he isn't very brave about walking across the room just yet. Usually if you don't hold his hands he sits down and chooses to crawl instead.
He loves crawling up the stairs, but he's pretty good about waiting at the bottom of the stairs so you can follow him up.
Bug is really into taking objects out of a container and then putting them all back in. Over and over again, he gets frustrated when things don't fit like they are supposed to.
He loves cabinets and drawers and pulling everything out of them, but he also loves to hide new things in them. Often I look in my pan drawer and find spoons, snacks, etc. in there from him. Love my surprises. :)
He gets so excited to nurse first thing in the morning that he does this adorable giggle. I absolutely love it, it will be the hardest part about weaning for me.
He adores his big sister. She can make all sorts of funny noises and he just laughs and laughs. He also likes Grandpa M's zorbits.
He does this squinty eyed smile because he thinks you can't see him when he does it. It is absolutely adorable. So stinking cute!
Bug loves to eat. Anything and everything, pretty much. He inhales food, but he still is a little guy at around 30% for both height and weight (at least since the last drs appt).
He loves playing with socks and shoes. Almost instantly he pulls them off when we get in the car.
When anyone reaches to grab him away from me, he almost always "teases" them by turning away from them and into my arm. I love that he loves me, because I love him so much!
Lately he has been getting up in the middle of the night, and while his daddy wants to just let him cry in the crib, I can't because my favorite times are cuddling with him in bed while he gives me the cutest grins and coos and snuggles. We cuddled for something like four hours last night (the night before his birthday party) before I handed him off to his daddy for food and going back to bed because I couldn't get enough of his cuteness!
Monday, March 24, 2014
Measurements
Peanut has been really into the measuring tape lately, and today she decided to measure everything in our house. She holds the measuring tape up to all sorts of objects, real and imaginary, and tells me the measurement. She doesn't completely get it though, which is understandable since she's only three. Sometimes she tells me the correct form of measurement, such as "Elsa is 12 inches tall" or "the elephant is 5 centimeters tall" but more often she holds up the measuring tape and tells me something is 8 months old or 30 pounds. We're working on it :) but I love that she's interested in measurement all the same.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
So Much to Update
A lot has happened since I last updated - this post will probably get pretty long.
Peanut has been working on writing her letters and the letter sounds. We started that this past week. She knows A, B, and we introduced C but she isn't as strong on the "c" sound just yet. Writing the letters is pretty rough at this point for the letter B, and for the lowercase a and b, but practice makes perfect. She'll get there :). She is so excited about being able to attend school this fall that it's a good motivator.
Peanut is still doing two gymnastics classes for now, but that will likely change over the summer as we adjust our schedules. She has one with Miss Lina and one with Mr Adam. We also enrolled in the annual recital for this spring again. She did the recital last year after LoveBug was born and did a great job with it - I hope this year goes equally as well. In gymnastics she has become much more confident on the beam and on the forward flip over the bar. We're still working on the back flip on the bar, and we need to work more on listening now that her free will has kicked into high gear :).
She is doing great in swim lessons, too. She has put her face in the water a couple of times, but it takes a lot of coaxing and isn't something she does willingly yet. She's been going to practice with grandma often the last week or two.
Her favorite movie right now is Frozen, and she's watched it no less than 30 times already. She also likes a new show called Sheriff Callie. For the first couple of weeks she liked it she thought the name was Bashira and we weren't sure what she was asking to watch. Love those funny pronunciations for things! She's got it down now, though.
LoveBug is a mover. He is all over the place. Crawling everywhere, walking all around the furniture, pushing the walking toys around the house. He likes to throw anything out of the container that it's in: movies, toys, wet wipes, diapers. You name it, he spreads it around the house. He is also a biter. He chomps down on everything he can get his hands onto (as I type this I have two sets of teeth marks on my arm from two different bites at lunch today). At only 10 months, he isn't trying to be mean. I think maybe his mouth is hurting from teething but that's just a guess.
LoveBug is my buddy all the way. I love how his face lights up when he sees me. His favorite toys right now are water bottles (go figure with all the toys we have in our house, he'd pick a non-toy as his favorite) and he came up with his own word for bottle, Abba. He also says "gone" when he plays hide and seek with you. SO CUTE.
LoveBug is starting swim lessons this summer, and likely will start gymnastics class in the fall. We'll see how things go :) I'm so excited for this summer I think it will be a lot of fun with two mobile kids! Picnics, feeding the ducks, swimming trips, etc.
We took a family trip to visit Aunt Olivia and Uncle Adam in St. Louis at the beginning of March and that was a long ride but a lot of fun. Both kids were sick with nasty colds, which wasn't great, but our times together at their apartment and at the zoo and science center were nice and it was awesome to see Olivia and Adam.
My FIL had surgery just before we left for St. Louis - the surgery went well, but the recovery has been a bit rough. He's back in the hospital near us for now and isn't looking great just yet. Hopefully soon he'll be back in action.
Daddy got a promotion at work recently and has been working crazy hours lately. He pulled an over 24 hour shift two days ago and is still recovering from that - and still doing more work here and there. It's certainly been an adjustment for our family, but a good one!
Okay, I think that's all for now - I can always add more later if I remember :). Just don't want to forget these wonderful memories of our kids!
Peanut has been working on writing her letters and the letter sounds. We started that this past week. She knows A, B, and we introduced C but she isn't as strong on the "c" sound just yet. Writing the letters is pretty rough at this point for the letter B, and for the lowercase a and b, but practice makes perfect. She'll get there :). She is so excited about being able to attend school this fall that it's a good motivator.
Peanut is still doing two gymnastics classes for now, but that will likely change over the summer as we adjust our schedules. She has one with Miss Lina and one with Mr Adam. We also enrolled in the annual recital for this spring again. She did the recital last year after LoveBug was born and did a great job with it - I hope this year goes equally as well. In gymnastics she has become much more confident on the beam and on the forward flip over the bar. We're still working on the back flip on the bar, and we need to work more on listening now that her free will has kicked into high gear :).
She is doing great in swim lessons, too. She has put her face in the water a couple of times, but it takes a lot of coaxing and isn't something she does willingly yet. She's been going to practice with grandma often the last week or two.
Her favorite movie right now is Frozen, and she's watched it no less than 30 times already. She also likes a new show called Sheriff Callie. For the first couple of weeks she liked it she thought the name was Bashira and we weren't sure what she was asking to watch. Love those funny pronunciations for things! She's got it down now, though.
LoveBug is a mover. He is all over the place. Crawling everywhere, walking all around the furniture, pushing the walking toys around the house. He likes to throw anything out of the container that it's in: movies, toys, wet wipes, diapers. You name it, he spreads it around the house. He is also a biter. He chomps down on everything he can get his hands onto (as I type this I have two sets of teeth marks on my arm from two different bites at lunch today). At only 10 months, he isn't trying to be mean. I think maybe his mouth is hurting from teething but that's just a guess.
LoveBug is my buddy all the way. I love how his face lights up when he sees me. His favorite toys right now are water bottles (go figure with all the toys we have in our house, he'd pick a non-toy as his favorite) and he came up with his own word for bottle, Abba. He also says "gone" when he plays hide and seek with you. SO CUTE.
LoveBug is starting swim lessons this summer, and likely will start gymnastics class in the fall. We'll see how things go :) I'm so excited for this summer I think it will be a lot of fun with two mobile kids! Picnics, feeding the ducks, swimming trips, etc.
We took a family trip to visit Aunt Olivia and Uncle Adam in St. Louis at the beginning of March and that was a long ride but a lot of fun. Both kids were sick with nasty colds, which wasn't great, but our times together at their apartment and at the zoo and science center were nice and it was awesome to see Olivia and Adam.
My FIL had surgery just before we left for St. Louis - the surgery went well, but the recovery has been a bit rough. He's back in the hospital near us for now and isn't looking great just yet. Hopefully soon he'll be back in action.
Daddy got a promotion at work recently and has been working crazy hours lately. He pulled an over 24 hour shift two days ago and is still recovering from that - and still doing more work here and there. It's certainly been an adjustment for our family, but a good one!
Okay, I think that's all for now - I can always add more later if I remember :). Just don't want to forget these wonderful memories of our kids!
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