OMG, I'm pregnant!

For some reason it took along time for me to let my guard down with this pregnancy. It may be because I have known more moms to have experienced a miscarriage or maybe because they were unable to hear the heartbeat at my 11 week appointment (an ultrasound later that day found that the baby was in fact okay, but I never got to hear the heartbeat). I'm not sure why. I had my 16 week appointment yesterday. They found the heartbeat right away and it sounded great. For some reason, that is all I needed. I have been on edge for the past 16 weeks, but I'm willing to accept it now. I'm wearing maternity clothes and added my due date to my name tag at ECFE. I'm going to have another baby. wow.

Santa at Choo Choo Bob's

Santa makes a stop Choo Choo Bob's every year. It's always on a Sunday so I am never able to go because I'm at work. But Tim has faithfully brought the kids for the past 2 years. This is as close as Oliver got last year and Amelia did not even get that far. Notice the nice outfit and nicely combed hair.

This year they both sat on Santa's lap. I was shocked. I did not think they were actually going to make it up there. Notice the hair and outfits this year. Despite the hair and clothes I think this is one of the most precious pictures I have of the kids.

Oliver telling Santa what he wants for Christmas. He's growing up.

Great pictures dad! You rock!

My Dynamic Duo

Here is Halloween 2009. Oliver is Super Oliver and Ameila is supposed to be a lady bug. She was very jealous of Oliver's mask and cape so I made a second set for her thinking she would be over it by Halloween. Boy was I wrong. She was so proud of that mask and cape. She would barely take them off. So, Amelia went as Super Ladybug. She even won a costume contest at the Lee's Halloween party. Oliver did not enjoy dressing up as much. He gets that from me. He did end up wearing the whole costume Halloween night, mask and all. We had a great time.

One more reason why I love our dump trucks

Year-round fun.

Amelia's Favorites

These answers are straight from Amelia's mouth. Just kidding. I answered them to the best of my ability for her.

Animal? squirrel

Toy? her baby

Show? Dora

Book? Good Night Moon

Food? yogurt

Drink? juice

Song? Upside Down- Jack Johnson

Thing to do? jump on the bed

Color? pink

Number? 1

Letter? too soon to tell

Clothes? everything! She loves dressing up.

Candy? anything

Sesame Street character? Elmo

Thing to do on the playground? everything. She does it all.

CD? Curious George (soundtrack- Jack Johnson)

Thing to play with Dad? read books

Thing to play with Mom? sing songs and dance

Thing to play with Oliver? play chase

Oliver's Favorites

My friend Emilie is a brilliant woman and she has wonderful ideas...so I copied her. These answers are straight from Oliver's mouth. There were no suggestions or editing, just Oliver's growing mind.

Animal? zebra

Toy? Thomas the Tank Engine

Show? Thomas

Book? Thomas

Food? string cheese

Drink? juice

Song? Be Ok- Ingrid Michaelson

Thing to do? play at North Dale

Color? blue

Number? 3

Letter? 1

Clothes? Thomas shirt

Candy? sucker

Sesame Street character? Elmo

Thing to do on the playground? play with my dump truck

CD? Curious George (soundtrack- Jack Johnson)

Thing to play with Dad? play hide and seek

Thing to play with Mom? play hide and seek

Thing to play with Amelia? play chase

The Best $23 Dollars I've Ever Spent

We got Oliver his yellow dump truck for his 2nd birthday. I had no idea that we bought him the coolest toy in the world. I found the black one with flames on it at a garage sale for $3 a few months after getting the first one. I felt sort of silly because he already had one, but I couldn't pass it up

I am so happy that I got that black one because now Amelia gets her own. She loves to follow her brother around pushing their trucks. Oliver dubbed the yellow one Amelia's and the black one his.

These trucks have spend the majority of the summer either at a park or in the van or stroller on the way to a park. When it came time to load up the van for a park trip, Oliver would grab his truck and load it into his side and Amelia would driver her's to her side of the van. It was really sweet. The real adventures began at the park. Oliver quickly learned what slides at North Dale would send his truck flying through the air and get the most distance. He also learned that this was not a good idea if the playground was busy. These truck have also been very helpful in teaching sharing. If you bring it to the park, you better be willing to share it.

After the park, the trucks often got washed in the sprinkler or pool.

Yes, the trucks are a little banged up and dirty, but look what they've been through. I have a feeling, with their lifetime warranty, they will be the toy of choice for quite some time.

One argument I never thought I'd have

Oliver: mom, I want broccoli and cheese for lunch.

Me: okay that sounds great.

(After burning 2 out of 3 grilled cheeses and frantically getting lunch together)

Me: Oliver, I think we should save the broccoli for tomorrow. I have too much going on and it takes a while to cut up and cook.

Oliver: NOOOOO. I want the broccoli today for lunch. It's okay, I'll wait for it.

Me: alright, I'll get to it in a minute.

How old is she?

I always get asked how old Amelia is at the playground. When I answer 18 months, I feel like people don't believe me. I thought it was because she was so big, but I'm starting to understand that she's just very adventurous and pretty good at it. I didn't really understand it until I was going through our pictures from our recent park outing at Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater.

Here is Amelia swinging from the bar at the top of the slide.

Rock climbing.

You can't really tell, but she's 6 feet off the ground. I'm taking the picture looking up at her. I'm not going to lie, my heart was racing. I made her come down and she was not happy.

She would rock climb up the wall to get to the bridge then go down the big slide on the left of the picture. She got so good at it I was able to sit back and watch her from the blanket. She's our daredevil all right and I promise she's only 18 months (well almost 19 now).

Sunflower

Here is our sunflower (the tall one) before the storm knocked it down. It was a very fun project to do with the kids. Tim and the kids planted the seed in a tiny pot. Once it got too big for the pot we planted it in the ground outside. Oliver checked on it everyday and would comment on how tall it was. It went from "look mom it's almost as tall as Amelia," "it's as tall as me," "it's as tall as you are". He didn't know where to go after "it's taller than dad". It was just starting to bloom. Those 3 flowers on the top were the first. There were so many buds that I was excited to see bloom.

I guess that's how I feel about my kids. We plant a tiny little seed and watch them grow. And you never know what you're gong to get. We planted sunflower seeds from one placket and got 2 different varieties. The tall one and a shorter one with smaller flowers. I love seeing the currents blooms, but am always anxiously awaiting the new flowers. The only difference is that I protect my kids better than I did that flower, thank goodness. It was a great lesson in life.... for me. The kids could care less that the darn flower is gone.

All day long!

This is what I've been seeing all day long lately. She has been so whiny and cranky. She follows me from room to room whining. Good thing she's so darn cute.

That's Amelia.

Right after I took this picture I realized that it captured the "real" Amelia. She's got her big cloth diaper butt with dirt on it, upside down in the middle of the alley, with red rubber boots and a big smile on her face. Amelia is my very klutzy, carefree, silly, happy little girl who loves footwear. She keeps me smiling, that's for sure.

My new mommy mantra

Many of you know I am on a a mission to better myself. Many of you also know I read a new book that has really helped me out. "Even June CLeaver Would Forget the Juice Box", by Ann Dunnewold. Here is a summary of the books "mommy mantras": (you can click on the image to make them bigger)

I have a copy of this on my fridge and read it daily. Many of these ideas seem very common sense, but I was not following them. I was freaking out and feeling guilty that my kids were not eating organic strawberries or that I raised my voice at Oliver when he miss behaved. I feel like this book has really helped center me and bring me back down to earth. I am trying and for the most part succeeding at being a "perfectly good mother." I highly recommend this book.

My passion

I added two whole new gardens this year and all I bought was one grass plant. This is a bouquet made entirely of flowers that are growing in my gardens. Every single one of them were graciously given to me when friends or family divided their gardens. The Purple Cone Flower is from my friend Rena, the Hydrangea is from my sister's mother in law, Cathi, and the Hostas and Lilies are from my mom. It's a cheap gift that keeps on giving. Thanks guys! Every time I look at my garden I know I am loved. I will have some plants/love to share come fall.

Fine motor skills...check

Oliver got some bead from a garage sale for $.25 and really wanted to make a necklace. I got out some yarn and a kids plastic needle. Oliver strung two beads and was done. Amelia, on the other hand sat there for 20 minutes stinging beads. She got really into it. I think I have been so focused on large motor activities, because that's what Oliver prefers. I need to pull out crafty activities more often (which I am not against one bit).

Sculpture Gardens

We went on an outing to Loring Park and the Sculpture Gardens today. I wanted to go somewhere that the kids have never been to (or in Oliver's case remembers). The goal for the outing was for me to relax and for the kids to have fun. I have been getting really anxious in public places lately and since have been reading a lot about it. I wanted to test some of my new skills. I think I was successful and the kids seemed to really enjoy it.

So sweet and yet sour

Yep, that's Amelia eating a lemon. She loved it.

Life's more than sugar content

I had an eye opening mommy experience on Friday. The kids and I walked up to the convenience store on the corner to get some rubbing alcohol (for the sofa catastrophe). I decided they could have a treat. Oliver went for the safe plain M & M's like we always do. For some reason I felt like comparing the sugar content between plain M&M's and Fun Dip. Believe it or not they were fairly comparable (I say fairly, because there was math involved. M&Ms are 1 serving where Fun Dip is 3). I decided to let the kids in on a well kept secret, sugar in sugar form. We paid for our treat and alcohol and headed home through the alley. Oliver was holding the candy and I remember thinking, "I hope no mom sees me letting my kid buy Fun Dip". For some reason in my mind sugary candy= bad parenting. We hurried home.

We all sat down on the kiddie picnic table. I handed a sugar stick to Oliver and the other to Amelia, I can use my finger. We open the first pack and I had to take a few minutes to teach them how to eat this special candy. As we enjoyed our sugar I started thinking. This is exactly what I want to be doing right now on this nice summery day. The kids (heck, we all) were excited, but calm and engaged. I was not thinking about the dishes or dust. They were taking turns, waiting patiently and bonding with each other. I was not pulling Oliver off Amelia. They were developing their fine motor and verbal skills. I was fully engaged. Most importantly, they were having fun with their mom. We all had big smiles on our faces. Priceless.

I'm working on becoming a "perfectly good mom" and trying to let some of the high expectations I have for myself go. They are MY kids. Why am I putting so much pressure on myself and them because of what others may think or say? F them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not planning on having Fun Dip daily, but I want to let my kids be kids. A little sugar, TV, sun exposure, dirt, dust, clutter etc is not going to kill them. This isn't going to change overnight, but like I said I'm working on it. I want my kids to look back on their childhood and say we had fun with our mom, not we always ate healthy and the dishes were always done and there was always lessons to be learned. I need to relax, breathe and enjoy. May there be many more "fun dip" moments ahead.

Incase you're wondering, yes the kids survived and they slept great that night.

Snip Snip- Amelia's First Haircut

Amelia's hair has been in her eyes for months and it was driving me crazy. It needed to be cut. I didn't want to take her to a professional and risk them cutting her new curls off. I just wanted her bangs trimmed. Well, I'm not paying someone $16 when I am fully capable of doing it on my own. She was very compliant and only needed a squirt bottle for distraction.

Yes, we're still in our pajamas. It was only 8:30am.

She looks like such a big girl.

T Ball here we come...well kind of

Tonight was Oliver's first t-ball practice. He was pretty apprehensive and confused. In all fairness it was 98 degrees and there where kids and parents everywhere. He didn't want to hit the ball and Tim practically carried him to first base. He turned it around mid way through and was able to have some fun. By the end he was a real "slugger". He's growing up so fast. I love you Buga bo!

Can you tell he missed his nap today?

The Lotion Incident

Today I got out of the shower to find Amelia covered in lotion. She took my big bottle of pump lotion out of the bathroom and covered herself. I thought she was being a little too quiet.

Here is a video of the lotion incident but you'll have to watch it sideways. I always forget to turn the camera the right way when I turn it to the video function. Arrrggggg!

Gone Fishing

My parents bought Oliver a fishing pole for his birthday a few months ago. My dad promised him that once it got nice out he would bring him fishing on his boat. SInce then, any time I casually mention that the weather looks nice out Oliver says, "nice enough to go fishing on Grandpa Macy's boat?" If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I'd be rich. My parents FINALLY invited us for a boat ride on Friday. My dad brought his tackle box to get his pole ready (it still had the safe rubber tire weight it came with on it), and also some worms he dug up on the back yard. Oliver was stoked!

Here is his first fish! Well, actually grandpa casted it and a fish immediately took the bait. "Here Oliver, grab the pole you caught a fish." I don't really count this as his first fish.

THIS is his first fish! He casted it, watched the bobber go down, set the hook and reeled it in all by himself. I couldn't believe it. Could a natural fisherman be born to a vegetarian mom and a dad that doesn't like fish?

We had so much fun fishing. Thanks mom and dad.

What I actually heard today

Tim: Oliver, do not stick your penis in the fan

Oliver: Why?

Tim: Because it will hurt, trust me.

Memorial Weekend

I need a vacation from our long weekend.

Snack time at the Heisels'

Tea Party

We had a tea party yesterday. Amelia was pouring tea, Oliver was handing out the deserts and I was able to relax. The air tea and plastic chocolate truffle were to die for. Oliver's imagination is blossoming and Amelia is socially interacting more. We all enjoyed ourselves.

The minute Oliver saw me taking out my camera he scrambled to find a truck. Yes, the truck ate desserts and drank tea, but doesn't it look like a manly tea party now. I'm not entirely sure all of this was playing out the same way in Oliver's head, but it was a great sequence of events.

Freezies

Why do I seem to get the coolest pictures when my kids are eating freezies?

That's Meeko, my mom and dad's dog.

Take that

Notice who is on top.

Our new dog

His name is Oliver. He likes when you talk to him in the high pitched doggie sort of way. He is very good at fetching things. He is very compliant and loves to be patted on the head when he follows directions. If Oliver the boy is being crabby I can ask for Oliver the dog to help me and his demeanor instantly changes. I wonder how long this little trick is going to work. The only downfall- slobbery toys.