Honey

Honey didn't get much face time in the other posts, so here ya go:
Crazy glasses on a silly girl.

Last night Snuggle-bug would not go to sleep (till 11:45). Honey was up toodling from room to room, closing all the doors, and playing with these glasses again. (till at least 11 pm). Today the two little girls went with me to a crop/craft day, and Honey took Sam the bear (from the 1st pic) and these glasses. Weird.

2 months old

Snuggle-bug was 2 months old last week! Weighing 13 lbs, 10 oz and 24 inches long now. She is getting quite talkative and smiles more and more. Usually she takes 2 long naps and some catnaps each day, doesn't get settled in for the night till at least 10:30, and sleeps in after a quick breakfast. She's still SO easy-going.

Here is Snuggle-bug modeling some gifts, a purple bib:
A green bib (Sorry her paci clashes!):
The pink star dress that big sis Princess picked out at Target about 7 weeks ago. She's been saving and waiting for a chance to buy it. She used her Christmas money to get it about a week and a half ago, and even checked out by herself. (She was disappointed and confused that she no longer had any paper money to put back in her purse.) Such a sweet thing to do.


This cutie has been more fussy the past couple days after getting her 2-month immunizations. I didn't realize they were giving a live, oral vaccine for Rotavirus now. Not sure how much I like that. The nurse said to use good handwashing for several days because Snuggle-bug would be 'shedding' the virus in spit-up and diapers and it could infect others in the household. Yuck.

A May Day in February

Wednesday, I think it was, was in the upper 70s. Awesome. It should be in the 30s-40s. So we played outside a lot. Here are the sidewalk chalkers:
Speedy's 'happy hat':
Princess's 'Harold the Helicopter':
A picnic lunch. No ants, but they said a black spider came and sat down beside her...
Speedy was chasing a butterfly and came in to get his bug net. Then he started filling it with dirt. What a boy.
While he was doing that, Princess got her kite string caught in the bumper of the car. I ended up having to cut part of it out. We also cleaned out the flowerbed. Lots of cold symptoms still lingering and flaring up here, I will be glad when winter is officially over. (Usually mid-April). :)

Not much

Seems like I haven't blogged because there's really nothing going on. But actually, everything is going on. You know, life, the kids growing up too fast. I'm just trying to enjoy it all, because, really they are growing TOO fast! I don't want to forget how their little hands feel in mine, the smell of a baby's head, the way they cuddle up and want to read stories with me. Yes, I'm busy. Busy trying to enjoy all this and still keep up with that other stuff, like laundry, cooking, cleaning. :)

Princess piled a bunch of blankets on the baby. Made me think she was the pea in the story.
Snuggle-Bug's smile:
I gave Speedy a haircut. Here's the before. It was really, really long.
See: here's the pile that resulted. Gross, I know, but I couldn't believe how much there was! I forgot to take an after picture of Speedy.
Princess enjoying her new Christmas boots.

Flowers from my Hubby (XOXO)

Valentine Crafties

I made these streamers by cutting spirals into used wrapping paper--it was silver on one side, pink on the other--perfect for a Valentine morning!
Speedy's paper hug complete with sunglasses in the top right. :)
Princess & Speedy's paper hugs from No Time For Flashcards. We used pop tart boxes for the body, construction paper for the rest.
We used foam self-stick hearts to make butterflies on doilies. (I got the hearts for $1 at Target--there are hundreds of them, my best purchase for our cards and crafts!) Mine is bottom left, Princess on top, Speedy bottom right. They added flower blooms to theirs.
Another book and sorting idea from NTFF.

Happy Valentine's Day!

1 John 4:19 "We love because he first loved us."

Those I love most. Thanks, God, for blessing me beyond what I could have hoped or imagined.

American Idol

American Idol is really the only show I've watched with much regularity in the past 3 or 4 years. This season, the kids are into it, too. Last week, Princess was standing in front of the TV, holding a pencil like a microphone and watching herself sing in the glass entertainment center door.

While getting in the tub, she asked if I knew what her favorite part of American Idol was tonight. If you watched, you also will shudder and raise your eyebrow when she continues, "Tatiana."
(Dra-ama!)

Happy Birthday, Honey!

Yesterday was Honey's birthday. It's hard to believe it's been two years since we calmly walked into the hospital wondering if the baby would be born on the Friday the 9th or not till the next day; and just 30 intense minutes later, had our second baby girl. :) It was a crazy night, and continued the next day when Hubby left around 4 am to go to his granny's funeral. Needless to say, we didn't get a name picked until right before we left the hospital on Sunday. :)

Honey is more and more like a little girl and less like a baby. Her words, especially are exploding right now. Today she said a sentence, "Mommy more aroni cheese." And she can say 'snitch.' As in looking at me in the kitchen and reaching for some frozen peas in the bowl while saying, 'nitch.' A few minutes later I found her here:
happily snitching marshmallows off the top of the jell-o. I think this was the same day (different meal prep) where she got into some candy hearts, then bit through a bag of chocolate rice krispy cereal and started eating it. (I promise, we do eat healthier stuff, too!) Anyway, Honey is quite persistent and independent to get what she wants or find her own way to get it. She already can climb up on the kitchen or bathroom counter. She can turn doorknobs and open doors. She keeps us on our toes at all times!

Honey is a sweetheart, kissing her baby sis many, many times a day and so proud to help out with the baby, laundry, clearing the table or anything else. She is a daddy's girl and gives him an excited greeting every day when he gets home. She is also a ham, telling 'na-na' jokes over and over at the dinner table; dancing and singing in the mirror; talking with her head cocked, batting eyes, and empasizing different made-up words. She is fun and challenging. :) Possibly our most strong-willed child, which says a lot.

So, the birth-day activities are hard to come up with for a 2-year-old, especially when there's also a 7-week old involved. It was mostly a typical day. She licked the beaters for her chocolate Dora cake, and stuck her whole hand in a tub of frosting to lick a fistful. She got a package in the mail, and said, "Wow!" when I took the present out of the box. It was a lovable bear and bed (they come with stuffing to stuff your own.) She could NOT wait for me to get the bear out of all that packaging. (could they make it any harder to get out??) She, Princess and Speedy had a lot of fun doing the stuffing. It was super-soft. See:
Honey was also laying on it and spreading it around. The bubble wrap in the package was also quite fun. :)

Here's where Honey chose to take her nap on her birthday:
We had a family party in the evening with 20 people. Honey takes a while to warm up, even to people she knows. This look is when grammy was trying to take her picture:
We had some of Honey's favorite foods: corn dogs, peas and grapes. She 'picked' chocolate cake with Dora, cookies & cream ice cream, and Dora plates and napkins.
A lot has changed for Honey in the last year, some things are still the same. (see crayon beard from one year ago:)
Love you, Toodles!

Triggers

There's something about naptime that triggers Speedy's gut. Seriously, EVERY DAY, after about 15 minutes of rest time, he has to go #2.

One day I specifically asked him if he needed to go before nap. He said no, went in his room and shut the door. About 2 minutes later, I heard his door opening, looked at Hubby and whispered, "He needs to go poopie..." Then we heard Speedy's always loud voice, "Mommy, I need to go poopie." At least he's consistent.

The Toilet Trauma Travels On

Yesterday I woke up to a thunk that sounded like it came from the bathroom. Someone (who shall remain nameless) knocked a ceramic dish into the toilet. Its contents went on the floor and in the toilet. Things like tweezers, hair ties, barrettes, nail clippers, some jewelry. So, it appears one of my earrings got inadvertently flushed. Sad, but I'm glad it wasn't my wedding ring, which I also keep in that dish. I think I'll find a new spot.

Growing Up

I can't believe how Snuggle-bug is growing up before my eyes! Today she was looking right at me, smiled a couple times, even started to coo! She's also losing her hair. :) She is such a good baby--I am not sure if I enjoyed the 'baby' stage this much the other three times or not, but I kind of wish it wouldn't go so fast!

The hardest parts of the day seem to be lunchtime--she's hungry then, just like the other three. Bedtime hasn't been great, it's tough to get her settled down and staying asleep. But once I do, I can get a good 4-6 hours of sleep (yay!) depending on who else wakes up and how many times they come to our room.

My Turn!

I ran some errands last night (alone!) and left Hubby in charge of the 4 kiddos, getting dinner in the oven, overseeing the application of Valentine window clings, and tutoring his brother. He did a great job, and was just thawing some milk for a bottle when I got home. The older kids were disappointed--'but I wanted to feed her a bottle.' (insert pouty face). I assured them they still could. Not many bottles around these parts, so everybody wants a turn when the opportunity comes around. Snuggle-bug drank it down in a hurry, so they had to switch fast:


Look how cute I am, 6 and a half weeks old:
Princess loves to hold and pose with her baby sis:

Happy Groundhog Day!

We found these cute groundhogs to make out of hearts, appropriately! I used brown paper bags, white scratch paper, and black construction paper. Princess' is on the top; Honey's is bottom-left (I put the glue on and helped her place the pieces; Speedy's Picasso-like creation is on the bottom-right. :)
Our seasonal book selection:
Groundhog Gets a Say is kind of annoying to read, but has quite a few interesting facts, so I can tolerate it once a year. :)

The Biggest Valentine Ever follows the other books in the series (biggest pumpkin, biggest snowman, etc.) Clayton and Desmond are mouse friends who compete with each other, but end up working together.
The Valentine Express has a little Valentine history; then has a brother and sister rabbit make and deliver Valentine's to their neighbors.

Hugs and Kisses is about a curious puppy who sets out to see how all the different animals' kisses feel--of course at the end, his momma's is the best. :)
Froggy's First Kiss is typical Froggy. The Day it Rained Hearts is another cute one about a girl giving Valentine's to her animal pals.

The Apple Doesn't Fall far from the Tree

Princess learned the hard way tonight to keep the toilet lid shut. She knocked her toothbrush in. Eww. I thought she understood we were going to fish it out and throw it away, so I was confused when she started crying when Speedy peed on it. She had been planning to wash it with soap and water and keep using it.

Seinfeld, anyone?
:)

Haven't I Learned?

To close the toilet lid when I'm getting something out of the cabinet directly above the toilet?? I've knocked so many things in. But I've also had so many close calls--for example, this morning, I knocked down a bottle of ibuprofen and it was in line for a direct splash in the water. But it landed on the rim and bounced out. Whew. (I've also had things bounce in.)

Maybe I won't close the lid--I need that extra excitement in my day, right? :)

Why, thank you!

After I got dressed for church Sunday, Speedy saw me and said, "You look pretty, Mommy!" (or something to that effect.) It was nice that he noticed!

And I get so many complaints about food. From Speedy. So when he says, "Delicious lunch, Mommy!" I do a double-take and really enjoy it. :)

We have so much fussing, nagging, etc. that it is quite refreshing when the kids say nice things. And seems so sweet coming from their little mouths. It's neat they are noticing things about people around them, not just so focused on themselves, too.

"uh wout?"

Honey has started sending herself to her room. One minute she's throwing a fit. Then, almost before I know she's gone, I'll hear "uh wout?" from her bedroom. (which means, "can I come out?") I guess she's picked up on the fact that big bro & sis get sent to their rooms to calm down when they are out of control. I wonder if she'll send herself to the principal's office when she's in school. :)