Spotlight

On Easter Sunday, the Little Mister was spotlighted in Primary.  They had the teachers help the kids answer the questions so I was a little surprised by some of his answers.  I'm sure they were influenced in part by the teacher and/or the answers of the other little kids.  Since I know I will lose the sheet, I wanted to make sure I recorded his sweet little answers.

Age:  3
I have 4 people in my family.
My favorite food is:  pineapple (this was news to me)
My favorite thing about Primary is:  taking turns (only when it's his turn, I'm sure, because when he doesn't get picked he cries)
I Choose the Right by:  being reverent
One of my favorite things to do is:  ride my bike
My favorite scripture story is:  the Creation (I'm not really sure he knows what that is)
The most important thing I've learned in life so far is:  my sister is special :)

Double Booked

This past weekend Brad did the MudRun with some guys from church.  It was his second year doing it.  It was cold, and they were muddy, but still all smiles.  He had a lot of fun.

Last year the kids and I went to watch but this year we were busy doing our own 5k for Palmetto Hearts.  The Little Mister has a sweet little friend with a heart condition (although you wouldn't know it by seeing her or talking to her, she is the sweetest, cutest, little thing), so we went to support her and her mommy.  I am proud to say I ran the whole way.  And I'm using that term "ran" very lightly.  I was slow, but I was pushing two kids.  In fact, up the last loooong hill, I was barely even passing the walkers.  One sweet man who was running with his son asked if I wanted help pushing the stroller up the hill.  I said no, I wanted to prove I could do it, but I think if he would have asked me just a little further up that hill I would have taken him up on the offer.  And if he was actually trying to steal my kids and run off with them, there would have been no way for me to catch him.  It was a perfect day though, nice and cool and the neighborhood and lake we ran around were beautiful.

I'm not a runner.  I really don't enjoy it.  I do like the feeling afterwards that I have accomplished something, but during the run, not so much.  I only recently started to run again and I think it's only because they put in a small playground in our neighborhood so I can run around the neighborhood and then let the kids out to play.  It's a nice way to spend a morning actually. 

I have learned a few things though.  I hate to run when it's over 75 degrees - and really probably over 70.  Or sunny.  Which explains why my fastest, longest, runs were when I lived in Washington.  I prefer hilly areas to flat, as long as the hills aren't too long.  I guess I like the change up of using different muscles.  And it feels like more of an accomplishment to get up a hill than to, say, a street sign.  Also, I really don't mind pushing a stroller.  Sure, it's more work, but it takes all the pressure off...I can be super slow and people (even in the neighborhood) go out of their way to say encouraging words.  I don't have to worry about having any sort of good form, and I can lean on the stroller up the hills.

For the past year or so Brad has been running a 5k about every month.  I'm hoping maybe I can join him from time to time.  Although, he's way faster, so stroller or not, I will be running my own slow pace :)

Spring is in the air...

We've been enjoying the warm, almost summer-like conditions over the past few weeks and spending as much time outdoors as possible.



First Easter egg hunt of the season.  Baby sister isn't quite sure what to do.



The Mister is off to a running start!

 Bubbles on the patio

 This is the face I get when I ask him to "smile big"

Awwww, if they were only always this sweet to each other :)

 Getting ready for the neighborhood egg hunt.

 The Mister takes egg finding very seriously.

 Baby Sister, on the other hand, takes her time.

 Not everyone was happy about the number of eggs they got :(

 Coloring Easter eggs OUTSIDE.  It's the only safe place to do it!

 It's all fun and games until someone starts dumping cups of dye and mixing colors together.

 Brad and I got a new tent for Easter.  It's huge (possibly as big as my freshman dorm room - ok, not that big).  The kids love playing in it and we can't wait to go camping!!!

 I had to throw in a shot of Easter morning.  The Mister was so excited about his new toys - especially the binoculars and lantern.  Baby Sister was just all about the candy.

In their Easter best, being as cute as can be

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Easter feast.

 Taking a break from finding eggs to enjoy a treat.

Searching high and low for the last eggs.

Happy Easter!

One and a half

My teeny tiny baby (ok, she was never that tiny), is getting soooo big. And cute. I guess that is to be expected, she has had 18 months + to practice.

18 month stats:

Height:  33 3/4 inches.  If these measurements are completely accurate, and I'm sure they are not, she is about a half inch taller than the Mister was at this age.

Weight:  21 lbs 12 oz.

Teeth:  11.  She has her first set of molars, all four front teeth on top but just three on the bottom. 

Sleep:  Still about 11 hours at night plus a two hour nap.  And for the most part she is sooo easy to put to bed and I love that about her.

Favorites: 

Foods:  Bananas, anything chocolate, yogurt, cereal.  Some mornings she will eat three bowls of cereal.

Toys:  Babies (but mostly because the Mister is always trying to take them away from her), playdough, and a little Simon doll (of Alvin and the Chipmunks) from McDonald's that she calls "Sauce".

Songs:  "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes", and the "Wise Man".  Also anything that anyone will sing to her, especially if it has hand motions.

Games:  Hide & Seek...but mostly the hiding part. 

Other favorites:  Dancing and drawing.  She will lay down on her tummy like she is really serious about what she is coloring.  But her #1 favorite of all is getting into Mom's makeup.  Oops!

Most afternoons, after a quick story and song I put her in her crib (awake) and then go take a shower.  Usually when I go check on her after 10 minutes or so she is fast asleep.  Recently, I went in to check on her assuming she was asleep since I hadn't heard a peep.  However, she was sitting up in her crib hiding under her blanket.  I'm guessing she was playing peek-a-boo by herself :)

She loves to sit on the potty even though she hasn't succesfully gone yet.  But I hope all this practice will make potty training easier when the time comes.  I got lucky last time around, I sure hope it's that easy again.

I love having a girl to dress up.  Boys clothes are cute, but let's face it, with girls there are so many more options.  And accessories.  OH, the accessories!  The only thing is, I thought I would have more time where I got to choose the outfits.  Not so with Baby Sister.  She frequently will get her heart set on wearing a certain pair of pants (or shorts in the winter!), shoes, or insist on which jacket she wears.  She's very assertive!  But, her favorite outfit of all seems to be a shirt, no pants, some sort of shoes and typically a hat or hair bow. 

She often requests a hair bow before going to bed.  Once she woke up in the middle of the night and refused to be put back into her bed until I put a bow in her hair.

Baby Sister has entered that phase where her vocabulary just seems to be exploding.  She says a new word almost every day and sometimes more than one new word.  Or, she will become more precise on words she's already saying, such as: "outside" instead of just "side".  Some of my favorite words that she says are:

siiiwy (silly)

pitty (pretty)

cuss (necklace)

boos (spoon)

blblblblblblb (banana)

fuff (can mean any animal but most frequently dog or horse)
bye, bye sue (bye, bye, see you)
I doot (I do it)
snacksie, jucie (or anything else she can add "ie" to)

Probably six weeks or a month ago she said her first phrase.  It was "go away" :(  She said it to Little Mister.  At church.  Quite loudly.  During the prayer.  I probably shouldn't have, but I laughed.  I love to see her standing up for herself.

When answering in the affirmative, rather than saying yes, she says "do" or "I do".  I love it.

What a doll!  She is so squishy, and cute, and sweet and sassy and I just love watching her grow.