From Preschool Questionnaire

I help Daddy by..."Putting the new rug on the floor"
I help Mommy by..."making Ruby smile" - how else will I get Ruby to look at me?

I wonder what else she says :)



More WW at 5 Minutes for Mom

Pass the chips please

Not quite yet but she will be saying that soon! I love avocado as our babes first food. Normally we don't start the kiddos so early on solids but Ruby stares longingly while we eat so I thought "What the heck, let's try". Of course I waited until Daddy could join us and share the experience. Here is how it went.

"Matt can you go out and get the booster from the garage" he comes in w/a booster "Nope that is the wrong one the other booster" him, grumbling under his breath at me for having 3 booster seats (is that excessive or just well prepared?). While he was getting the booster set up I mixed up the avocado and milk.


Big girl!


What's this???


Hmmm....


That was seriously good stuff!!!


Maybe she can have more at supper. Yet another milestone under our belts, woo hoo Ruby!!

What to do about the Swine Flu?

I was totally stressed about this when it first came to the US b/c Ruby was a newborn. What do we do as parents about protecting our babes from it though? Is it really as bad as they make it out to be - verdict is out for me on that. Before it was just do we or don't we get the flu shot but now with this whole Swine flu that is out there what to do, what to do? My husband gets the flu shot every year but I don't and neither have our girls. This year though we have Piper in preschool getting and bringing home germs and this little baby that we have to worry about. Can I say how much I love our pediatrician. I hope that everyone who is a parent loves theirs as much as I do. This is a person I can ask any question to and feel very comfortable with and most of all I trust her completely. She has helped educate us and we have come to our decision on what to do.

On a side note - this baby was not this happy when I took the picture, I am not sure how I got her to smile at all for me. We started her vaccinations Wednesday and she was mis.er.able! Poor thing. Anyway, I got the outfit she is wearing for Piper when she was 1 and Violet wore it at about 8-9 months and here is Ruby probably wearing it the only time at the ripe old age of 6 months! Yesterday was 87 or so degrees outside so I pulled it out - I am going to miss my babe's wool when she grows out of the last of it :( I so love the curled toes :)

Little Mama Violet

At 2 Piper wasn't as into babies as Violet is. Piper had her duck that she LOVED! Now our Violet has 8 babies and each of them has a name and PLEASE do not call them the wrong name "silly Mama"!



From left to right are
Naked baby, Bottle baby, Bear baby, Bunny baby, Bird baby, Tiki, Carseat baby (little baby), and Taylor Swift (how hard do you think I tried to get her to name her something else?)

The babies MUST sleep with her at night. 2 nights ago the babies took up so much room that Violet fell out of bed so they sleep at the foot of her bed now. Before going to sleep they have to change into their pajamas and then in the morning their daily clothes. Each girl is allowed to bring 1 item with them from our home when we run errands and Violet picks one of her babes every time. The part that is sometimes frustrating for me is that she has to dress them in special clothes to go run errands so we have started to solve that problem by me giving her a 5 minute warning and her babe of choice must be ready to go or she goes naked (which is perfectly acceptable for "Naked Baby" b/c she doesn't have any clothes anyway). Having our girls is really fun :)

6 months ago today

I was in labor. Fun times. But, from all that laboring came our beautiful little Ruby. Little, right she is almost 19 pounds. She lunges (her crawl), she rolls, she sits and plays. Ruby laughs at all the chaos that is life around here. She is so content as long as someone is near her. Those 2 teeth are just the beginning, bless her swollen gums :)



This little one doesn't like to sleep though, everyone has to have 1 bad habit right?



I can't believe that it was 6 months ago today. More WW at 5 Minutes for Mom

Flashdancers

What a feeling, bein's believin' (I am not really sure what bein's believin' means but...)



I smile when Violet comes out ready to face the world in her headband worn "Flashdance Style", leotard, and tutu. Sometimes it is just the headband and it is ALWAYS worn this way and don't ask her to change it! I am just happy to get out of the house some days so I go with it. What bothers me though are the comments from people telling her that she is wearing it wrong - really (???), she is 2. I tell them that we all like to wear them that way at our house.

I hope that neither of our girls lose that sense of individuality that they both have - it makes them special :)
and now the end of the chorus...
Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life




What post of mine lately wouldn't end in a picture of the dancers in our lives.

Around the yard

I am no green thumb so maybe if I was my flowers might still be blooming but alas they are not and we are going to have to face the fact it is time to get out there and cut everything back for another winter. Today while Violet rode her bike I walked around remembering what a nice summer we did have and how pretty everything did look. It was a dull overcast morning so it was nice to have those happy memories.

Our failed veggie garden - note to self that we don't actually need beans or peas and take a pass on planting them in the future :)



Our neighbor's hydrangea was so beautiful it inspired us to get our own. This is our second year enjoying this gorgeous plant. I even love how it looks now that the vibrant blue is gone.



The rhododendrons do so well, we have 5 of them all white. This one was ready to bloom but for whatever reason decided not to - a broken promise.



Dahlias didn't do much all year until now when everything else is dead :) Oh well, it is nice to see our little red burst of color - unfortunately it is against brown now though.



and finally the reason that I was outside walking around planning my husband's Sunday fall garden cleanup afternoon - our Violet the little bike riding diva herself!

Whoever said less is more

wasn't playing with glitter. Piper and Violet say the more sparkle the better! This is Piper's 1st "official" homework assignment for preschool. The family decorated this masterpiece, btw it weighs a TON!



I have a friend who I thought of while the girls were decorating. She is a lady that loves her some glitter and sparkle! Shawna, Piper is a girl after your own heart :)

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Indian Summer Shirt and Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

Another beautiful outfit - how does this mama do it when she is pregnant? I couldn't get off the couch that 1st trimester and look at her making gorgeous outfits that would fit my girl to.a.tee!
Indian Summer Shirt and Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!!

One Tooth, Two Tooth

Teeth, teeth, teeth.
How many teeth can Ruby cut this week?

2, that is right 2 (so far)!!! Why am I a zombie? Why am I seeing double? There it was yesterday - her other bottom front tooth. Ruby is teething like crazy and not sleeping at night! Not that she ever did but this getting up every couple of hours is NUTS! Babies grow up too fast :( Maybe this blog will make more sense in another few weeks when I am back to her only getting up every 3 hours :) - I will feel like a new woman with all that extra sleep!

Preschool for Piper - Week 2

I am really not sure when it will get easier for me to drop my baby off at preschool. It has to happen eventually right? She looks shyly at me as they unbuckle her and I tell her I love her and off she goes. 3 hours later she is full of stories of what she had done that day. Yet I am still so sad when I drop her off - why?

Piper starts back with dance again tomorrow night. Violet will start back to her "ballerina" class at a local gym Wednesday night. She will get to join Piper in ballet when she turns 3 but is happy for now to return to the fun, fun, fun class she knows and loves. Last week, as usual, the girls played in their "ballerina" outfits so with Ruby sleeping I started snapping. I may put one of these up in their room (which is ALMOST DONE!!!)

Hello little tooth

Besides her nursing around the clock we would never have known that our Ruby just cut her first tooth. It popped through on Tuesday (9.8.09) this past week. Awww, crawling and now this! Piper starting preschool, Violet potty trained - this is one sad mama b/c her bebes are getting so big :( Don't be fooled by this photo though, she is NOT standing yet. We have a little walker outside that we put her in to cruise around the driveway and b/c it is rough concrete she has to wear shoes. These were Piper's first shoes (and they're not bronzed *gasp*) - boy did we ever get out money out of them :)

How about this for a first dance

I saw this somewhere and had to post about it. What a fun couple! I LOVE THIS!

Made by Rae Jackpack Backpack GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I love, love, love this! Did I mention that I love this?
Made by Rae Jackpack Backpack GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Preschool for Piper

What started out as a great idea back in the spring is leaving me feeling empty today. Piper will be leaving for kindergarden next year so we thought it would be a good idea to send her to preschool this year to get her used to a school setting. Probably a month ago I started having regrets about our decision. Problem is she is so darned excited to go! This summer we let her attend VBS for a week and she loved it. Now this over protective mama needs to let her spread her wings a little bit. I know she will have fun and the school is fabulous and it is only 3 days a week - see still talking myself into driving her there :)



and this is the face of a girl who isn't looking back - full steam ahead!



More WW at 5 Minutes for Mom

Big Sister

Piper has the ability to tick Violet off as quickly as she can calm her down. Violet calls for Piper to help her with many of the things that she struggles with during the day. For a 2 year old that is dressing and undressing her baby, dressing and undressing herself, reaching for the lightswitch, or helping her find random lost items. They will fight like crazy, I am sure of it, but at the end of the day I hope that they end up best friends.



When I typed that title I started humming the Big Brother/Big Sister song from Caillou - the girls LOVE that PBS show, mama on the other hand :)

A few days in Hotlanta

Matt had to work in Atlanta this past weekend and when he does I usually pack us up and join him. This time though it was very last minute as we didn't think we were going to be able to go along but it all worked out at the end. We headed down on Thursday night and what a treat for mama - I didn't have to drive! The cutest thing was Violet telling everyone we saw while there or on our way there that we were going to "Hotlanta" - LOVE IT and the folks from there got a huge kick out of her :)

Friday we spent the morning with Matt and had breakfast and then the girls and I headed to an outlet mall. I know what you are thinking, "I'll bet that they had fun there" but we did! We had a mission to find them bedding for their new beds (which we will get this week) and although we didn't find them any it was still a fun girls day and I let them play at the playground 3 times to break up the stores we went to. We actually only went to about 4 stores total but spent time in each of them. Hit that fabulous Atlanta traffic on our way back to the hotel room but kicked back to some yummy Mexican and a margarita with daddy when we got back. It was right next door so we walked, the girls love to walk places now - hilarious!

Saturday was our zoo day. What was I thinking? Labor Day weekend and the zoo, hmmm... What I should have been thinking was that it would have been better to do it on Friday and shop Saturday but I wanted to have the whole day for the zoo. We did have fun even with the crowds. The animals were all out and having a good day. A lemur came running from the other side of the cage to where the girls and I were standing and hung out there for a bit. They asked me to take these pictures of them but when I started to they wouldn't look or smile.





Sunday on our way home we detoured off the highway to visit a little store North of the city. The American Girl Store. As expected our oldest daughter was in doll heaven. Piper thought she might want to ask Santa for one this year for Christmas and now she is certain. She has it narrowed down between 2 - now which will she choose? Decisions, decisions :) Violet, our finally potty trained big girl, who always wanted a scooter when she was fully potty trained asked for a baby instead. We agreed and now she is the proud owner of a new baby - she is currently deciding on a name :)

Now we are home, Matt is back at work today (isn't it Labor Day you ask?), and the girls and I are going to get laundry done and get our lives semi back to reality.

A baby's rhyme

Mirror, mirror on the ground.
Who is the most adorable Ruby around?



darn dirty mirror *shaking head*

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And we're off...

For the family far away (and Daddy at work) Ruby FINALLY crawled on video. After many failed attempts to lure her to me while I had our Flip out and on she decided today she would "crawl" so that everyone could (virtually) see what a big girl she is getting to be!

I wonder

There were so many things that I always said "I will never do this" or "I will never do that" regarding parenting. I was never going to cosleep b/c the kids belong in their cribs (!!!), I was going to quit nursing at 6 months or "maybe I would make it to a year", the ONLY reason that kids beg for McDonald's is b/c parents bring them there and I was NEVER going to bring my kids there. Well so much for best laid plans b/c we have a family bed, I nursed Violet until she was closer to 2 and although I was able to avoid McD's for awhile after I got preggo w/Violet I started craving it and now my girls look longingly at the golden arches whenever we drive by. That list could really go on and on. I also said that I would not parent the way that I was parented b/c I have no relationship (a real one anyway) with the woman who on paper is my mother.I wrote about Mary before and how I was raised by my Great Grandparents (which was very, very good!!) but I have not written about my teenage years and I am not sure I ever will. What does worry me is how can I assure myself that I will have a good relationship with my daughters if I have nothing to base a good relationship on? I have been yelling so much lately at the older 2 girls. Why do they have to start screaming at each other JUST when Ruby finally closes her eyes to nap waking her up? "BECAUSE THEY ARE 4 AND 2 YEARS OLD!!" I tell myself AFTER I get done yelling at them and many times sending them to play in their rooms. I am SO NOT FUN to be around a lot of the time right now and I worry what this might do to my relationship with Piper. I single our oldest out b/c of her personality. Violet just goes on being Violet but I see Piper's eyes and how she looks at me. I hear her telling Violet not to do certain things when she doesn't know I am listening so that they won't get in trouble. I have so much guilt about this and it is weighing so heavily on me. So I wonder what kind of mother I will be now. Will I be that mama that yells all the time which is actually (sadly) how I was raised or will I be able to rise above this all and be the mother who's daughters WANT to tell their secrets to or when they get older and move on want to call and it not seem like a chore. I don't want them running from our home at their first opportunity to escape living with me. I wonder how to find that road which will bring me to being the mom my girls and I both want me to be.