Progress

It's official...Robbie can now roll from his stomach to his back. It's quite a game for him. As soon as he's on his stomach, he flips himself over on his left side, just to prove he can.

He also keeps saying, "Dada," but I know that is not on purpose. He's a very verbal little guy. He says lots of things...

Updates, In Short Form

-First grade is going well for Padyn. After not liking recess the first week (too big of a playground, too many kids), it is now her favorite time of day.

-She spends all her recess time doing hand-jive with a few of her friends and a couple 2nd graders.

-She can't seem to finish eating her lunch, though. Should I worry that she's a slow eater? (Takes after her Aunt C.)

-She likes riding her bike to school with Daddy. I'm impressed that she rides the 2 miles there and 2 miles back. It's a bit of a slow ride, but she loves it.

-It must be because of her "I love my pet" bike bell.

-"Reading" books on tape is a new favorite activity. Well, it's not that new, but I'm surprised by how enjoyable it still is for everyone. -But one of the chapter book series they like to read uses the word "stupid" way more than Mommy likes. And shut up. And other not nice language.

-Another new weekly favorite? Kettle Corn from the farmers' market. We just can't get enough. Good thing the market is still two days a week until the end of next month.

-Padyn is now in karate. We're hoping it encourages her to speak up. We practice yelling "Hi-yah!" and "Yes sir!" on the way home.

-We're hoping it transfers to, "May I please ______." with other grown-ups.

-Kate wants to do karate, but she's too young. She's back in gymnastics where she and Lulu are wreaking havoc together on a weekly basis.

-Kate loves her new preschool. She goes three days a week-Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Mommy loves it, too. We carpool with another little boy in Kate's class. I drop off and Mrs. Z picks up. It's fantastic. I think I gain a whole 30 minutes! And Robbie gets at least one nap a day in his crib.

-Kate's been super drama queen lately. I'm not sure how to combat that. Ignore? Discipline? Lock her in her room?

-Robbie is starting to reach for objects. He is constantly touching my face when I hold him. I love it.

-He's also getting better about sleeping through the night. As always, some are better than others, but occasionally he goes for 9 hours between feedings. Must be that bottle of formula I give him close to bedtime.

-That in no way means he or I are sleeping for 9 hours. He wakes up at least once a night and needs to be re-swaddled and re-pacified. He goes right back to sleep as soon as that paci is in his mouth.

-Mommy is still only getting a few hours in a row at a time.

-And she can't have caffeine after noon.

-Robbie won't nap well if she does.

-He takes 3 or 4 naps a day...they usually all fall within the time that we have to bring or pick up a sister from school. I had to wake him from 2 naps today. Hate that.-While it's still hot here, our pool has cooled due to the cooler weather at night. Mommy doesn't like going in anymore. But the girls still like it.

-I now have a few pictures hanging on the walls. I keep staring at them like they are the most amazing things ever.

-Kate is currently living in her purple princess dress.

-She does however alternate between her pink sparkly princess shoes and her black dressy shoes (which she calls her "tap shoes.") At least there is some variety.

-Baby's awake...this post must be done.

Photo Friday

Surprisingly (not really...that was sarcastic), it has been challenging lately to take photos of the kids and keep the blog updating between shuttling kids around, nursing every three hours, unpacking boxes, and generally trying to maintain some semblance of order amidst the chaos. So, I apologize to those individuals related to me who would like to see pictures on a daily basis. Maybe one day that will happen again. These days, that ain't the reality of our lives...

So, here we go. Robbie has started hanging out in his exersaucer. He can only reach a couple toys on it, but hey, it keeps him happy for at least 5 minutes. That's big.
Kate has been Miss Anti-Photo these days. This was the best I could get from her this week...Another one of my little cutie...And finally, last weekend we spent a couple days at the Lake. (Actually, Daddy and the girls spent a couple days. Mommy and Robbie only come up for one night. Yes. That was nice.) Some of our cousins (Daddy's cousin and his kids) came to hang out with us for an afternoon. G and Padyn LOVED building their sandcastle. And it really was warm enough for them to be in their suits and in the freezing water.

Daddy and the girls also hit the air races. I think Padyn is sitting in the cockpit of Daddy's plane. But I can't be sure, as I did not attend... Happy Friday!

Photo Friday-5 Months Old Yesterday

That's right...the big guy turned 5 months old yesterday. Nothing can stop him now...

Although, Mommy would love him more if he slept consistently at night. One night, 9 hours no waking up. Next two nights? Awake every 2 hours. I think he's trying to drive me insane. I thought that wouldn't happen until high school.

Happy Friday!

Photo Friday-Pool Time

Robbie went in the pool for the first time today. It helped that it was 100 degrees outside. I didn't start out the day planning to put him in the pool...it just sort of happened. He was outside with us while we were swimming, baking in the shade, so I decided to stick his feet in the pool. And since it was the first time he didn't cry when I stuck is feet in freezing cold water, I figured it meant this was the day to introduce him to the pool. We had a swim outfit in his size, so why not? You can see he's not so sure about it...

He only cried when I tried to put him in past his bum. Then he got unhappy. Plus, it was his nap time, once he decided he didn't like it anymore, he really didn't like it anymore...

Kate thought she could entice him to like it more. I'm not sure what she was saying to him here, but it was probably something like, "Hi Buddy! Hi Buddy!"

She's all about the floaty ring these days. Even though the swim teacher/lifeguard in me cringes that she is dependant on a flotation device in the pool, the mommy part is really excited that she doesn't feel the need to hang onto me the whole time anymore.

Happy Friday. Hope you got a chance to cool off, too.

Photo Friday: Home Improvement

I haven't posted pics of our remodel in a while and some of you have been asking, so since I didn't take many photos this week, I thought I'd take the time to show you what's been improving around here lately...

We now have rugs in the family room. Daddy is sad that his beautiful floor is partially covered, but the girls are really happy to have a softer spot to play. We still have a huge open space of floor (not pictured) that makes everyone happy. It's great for playing, dancing and general silliness AND we can still admire the floor's beauty and Daddy's hard work.

The kids' rug...We got our pool fenced this week. While it's ugly and the yard seems smaller now, I'm so happy to be able to send the kids outside without having to be out there every second. Just this morning, Kate went outside to play with playdough. Oh, happy day. And besides, it's mesh and it can come down. So, when we have a bunch of people over, we can just pop the poles out to make more room.

I've been working on the far corner of the kitchen. I moved the girls' couch and little TV in there and tried to make the corner cozy. Their little white table and craft supplies are also there. Eventually, I'd like to do some kind of built-in where they can do their homework, play games and hang out. Really, I just don't want all their stuff in the living room.As you can see by the minor disaster that is my living room/kitchen, I am slowly unpacking. We still have some things in storage, but I've been getting a few things out here and there. This week I have been looking for our silverware. I've gotten most of the kitchen boxes out of storage, but I still can't find it. And I'm tired of washing plastic utensils.

We also got a new kitchen table this week. I didn't take a picture of it, but trust me, it's beautiful. See? (Ok, that's so not my kitchen or table setting, but everything else is mine. We did get the bench...actually we got two. But we are keeping them in the entry way and will pull them up to the table as needed.)

And finally, since you don't want to just see my house, here are the two kids that didn't go to school today...

Happy Friday.