Mobility

 Even though Max has yet to crawl, he is so mobile! You've already seen his little scoot-around-army-crawl and he's getting faster with that every day.  His newest talent is that he can not only pull him self up, he can already walk along the furniture!  This kid is just growing up way too fast.  His favorite thing to do is to walk back and forth all along our couch, and it's a big couch.  This kid is closer to walking than crawling! 

She always knows just what to say...

A lot of times Kate gets out of trouble because she says things that make me laugh.

Yesterday when Max went down for a nap, I sat down to do some things on the computer. I believe I got distracted by pinterest and after a while I realized Kate was not watching the movie I put on for her. I look up from my computer to find this. Bread crumbs ALL over my kitchen floor!

Me: Kate WHY is there bread all over the floor?!?

Kate: (exasperated)  I was just feeding my kids!


I grabbed Kate a trash bag and she got to picking up her bread mess.  Only it wasn't bread.  It was "berries" in her imagination.  She picked up a few berries and then started to dance all around the kitchen.

Me:  Kate I need you to finish picking your berries!
Kate:  (in her Sleeping Beauty voice)  Well I picked berries yesterday!

Bahahaha!  Never a dull moment with this one!

Wordless Wednesday

While Daddy's away

I haven't mentioned this before, in case I have a crazy blog stalker, but Dustin has been away ALL WEEK in New Orleans. With two sick kids it has been a very long week and I'm so glad Dustin is coming home tonight. Can I go away for a week now?

For the first couple days I just stayed home and let the kids rest. But after awhile I got crazy cabin fever. I mean the ONE week where I actually have a car at my disposal I'm stuck at home with sick kids?!?

 

So on Thursday I took my kids to the park. Kate was feeling a lot better by Thursday and she seriously needed to get out and play.  We went to a park over by Maddock and Jaylee's house so they could come and play too.  They played for a little while, and then we noticed that someone smelled stinky.  And it was not Max, it was Kate!  Now, Kate has been potty trained since October so extra underwear and clothes for her is not something I keep in my diaper bag.  She pooped her pants so bad that it was all over her clothes like she was a baby!  I was so mad!  I couldn't just leave her in it, so this was the only solution I came up with.

I put her in Max's diaper!  Not sure what she's doing with her hands in this picture.  Maybe she's trying to be a monster?  Because if that's what she's trying to be,  she's sure succeeding!

(On a side note, I'm seriously considering making my blog private.  I've never wanted to do it, but I do share an awful lot of personal stories and pictures of my kids on this blog, and it kinda creeps me out that just anybody can read this.  What are your thoughts? )

On Friday I wanted to get out again so we went to a few stores (Joann's and Target) and then on our way home we stopped for some ice cream.

On Saturday, I very badly wanted to get out and take my kids somewhere fun!  So I asked Kate where her favorite place was and she said the "See-Um".  So off to the Arizona Museum for Youth we went.  I probably shouldn't have since they were both getting over colds, but they seemed so much better that morning that I went for it.  (Insert bad mom award)

Kate's favorite rooms at this museum are the black light room and the green screen room.  Right now the theme they have going on now is "Things That Fly" so the green screen is set up to show the kids flying over Mesa!  The black light room is painted to look like a campground and you learn about nocturnal animals like owls and bats in there.

Max loves to stand up now!

They also have a little flight simulator.  Kate had a lot of fun "flying" the plane!

We had fun for a little while, but Kate was SOO cranky that we left after only being there for an hour and a half.  We got some lunch and then both my kids fell asleep immediately in the car.  I took a long way home so they would sleep.  I even tried to get out at another store, but Kate was so out of it I couldn't even wake her up!

We got home and just rested and then I decided that we should have a movie night.  When we went to Target on Friday I had purchased The Muppets.  I wanted to watch it as a family when Dustin got home on Sunday, but then I found out his flight doesn't get in until 9:20!!  So... I decided just to open it.  Hey-  I missed out on seeing the Hunger Games this weekend, so I wanted to watch something good.  To make it extra fun we went to Fry's and bought some popcorn and candy before watching.

About half way through the movie (which is the best movie ever, by the way),  Dustin called like he has been calling every night to FaceTime with us.  We love FaceTime!  Dustin was telling Kate a good night story when I saw something crawling on my wall.  At first I thought it was a big spider, but it was much worse.  A friggin scorpion was on my wall!!  AAAHH!!  Of course there's a giant scorpion on my wall when Dustin is not here to kill it.  I tried to smack it a couple times, but it was right in the corner to where I couldn't get a direct hit!  I was screaming and completely freaking out.  I HATE scorpions.  I even tried to call my neighbor to come and kill it for me.  haha.  It took a good 15 minutes, but I finally got the courage to knock it out of the corner, and then kill it.  I haven't though, had the courage to pick up it's dead carcass, so it's waiting under Dustin's shoe for him to pick up when he gets home tonight.  I've been keeping Max FAR away from that shoe. 

Oh man, I love my kids, but I sure need a break!!

I love black and white photography...

Really really.

Sick...

On Tuesday poor Kate was so sick.  She had a horrible cough, a runny nose and a high fever.  Coughing always leads to wheezing and chest congestion for Kate, so I immediately started her on her breathing treatments throughout the day.  After a couple doses of tylenol and her high fever still hadn't gone down, I decided to give her a bath in the evening.  She blatantly refused, so I decided to make it fun.  I mixed some shaving cream with food coloring, and viola!  Bath paint! 

She had a nice long cool bath and it finally did the trick and her fever broke. She was so exhausted at that point.  I got her dressed in her pajamas, and then got Max ready for bed.  I always put Max to bed first so I gave Kate my phone to play with and went upstairs with Max.  When I returned I found Kate lying on the couch with a pillow and blanket, with the Children's Songbook app on next to her, fast asleep!  haha silly girl.

That night was pretty crazy!  I was up every hour with one of my kids.  And-- for the past couple days they've started to wake up around 6:00.

Not. Cool.

I was so exhausted that I crashed on the couch the next morning for a couple hours while Max took his morning nap.  The rest of the day we just relaxed and took it easy.

This is Kate's favorite spot to watch tv.  On the top of the couch.

I promise I do clothe my child.  Clothes just don't stay on her.

She did much better yesterday, her fever came back a little, but not too bad.  That night she had a coughing fit that made her throw up, and that seemed to be the turning point.  I actually wish she'd do that more often.  She gets sooo congested in her chest that vomiting helps get all that phlegm out.  That's pretty gross.  But guess what?  This is my journal and sometimes life isn't peachy all the time.

That night she slept soooo much better and today has been really good.  She still has a cough, but all her personality and energy are back.  Yay!

But now Max is coughing...

Wordless Wednesday

St Patty's Day

I had plans to celebrate St. Patricks Day.  I really did.  But- when it came down to it, I failed.  haha.  I made pancakes that morning, and at the very last second, I had the idea to dye our breakfast green.  So, green milk and pancakes and wearing a little green where the only special things we did that day.  Oh well.  I'll make a bigger deal of it next year. 

 

Even Max had some!

After breakfast we got ready and we drove around the neighborhood to check out all the yard sales!  Kate got really into this.  We found this desk for only $5!  Kate loves it, and calls it her "art sale".  :)

The previous owner did a horrible job at painting it, so I'm going to repaint and recover the chair. 

After that we headed to the San Tan Mall.  We walked into the Disney store just as they were starting a dance party!

We bought a present for Kate's friend who was having a birthday party that day and then went to eat at Wendy's.  We also went to Target to get some  art supplies for Kate's new desk.  Then we went home to wait for Daddy to finally come home!  He did, and while he showered and  got de-campified, I took the kids to the birthday party.  After the party we came home and babysat Maddock and Jaylee.  Whew!  It was a busy day, but a fun one for me and the kids.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

8 months

I can't believe I'm already writing this post.  8 months?  Seriously?  My baby is growing up waaaaay to fast :( 

He's still not crawling yet, but he is getting really close.  I don't think it's far off.  He's wearing 12 month clothes now, but I still put him in his 6-9 month clothes a lot too.  He has really started to babble, and his favorite word is "dada".  Of course.  Kate insists that he says, "kate" all the time, but I have yet to hear it.  haha.  I'm still nursing him, but I also feed him a bottle every day, and I feed him baby food at dinner time.  He'll usually down two of those with no problem.  I have yet to find a food he won't eat.  He loves it all! 

I love this little guy so much!

Mountain Man

Dustin left on his Mountain Man camping trip with the scouts this morning.

We hope he comes back alive!!

Wordless Wednesday

Yesterday and Today

Do I annoy anyone else with the ridiculous amount of pictures on my blog?  Sometimes I annoy myself with just how much my camera is in my hand.  But I can't help it!  I just love it that much.  And I love my children more.  Cute children + obsession with photography. It's a lethal combination really. My camera is always in the left corner of my couch, lens cap off, and power on ready to capture anything cute that comes my way, and it just so happens my kids have been really cute lately.

Kate loves this hooded towel.  There is no limit to her imagination with this old thing.  In this picture she's getting married.  Obviously.

She got stuck in Max's walker.

She also doesn't care if he's in it or not.

She created a flag and wove (waved?) it proudly.

Max is getting super fast with his scooting skills!  This is the first place he heads to whenever he is set free.

(Look Andy!  I finally used the video on my camera!)

He makes the cutest pirate I've ever seen...

and probably the cutest baby as well. 

*sigh*  I just love these kids!

Tidbits

 -We recently lowered Max's crib, but before we did he used to sleep by gripping the side of it.

-Kate loves to "pick up" Max.  I have to keep an eye on her, because she will try to carry him!

-We made DIY bubbles the other day (water, corn syrup, and dish soap), as well as homemade finger paint (yogurt & food coloring)

-Kate's hair is long enough for tiny buns.

 -She also thinks it's super silly to make her hair into funny shapes in the bath.

-She loves to play dress up and will get in to costume every day.  When Jaylee comes over Jaylee is always  Belle, and Kate is always "Cindawewa".  Not sure why, she hasn't seen that movie, and wouldn't a pink dress be more befitting of Sleeping Beauty?

-We don't do a daily nap for her anymore, but occasionally she will crash if we have been playing at the park in the morning.  The other day she fell asleep right on the floor!

-Speaking of sleep, we've created a new monster.  The other night she was crying because she didn't want to go to sleep, so I suggested that she sleep in her princess tent!  She LOVED it, and we haven't got her to go to sleep in her bed since.  That's okay Kate, I'd rather sleep in a castle too :)

-Max is my little chubster.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of his chubby little arms and legs.

-He is also quite mobile!!  Not crawling yet, but he can get from place to place quickly by his little army crawl that he does.

-Maddock was over here the other day, and he was dunking on our little basketball hoop.  I got my camera to take a picture of him and that's when the show really started!  He insisted on seeing every picture after it was taken and would tell me whether or not it was a "good shot".  We did this about 30 times.

Some other funny stories--

-Kate lately has been obsessed with "getting marry".  She dons a towel like a veil and walks around the house proclaming she's going to marry Eric.  The other day she asked me if I wanted to get married and I said,
 "Kate, I'm already married to Daddy."
"To Daddy?!?"
"Yes."  Then she gestured to an imaginary Daddy and told me he was standing over there.  I pretended to to gush, and then she said,
"Daddy is a little crazy!"

-The other day I'm getting ready in my bathroom and I hear Kate pounding on her bedroom door.  I thought that she had locked herself in, so I ran to see what was the matter.  I opened the door (not locked) and asked her what was the matter.  She replied, "I'm just freaking out!"

-She loves Peter Pan and now I think we've seen every version of the tale.  "Peter Pan", "Peter Pan Jane", "Peter Pan Wendy" and "Grandma Wendy"  Translation- 2003 movie of Peter Pan, Return to Neverland, classic Disney Peter Pan, and Hook.  Yes, my 2 year old loves the movie Hook.  That's pretty awesome.  I think now might be a good time to tell her that Grandma Foree's first name is Wendy.

She is soooo talktative now!  I will have to get better at recording the funny things she says.  She is always cracking me up.

 I love my silly family!