Monday, December 29, 2008

Photo Christmas-Holiday Offerings

The other day I briefly mentioned four Christmases. I wasn't joking. (I kinda wish I was, as there really can be too much of a good thing...) The pictures I posted here were from celebrating Christmas the Sunday before the 25th with my mom and my sisters. On Tuesday before the big day, we celebrated at my dad's house with my sisters. The following pictures are just a small snapshot of that one:

Princess gear was the big hit with Kate this year. She should have gotten enough dress-up clothes and accessories to last her until she's 13.

Auntie was trying to get a good picture with Kate. Kate never had a good one. But this one is good of Auntie and Papa.
Here we are...in all our glory. And look, Kate actually has a nice smile in this one. Papa, BonBon...you look great, but it's supposed to be a silly shot.Christmas morning found us quietly on our own for a little while. We were camped out at our good friends' house while they were away with their family. I hauled all our presents over there so the ladies would no be disappointed on Christmas morning. Padyn was already very concerned about whether Santa would know where to find her or not. I didn't want a major melt-down Christmas morning, so the car got loaded up the night before while the girls were sleeping.
The girls had a stack of presents to open from us and a few from Santa. Most of the items were articles of clothing (remember the nightgowns? That's where they came in), but there were a few toys. A big red scooter for Kate and some baby doll accessories for Padyn. One of the things I put in each of their stockings was a game. Here they are learning to play Barrel of Monkeys. Daddy clearly rocks at this one.

Searching for goodies.Yup, more dress-up clothes. But hey, it was on clearance for $4 at Target. How could I not buy it. And no, that's not our piano. Gan would be very upset if we took that home with us. Christmas evening found us at my grandmother's house, which was a little bizarre since my grandmother was in the hospital after having a heart attack the week before. (She's doing well, thank you for asking) Rather than cancel Christmas with my extended family on my dad's side (aunts, uncles, cousins and more cousins-I think it was 29 once you counted all the kidlets and babies) we gathered anyway. Not as many presents, and none that the girls opened that night (and boy did I hear about that from miss Padyn!) but still another celebration, late night, and craziness. We were all done by the end.
We should be done now. We are enjoying the rest of Padyn's Christmas vacation alternating between vegging out at home and visiting with friends. We are not planning any big outings, though Padyn does keep mentioning wanting to ice skate. I don't think Mommy's ever expanding belly would do well with that, nor do I think it would match Padyn's expectations. Tonight she asked me if there was a house nearby with a pond that we could skate on. (Too much Angelina Ballerina Ice Skating book). We might need to wait until next year. Besides, she has tiny feet. I don't know that they make ice skates small enough for her.
If I don't post again beforehand, Happy New Year.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Signs That my Children are Bizarre #17

We just got home. We've been to church and to breakfast already. It isn't quite naptime yet.

In the car on the way home I repeatedly told the girls that it would be time for them to play when we got home while I cleaned up the kitchen.

What did they do the second we got inside? Went upstairs and put their new nightgowns back on. And their slippers. I have no idea why. They have never done that before.

Weirdos.

But hey, on a positive note....Kate likes her new nightgown so much that she actually slept in it all night last night. She was not just wearing her droopy diaper when she got up this morning. Maybe we are turning a corner.

I probably shouldn't go let them ride their scooters in their nighties though, eh? Especially since it's only 50 degrees outside.

You know you've had too many Christmas celebrations when...

...two days after Christmas your kids are still asking you if there are more presents to open.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Photo Sunday-Princesses on Christmas

Today we celebrated Christmas with Grandma, Grandpa and Bella & Trevor's family. Can you tell we had fun? What's not fun about opening presents? Clearly, the kids had a good time.
Can you guess what Kate's favorite present was?She was SO excited and SO proud of all her new dress up clothes. And the best part? Now she has her own and doesn't have to ask Padyn if she can wear her fancy dress anymore. (Padyn always says no. And then Kate cries. So much fun for Mommy.) Kate was very generous and let her sister and cousin wear the dresses, too. She just kept demanding that they switch because she wanted to wear them ALL.And of course, Christmas would not be Christmas without some miniature disaster. Today it was the tree trying to fall on top of me while we were opening presents. Here are Daddy and Uncle Paul trying to fix it. One Christmas celebration down, three to go. Hopefully we'll remember Baby Jesus somewhere amidst all the presents.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Updates

For those of you keeping track of such things...

*Kate is now a big girl. Not only does she wear big girl underpants ALL THE TIME and is completely potty trained (because she decided she wanted to be), she now has her very own big girl bed. (Sorry, no picture at this time.) She loves her bed. It wasn't an issue at all for her to sleep there. Every night (and nap time) she snuggles down under the down comforter, tucks BooBoo under one arm and her Dora blanket under the other, and with Paci firmly between her lips, she happily curls up on her left side. She's a hot sweaty mess when she wakes up, but she's happy.

*Speaking of sleeping, Kate doesn't sleep in clothes anymore. When we put pjs on her, she takes them off as soon as we are out the door. So I don't bother anymore. Why? It's just a waste of our time. At naptime, she strips down before climbing into bed and demands that I take her hair out of whatever ponytail I've put it in. I won't let her sleep in underwear yet, so it's just my naked girl and her pull-up and her messy messy hair. But hey...she's happy.


*Baby #3 is apparently growing. At least, my belly keeps protruding further and further past the rest of my torso. We have our big ultrasound on January 2nd. And yes...we'll find out what it is. We always do. If you want to be surprised, then don't ask.

*By the way, since some of you have asked, my due date is May 10th.


*Padyn got a Razor scooter for her birthday and has surprisingly mastered it. I was sure she'd be all stiff and not want to try to glide. But she really loves it. In fact, it seems to have replaced her bike when we go for our daily ride around the block. I can't remember the last time she rode her bike.

*The girls have reached a stage where they bicker/tease/purposely annoy each other constantly. Ok, it's probably not constantly, but it feels like that. I used to try to intervene all the time and remind them to speak nicely, or ask for things instead of demand, or JUST BE PLEASANT, but it was starting to really make me pissy. So, now, most of the time I ignore it and see if they can work it out themselves. They can't. 3 out of 4 times it ends up physical-a sly shove by Padyn or a blatant hair pulling by Kate...then I have to get involved and the crying and time outs and taking away of computers ensues. Why can't they just play nice? It's driving me crazy.

*Padyn had a bladder infection scare last week. Not fun, especially since it was Saturday night and we were at my mom's house in the middle of nowhere, Oregon. I found an urgent care on Sunday morning that took my insurance, and apparently she didn't have one. I continued to load her up on fluids and cranberry juice for the next three days and that seemed to put her past it. We haven't had a frantic, "I have to go potty!" for almost a week now.


*Kate continues to be a defiant Little Miss Thing. She has mastered the "NO!" and the arms crossed, chin down pout thing that all two year olds can do. But yet, in many ways she seems worse than Padyn was at this age. I don't remember Padyn being so blatantly defiant until she was 3. I don't know if it's a second kid thing, or a personality issue or what, but as my friend Andrea says, I'll either pay now or pay later. I'd rather pay now while I have much more control, thank-you-very-much.

*Which, in turn, makes me a little nervous about #3's arrival. I really don't dwell much on the fact I'm having a third child yet. I think my brain would explode if I did, so I just ignore it until I'm hungry again or my jeans are too tight (I'm avoiding those maternity pants like the plague). For now, I'm just going to continue to ignore the fact that our world is about to drastically change AGAIN and keep on top of Kate's behavior as much as possible. Maybe by May, a miracle will occur. Or maybe I'll just be spending a lot of time at home with my children in front of the TV.

Photo Monday

Kaz...these are for you.

Last weekend the girls and I headed to Oregon for a very quick visit so I could spend some time with my dear friend and her two beauties before they head back to the cold of Eastern Europe. Here's one of them...While I was visiting, the girls stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. They really liked doing this:and this...Oh, and just to be completely random, this is Padyn's newest favorite game. She's quite happy to play it by herself while I spin the wheel. Good thing, too. Auntie keeps falling over and Kate just wants to pick up the mat all the time. Oh, and Mommy won't even try. I'm not that pregnant yet, but it's a good excuse.

Happy Monday.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Desert Life

We spent the week of Thanksgiving down in Palm Desert. This post is a random assortment of pictures from the week, and the next two posts are more of the same. We had a lovely time hanging out in the almost warm climate (it rained one day and was overcast a couple others). I have no pictures from our day at the zoo, but that's ok. All the girls got pretty melty at the end. Enjoy the collage!



Kate enjoying a birthday cupcake (celebrating Padyn and Bella's fifth birthdays). Honing their shuffle board skills. They'll be ready in their later years. Bella going to be a serious competitor.
Distraught by the loudness of the airplanes landing. We were right next to the Palm Springs Airport runway.Clouds, sunshine and a private jet.She starting imitating the statue all on her own. I didn't even have to bribe her. Papa and the girls on Thanksgiving.
Papa and Trevor. I think Papa was encouraging Trevor to throw a domino. Either that, or his mother was. Attempt at a family photo.

Desert Cousins








Desert Life Adventures

Children's Discovery Museum-Day 2
The girls favorite thing at the museum was dressing up. Apparently Padyn is a fancy cowgirl.Mommy liked dressing up, too.


The other big favorite was pretending to be veterinarians.
This was Daddy's favorite part-building a roller coaster.
Experimenting with levers and pulleys.
Pool Time-Day 1