Leah is SO like me is some ways it is kinda scary. Last night we were “playing” Rummycube. She really liked how the numbers would go in order better than the pairs. So we ended up making all the rows of numbers. I showed her how you could match up the colors and she got really excited. Here is what we did:
Then this afternoon she was playing with the tiles by herself. Here is what I saw:
Is she my daughter or what?
For some reason I am considering doing cloth diapers this time. If you are at all interested, I just read a blog that taught me a lot. This woman has two boys 7 and 5 and twins at 3 yrs old and then twins that are like 6-7 months. She is truly super mom! But here is a link to her cloth diaper entry (yes, she has cloth diapered and breastfed them all).
For Mike’s birthday, Leah helped me pick out a Lego Creator building set for him. This is the one she chose:
It makes 3 different air vehicles. Every so often after Erin goes to bed, we will let Leah stay up and make another creation with Daddy. She has gotten pretty good at it (with help, some of these pieces are TINY) and it is really fun for both of them. I am so glad we found something they really enjoy doing together. There are mini sets that are only like $8 that would make good small rewards for her too. Finally something I know she likes!
Mandi and Barry came to visit us kinda last minute this weekend. We had SUCH a good time playing lots of games and hanging out in general. I miss you, girl!
Seriously Loaded Questions is one of the most fun games we have. We get out of breath from laughing every time we play. You should own it and play. It’s lots of fun!
Also, Erin has informed me (abetted by Leah) that she wants to have a Little Einsteins birthday party. So any ideas on food, games, crafts, decorations, invitations, goodie bags, etc. appropriate for a 2 yr old’s birthday party?
This is going to be a busy week:
Monday-Class at The Little Gym for Erin with playgroup
Tuesday-playdate at my house
Wednesday-Free kids movie and Kenna’s birthday
Thursday-Bounce place and lunch with playgroup
Friday-dr appt for me, Leah has an art mini camp 2-5pm, then she attends a birthday party from 6-7:30 at the same art place
I love it!!!
Just daily life happening over here. This past week Leah had gymnastics camp. To say she loved it is an understatement. Everyday she told me she couldn’t wait to go back and on the last day she asked me when she could start weekly classes. I asked her if she was sure she wanted to do gymnastics instead of ballet next year and she said in a sarcastic tone, “Yes, I already told my teacher that.” Tumble Tigers starts August 24 and Leah CANNOT wait. I think we will be attending Wednesdays at 2:45.
Swimming has been a favorite here lately. At the beginning of the summer I was worried about going to the water park alone with the girls. Erin is so active and independent, I was nervous about watching her while giving Leah a little bit of freedom. Turns out that taking them both is super easy. Leah has become such a confident swimmer that I don’t have to keep so close to her when she can touch.
And Erin! I had never tried just floaties because I thought she was too small for them. Well, Mike tried them a couple of weeks ago and she took off. She swims all over in just floaties like such a big girl. They both love the slides and I can sit in the shallows and watch them go round and round. And Leah will go on the big blue slide all by herself a few times too. Today I took them and Tiff came with her crew. Tiff’s girls, Porter, and Leah went on the big slide so many times and Erin stayed by me and went on the smaller slides. Everyone had such a great time and no one wanted to go home. But here we are, Erin napping and Leah watching a DVD in her room on the portable DVD player. And I get to relax!!!
So I need some advice/recommendations. Erin is becoming such a difficult child! She does not listen hardly at all. She ignores, laughs at me when I ask her to come to me, and kicks/hits/tackles the cat constantly. Time outs seem to have no effect and I do not want to spank unless absolutely necessary. I don’t know how that works at this age anyway. So you guys have anything? Advice, book recommendations, anything? I am at a loss…
Erin began Mike’s birthday with a 6am wake-up call for me. I of course let Mike sleep in until 8 when I had banana chocolate chip muffins waiting for him. We gave him his present (a Lego Creator). Then he worked from home throughout the morning. I put Erin down for her nap and Mike took Leah on a few errands while I napped. They went on a Daddy/Daughter date to Target and Five Guys for a burger lunch. Mike came home and said, “It was so much fun, just being out with one kid!” (and I’m sure it being Leah made it even more fun) Mike bought water balloons to play with and he did a few with the kids this evening. We are planning to have a cook out tomorrow and more water balloon play. Roasted chicken, sweet potatoes and parsnips are on the menu tonight with crepes for dessert. Tomorrow it is steaks (we plan to not burn them this time), bacon ranch potato salad, corn on the cob, and banana pudding for dessert. Hope Mike had a good birthday!
Love you honey!
I don’t know what I am going to do when Erin learns how to open doors. She has learned how to take the doorknob guard OFF the doorknob. So once she can open doors, she has the roam of upstairs at night and naptime. Tiff suggested that I turn the doorknob around and lock her in. I may have to resort to that. Oy!
Also, this morning I closed Erin in the bathroom with me so I could take a shower. Leah was in my room reading a book. She got excited and came in to show me something and let Erin out of the bathroom while I was showering. Of course Erin was not interested in coming back in, so I just had to hope that they would behave. I guess Leah decided to be little Mama and was trying to get Erin back in because then I heard a LOT of yelling and crying. So I was banging on the wall of the shower saying things like, “Everyone will be in time out when I get out!” It was kinda funny looking back on it now. I felt like Bill Cosby. I cam only imagine what it will be like with more kids to fight with.
That was the motto for this cruise. We even had T-shirts made with that motto on the back. Without going into too much detail, here is my photo essay…
Looking out over the bow of the ship as we sail down the Mississippi
This is how the trip began, me & Dad
This is our girls pic from the first night (the only night I managed to make it out to the club to dance)
My favorite towel animal, the walrus!
Zac & Jimmy, my soon-to-be brother-in-law at dinner
The rest are in Mexico.
Zac brought his friend Brian as his “date” and Brian was pretty trashed the entire time (LOVE the sombreros)
The touristy little fountain
We took this one at Carlos & Charlie’s, which is apparently a well known restaurant/bar in Cozumel
Mike rode the gator out of Mexico
And I got to jump out of a cake
I was a wuss and went to bed by like 11 every night. I couldn’t help it! There was smoking in all of the bars and lounges too so I wanted to limit myself on the amount of second-hand smoke. But I got a LOT of quality time with various family members. And a good amount of relaxation, even though we were exhausted when we got home. You almost always need a vacation after a vacation. 
I am SO happy to be home with my kiddos though. It’s funny, at lunch on the 3rd day away I told Mike that I was doing much better than I had thought as far as being sad and missing the kids. And 30 seconds later, some kid in the restaurant cries and says, “Mama!” and I LOST it. I started bawling. It only lasted about a minute but it was ironic. All in all I was happy to be away and extremely happy to come home.
