New dance costume

The only thing cuter than a little girl in soccer cleats is an excited little girl who just got her dance recital costume. We tried it on to make sure it fits and of course it was adorable.

This year is a alice and wonderland theme for one act, then a hula dance theme for another....can't wait to see her!

Zachey's Second Birthday

My sweet boy is two. I can't believe it! He has so many major milestones this year - too many to list really. But what I want to remember most about this time is his sweet demeanor. He loves giving bedtime kisses from everything to us to his toys, to the lightswitch (really....) He does really good at sharing as long as his sister is also in a sharing mood. He wants to make sure Rylee has some food too, and is so snuggly with his "jaffy" and "bankey." One little kiss makes every boo boo better and sometimes when he's tired he just wants to climb in my lap and just sit...I love these times!

Right now he LOVES Dora and Diego. He requests them every morning (usually we only watch on weekends or when he is up reallllly early.) He is so smart, able to count to 14 in english and 10 in spanish already (sure Dora has something to do with this!) He is very musical, and loves singing along to music with his sister. Like his father and sister, he loves noodles, and almost any fruit you stick in front of him....there really is little he doesn't eat! I just love the person he is becoming and can't wait to see what this year brings!

Today we had a small party for him this morning. I got up at 3am and started some pork shoulder in the crock pot, so by 11 it was fall apart yummy. We had pulled pork sandwiches, cake, chips and cupcakes. I wanted to have a curious george theme, so we got a few small decorations and I made monkey cupcakes. I also made a grown up cake in case the cupcakes were too much :)

 --monkey cupcakes....lots of work, but very cute--



--loved the happy birthday song and he blew out his candles-- 

--wasn't a fan of the hat-- 

--kenna maybe overly helping Zachey open gifts-- 

Zachey got great gifts, a car with tools from Auntie April; big wheel and game from gona and baca; puzzles, ball and book from Millers; books from Gentrys; and clothes, stuffed "jaffy" and bookshelf from all of us. He loved the singing and blowing out of candles and did great (with lots of help - maybe too much help from big sis) opening gifts.

Big Boy Room

Although not 100% finished, Zachey moved into his big boy room today! His clothes/books.changing table are still in his baby room (new baby's room) but we will transition those over slowly! He successfully took a 3 hour nap in his superman bed today, and we will see how tonight goes. Right now he is singing "e-i-n-e-o...." (his version of BINGO.) I will have to post some pictures when we are all done. He has a loft bed (with twin bed underneath) and built in dresser and desk. We painted the room a dark blue and the ceiling grey. We installed a ceiling fan that looks like the earth, so very superman-y/space-y.

Can't believe my little boy is in a big boy bed!!!

Botanical Center

I think Eski goes a little stircrazy in the winter. I would too with watching all those kids without them being able to run around! So I helped her take them all to the botanical center on Tuesday. Kenna really enjoyed doing the scavenger hunt and looking for different kinds of leaves. I was surprised at how much Zachey loved it. I can't WAIT to take him to the zoo this summer!

--Kenna and Adam on the upper deck-- 

--Zachey looking at the flowers-- 

--he LOVED the koi!--  

--so did his sister-- 

--this place is the perfect escape in the winter, so lush and warm, Zachey called it "the bubble" -- 

--the theme was rainbow, so rainbow activities were everywhere-- 

--kenna's getting hot, and sporting the half on half off look-- 

--arts and crafts projects they had for spring break crowd--

I don't think I would ever personally like to try and take 5 kids there by myself, but Eski was going to brave it with or without me...I needed a nap by the time I got back!

Silly Zachey Moments

Just some funny moments from our favorite comedian....Mr. Zachey....

--Mr Potato Head glasses....Kenna used to do this too :) -- 

--why I hate markers-- 

--Reason number 2 I hate markers-- 

--I scrubbed this for a long time today and it didn't come off...hmmmm what will people think?--

A Mommy Day and Zachey's stats

Thursday was such a crazy day...I have been trying to get the Murano in for service for weeks..and finally because of spring break I had a day to do so. Well, I forgot to have Josh take me to drop it off so the morning was spent trying to figure out how to get the Murano to the dealer with two kids in tow.

I ended up taking them to Eski's for a bit, ran the Murano to the dealer, got a ride home, installed carseats in the Acadia, ran to Eski's to grab the kids and headed to Zachey's 2 year doctor appointment (how is he 2 already???)

He was NOT happy about going. He had fun in the waiting room, but he is soooo particular about everything. He did NOT want to take his shoes off to be weighed. Luckily we got through that, but once in the check up room he was ANGRY that I was taking his clothes off. Screaming bloody murder shouting, "no, shirt, my pants....CLOTHES!" I tried all my tricks, singing, books, silly games, snuggles...to no avail. Finally he calmed down, and finally Bilgi came in to check him out. He did great for the check up and even shots really. Just was happy to get his clothes back on!

He weighed in at 27.5 lbs and was 34.5 inches tall. 50th percentile for both. Healthy happy boy! (Well when things are going his way!)

After that Kenna and I started our mommy day. Andrea and her kids came over for a play date. We rode bikes, ate lunch and ended up playing soccer at the park. Kenna was not really on her best behavior..she did share her bike with Kevin but about lost it when he didn't give it back :) I decided that she needed a nap to make the rest of the afternoon fun. She slept for an hour and was a TOTALLY different girl!

My sweet girl and I had a fun afternoon. We went and bought new sandals, ate ice cream and McKenna experienced a significant first...her FIRST PEDICURE. How fun was this for me! We went to a cute place that had little tiny pedicure chairs, just her size. She thought it was awesome that they rubbed her feet and that the water changed color. She picked out sparkly pink for her hands with plain pink for her toes. They even did a cute green flower as an accent. She was in heaven!

I had so much fun....she was so giggly and girly! I miss these days, just the two of us :)

--soaking her feet-- 

--that face says it all--

Exhausted

Someone sent me an email recently that said something along the lines of "I can't remember the last time I wasn't just a little bit tired." That really sums it up :) Today was a challenge! Two of Kenna's favorite friends were over at Eski's today (Sadie and Zowie.) So, Eski kept her up from nap, and Zachey also really didn't sleep. I got them a little early thinking we could enjoy the amazing 70 degree weather in MARCH!

We had fun but MAN they were cranky. Zachey got mad that his banana fell out of his peel, that he wanted to wear his winter coat and hat and I told him it was hot, that his bike didn't go as fast as Kenna's bike, that we had to put the bike away to eat dinner, that Kenna got the pink ball....the list goes on and on. His fuse is short these days and even shorter sans nap.

Kenna was very teenager-ish as well. Saying things like "whatever" and rolling her eyes, yelling at her brother, whining that the hill was too scary to go down on her bike...then she was playing with a neighbor friend and slammed her finger in the house door (small scratch really.) Well that ruined her night. And of course she did so when Zachey was in the bath, so I run outside with a mad, wet toddler trying to scoop up my screaming 4-year old and carry them both home. All this with a back that feels like someone is jabbing pins into it...

So I write this not to complain, but more to reflect upon if I ever decide that 4 babies is a good idea. This is my common sense post that is telling my future hormone induced biological clock....stop and think about it :) The day was fun overall, but I am totally going to bed at 8 o'clock...single parenting with giant belly sucks sometimes!

No, Honey

Apparently I call Josh and the kids Honey too much. Zachey has started to refer to me as Honey...as in "no no honey" or "s'okay honey" and even "sorry honey." When I asked him what my name was, he responded with..."ahhh.....honey?"

Hmmm...I suppose he will call me worse things throughout his life ;)

Kenna's New Sunglasses

She was kind enough to give Zachey her old ones that are too small. We've had quite a fun day, even though daddy had to work. At one point I totally fell asleep while the kids played in the playroom...hmm mother of the year award?

The kids have been great, but had to post this silly picture of them dancing around with sunglasses....too funny!

Major Milestones

No we haven't started potty training yet, but it seems Zachey has his achievements out of order :) He (out of the blue and through no prompting of us) can count to 14, and he can count to 10 in spanish. This was discovered this morning as he was counting his blocks "una, dos, thras, corto"...etc. Kenna also "read" a whole book last week on her own! I have been working with her on sounding out words and Josh found a very simple book using the "family of words" strategy. For instance "ake" family. So she would read, Cake, Bake, Snake, Rake, etc. Then the next few pages would be Snake on a Rake...she is doing so well that we went to the library today and got a whole bunch more! I love that she has such an interest in it! She is very patient and catching on quite quickly!!

100 Days and Counting

A few fun things happened over the last week! I hit a milestone for baby #3...less than 100 days, woohoo! Also last night was a kid free evening for us! McKenna got to go to Kade's last basketball game with Gona and Auntie Em. Then, she got to stay the night at Auntie Em's which she has been BEGGING to do for weeks. She told me that some of the highlights were playing with their little puppy Zowie; eating applesauce in Auntie Em's bed; and having muffins for dessert :)

Zachey got to have a fun night with Gona and Baca. Sounds like he was on his best charming behavior. And while the kids were away we had a good time reverting back to our pre-children days. We watched movies and caught up on Smallville. Then we went to dinner at one of my favorite places, Mojo's. Then we got to sleep in till 7:30 today, and I got my homework done!

So nice to have a lazy evening...just what the doctor ordered :)