Preschool Day 2

Claire didn't want to go to preschool this morning so I just told her we were going bye-bye (haha!!!) and then when we pulled into the parking lot I acted all excited that they would get to play outside today and prayed to God that they would actually do so...lol! And they did so my "plan" worked out! But she got out of the car and didn't look back again today! They come to the car and get them out as well as bring them back out. NIIIIIIIICE! :) No having to go in and out with Alexander!

So I asked her what they did today. She said they read a book about the littlest duck, but it wasn't the same duck book as last time. Then they went outside to play! They have a big slide and a tunnel and lots of steps. A boy held the gate open for them that was "very nice" of him! She said they played outside and she got all hot and sweaty! Then she said that she gets sweaty when she goes swimming. I said, no, you get wet. Sweaty is like being wet. LOL! That was really cute. Then she said they sang some songs but she couldn't tell me what. Then later she was singing "Happy and You know it" and I asked if she sang that. She goes, "YES!!!!! And Patty-Cake!!!!" Then she was singing "SSC--SUPER SUMMER CAMP" and doing some hand motions so that's cool she's picked up a new song only from 2 days.

She said she went potty and nobody helped her and she didn't go potty last time because she didn't have to go. Then she washed her hands and they had step stools in the bathroom! Then they had a snack and she sat by the same boy who stepped on her foot last time, but he didn't step on her foot today! They had pretzels and apple juice from an open cup! (I'm using lots of !!!!!!!!!!!!! because she talks loud when excited!) They they had a puppet show. They went back outside and planted sunflower seeds in glass jars that they decorated with stickers. They also made butterflies out of tissue paper with a popsicle stick body and pipe cleaner feelers. She also colored a picture of an octopus.

I'm not sure about the order of this because time is still something she is learning but when Miss TT buckeled her in the car it looked like she had been crying (red) and she said she didn't cry as much as last time. The teacher said it would get less each time and she's doing good. I'd really like to talk to the teacher for more than 30 seconds when she straps Claire in, but I pump Claire for more info throughout the day. I asked if she learned a new friend name, and she said MADISON! So that's cool that she knows both her teachers and 1 classmates name already.

And I'm glad she's having fun while I have time to run errands with just sleepy Alexander. I'm really going to like the fall when she has it 3 days/week. :) I'm sure I won't give you such detailed updates in the future, but her excitement rubbed off on me.

Rock Stars

Yesterday we went to the Rock Stars Cars Guitars display at The Childrens Museum. It was pretty cool. Of course they had things for the kids that were hands on. The really cool thing was that they had Ryan White's mom and sister there and I got to say hi to them and get a picture with them with Josh's phone. We didn't bring the camera yesterday so no other pictures. What? Trying to keep tabs on 2 kids is enough without trying to hang on to a camera that you don't want to leave in the stroller someplace.

Some cute things Claire has said lately:

"Alex looks like a caterpillar baby!" when he's on the floor during tummy time.

"Wipe my other face!" when she wanted me to wipe her other cheek!

And we've started letting her go on the ponies at the Museum that move on the carousel since she going to be 3 soon and they don't check IDs ;) They are supposed to be three. Haha. She calls them "Up and Down Ponies" and loves to pick which one she wants to ride on.

This is why I LOVE garage sales!

Garage Sale 1:
Care Bears Seek and Find Hardback
Carebears ABC flashcards NIP (new in package)
Pooh Number match flashcards NIP
Pooh's Go-Together Game NIP
19 Berenstain Bear Books (I think that may be nearly the whole series!)
Wooden World Atlas puzzle with all the Continents! NIP.
all from the same sale for...$1.50 total! WOW

Garage Sale 2:
Hello Kitty Paperback Ballerina book .25
Pirates of the Caribbean 63 piece cardboard puzzle NIP .25
Usborne Fairy Cooking book .25
Harback Fairyopolis lift the flap book .25
Apples to Apples Game $1
Pink/White Nikes $1
Tinkerbell fleece lined Clogs $1
Brown Mary Janes $1
Ariel Lunch box .50
Purple/Black sparkle Leotard for tumbling 1.00
Black Leotard .50
Black tutu skirt .50
Princess Baby Doll Sleeping Beauty - Free :) I told Claire no. The lady working there apparently wanted to get rid of it. She said, "Take it!" So we did.

Garage Sale 3:
Bright Starts Circle Teether NIP .25
Classic Pooh Pacifier attacher NIP .25
Huggies Disposable Changing pads NIP .25
Princess Birthday invites/thank yous NIP .25

Garage Sale 4:
Grover "I Have to Go" potty for Alex .25
Wicker Picnic Basket play set with settings for 4 "tea set" NIP 1.00
Princess Baby Doll Cinderella .25

Garage Sale 5:
Insulated Thomas the Train Lunch bag .50 and it looks new
4 Thomas Trains, wooden assorted cars (I don't know their names!) $2

Not bad, not bad. There are more sales tomorrow, but I think I got my "fix" for a few weeks. :) LOL! That and it's too hot!!! Luckily, there was lots of shade and I had Gatorade with for Claire and I. These were all within walking distance of my house. We were gone only about an hour and we scored really big, I think! Little Alex slept in the stroller the whole time!

Success!

I declare today a success! I went with my neighbor Jessie and her kids to the museum today. We got there right when they opened. We recently got a Children's Museum membership. Alex has already been 5 times. :) Yup...it's a great place to go! No bugs. No sunscreen. No heat! AND! There are tons of places to sit and nurse Alex while Claire plays! I even went solo one day and that was a huge success too!

Claire had a big meltdown right before lunch, but I attribute that to me letting her get overly hungry since she only had 1 bite of banana for breakfast...anyways, once she started eating, she was fine! (PS...she did not nurse all day...just before bed. That is like a first since Alex has been born and she wants to nurse when he does! But not at the museum! Too much fun stuffs!)

Then from there, we had to head back to Greenfield for tumbling at 4:30. Alex slept great in his sling that my friend Patty made. I've been forcing myself to wear it and it finally feels comfy. ;) It is like a new pair of shoes...a bit odd and awkward at first, but before long, a new sling will be like a nicely broken in pair of shoes. It's pouch, and I really love it! (THANKS PATTY!)

So since we had brought our lunch to the museum, I decided to treat Claire and I to Culver's for dinner since we'd been gone all day and Josh is going to a concert tonight. ;) I loves me some Culver's!

And by the time Claire was done with her chicken tenders, I decided it was bathtime for both of them...then bed. Plus she needed a bath since she dumped half her milkshake down her front and into her lap. Early to bed for them...that way I could get my Internet fix. Alex sleeps great! He will sleep a 5 to 6 hour stretch before waking to nurse. Problem has been that Claire has been waking up. We also finally got her a bunk bed in her room...pictures of that to come. So how about transition to new bed and having a new baby brother! FAIL! Actually, she's had her own "Princess Bed" with her pink bedding set and mattress in the corner of our room, but now it's finally in her room on a nice wooden frame!

I've been slacking off on the blog. I promise I've been taking lots of photos and videos in the meantime. I promise you will be inundated soon enough! And today was TV-free! Not that there is anything wrong with TV/movies. We enjoy them just as much as anyone, but you need those once in awhile. Oh wait. I lied. We saw a 15 minute show in the Planetarium. See...it is impossible to go TV free. They even have TVs at the church nursery! Oh well...we are all addicted to our screen-time!

Night all!

Garage Sales are BACK!

I LOVE garage sales. I love going on walks first thing Friday and Saturday mornings around our neighborhood and making out like a bandit!

This weekend I scored big! Here are some of the things I got:

A box of dishes including 8 plastic dinosaur cups, a snack trap, 2 yellow Nuby cups, 3 REAL Tupperware cups, a dora bowl, a red plastic bowl, 4 random plastic cups, a DORA bowl, a Teletubby divided plate with matching cup and bowl...all for $1 for the whole box!

A Sponge Bob 24 piece puzzle for 25 cents
Hi-Ho Cherry-O game for 50 cents
Ker-Plunk game for 50 cents
Candy Land for 50 cents
Memory Game for 50 cents
A toddler bed tent for $2
THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR book for 50 cents
a brand new toothfairy book with a little bag for the teeth for 50 cents
a black/red toddler helmet with matching knee pads for $1 each

Oh, and I wanted some cereal bowls since I broke another one...oops. There was a set for $10 but she wouldn't just give me the bowls. SOOO now I have 4 more dinner plates, 4 dessert plates, coffee mugs and the 4 nice cereal bowls that are deep. They are really cute with a red/white/blue 4th of July theme. But I don't need anymore dishes...so I think I'll give away Christmas cookies (because everyone wants cookies on 4th of July plates for Christmas) on them and keep the plates...hmm...that just made me think to look for cake pans to give people casseroles in and then they can just keep the pan. It'd be about the same cost as a disposable pan.

So I had fun and Claire also got some other random little toys and a strawberry shortcake throw pillow and some other junk. I only had $20 bucks with me and I came home with .50 to spare!! I could've gotten one more game! And I'm so impressed with these games because they are in great shape. I'm excited to teach Claire how to play them! Meanwhile, Alex will start chewing on the pieces soon...lol!

The Main Attraction

Whenever I put Alex down, Claire is on him!
She wants him to play more, but that will have to wait!

He prefers to do a lot of this:

Thank you Lord for making him a better sleeper than Claire! :)

Finding Fun on Rainy Days

We had this giant box that I decided to turn into a fort before we kicked it to the curb. Claire had fun watching me cut out the doors/windows. Totally uneven, but I wasn't about to spend a lot of time on something that will be destroyed. At first she didn't want to go in it, so we called it "Toby's House" and put some of her dolls and toys in it.

I had originally just made a door and one window, but then cut a window in the door and on each side. Then Josh was able to convince her it was fun to go in there! :) She ended up having a lot of fun in there!
The box is already pretty sad looking so after another week or so, this will be going bye-bye. But there will be other boxes. ;)

Home-Made Picture Frame

Claire asks to do crafts now every day ... bascially right after breakfast, which is fine because it keeps her busy, and I feel it is educational. Here was a simple craft. I just got a picture frame in the craft section with some glittery stickers which they sell in boxes of like 50. They are raised foam. She was able to peel the paper off the back of the stickers and put them on herself. The only one I helped with was the word "Princess" so it wouldn't be hard to read. I put the glue in various dots around and she added the jewels and eyes herself. I love the frog with different colored eyes. :)

Advent Calendar

Claire is in love with her Advent Calendar. She wants to carry it around and play with the little doors. She can't open any new doors, yet...hasn't figured that out. I have to open them for her, so that works out well.
I let her pick out which one she wanted, and of course she picked the one with baby Jesus. She loves babies, like most toddlers.

Gingerbread House

I love making Gingerbread Houses. I find the kits awesome. I've even made my own Gingerbread and cut the pieces to size in the past, but it's really hard to get them uniform and the same height/thickness. The kits are super-cheap. It doesn't matter what it tastes like because it's not like anyone's actually going to eat the icing or Gingerbread after it sits out for weeks. I got this Gingerbread Kit for $9 bucks which included the premade icing in a bag and lots of candy. We did add some extra candy we had laying around and some random leftover Halloween Candy. I like to always put the house on a sturdy cookie sheet, so we can decorate around the base, too. Plus it makes it easy to move around and catch fallen candies. Watch as Claire and I chat with Daddy about the house and stuff here:

Pay it Forward

WANT TO WIN SOME FREE STUFF? Keep reading? I recently entered a "pay it forward" contest on my LLL friend, Kelly's blog site. And I was one of the winners! So the idea is to "pay it forward." Claire got a fun little package in the mail today with a few pieces of candy, a little dollar store Pooh Tea Set and Princess Wallet...she's in love! Along with several other little toys for her. And a book for the new baby. Thanks, Kelly! YAY! And what a great day for it to arrive! Claire went to the mail box with me and was all excited to carry in her package. Then she had some new stuff to play with while I made some phone calls to tell people we are having a boy in April! YAY!

OK, SO WANT TO WIN? Just enter by leaving a comment. If I know you, I will pick out some things age and gender appropriate for you kids. If I don't know you, make sure you leave the ages/genders of your kids. If you don't have kids...um...I'll get something for your pets...lol! I'll leave the contest open until midnight Sunday night the 30th. I know there's a lot going on with Thanksgiving, so if you only check in once a week or so, you can still enter. There will be 3 randomly selected winners. I put the numbers in a hat for Claire to pick or something. I will either mail you the package or give it to you depending on where you live. I will post a posting with the winners after the 30th. BY ENTERING, YOU AGREE TO PAY IT FORWARD AND HOST A GIVEAWAY ON YOUR BLOG SITE! (Or maybe Facebook/Myspace if you don't have a blog.)

This is the third time I've had a give-away. It's fun. I should do it more often.

Good luck!!!

Home Sweet Home

I love coming home to our house and familiar stuff. It's always good to get away, but it's always good to come home, too. I love how our house smells upon return. I don't notice it if we are away for only a night, but something about 2 or more nights, brings out the smell...it's a good smell, no worries. It used to be a nasty smell when we came home after a long weekend, we'd smell the nasty catbox when we stepped inside the garage. never. getting. cats. again. I also hate the way catfood smells. Blech. I will save my ranting for how nasty, gross, and dirty animals are for another time...but REALLY...I felt like the house was always dirty with animals...but I digress.

We got home yesterday morning, very early, after a long flight home. It seemed much later because Claire was a complete crank. She fell asleep the first leg of the flight, but we had to switch planes. I tried so carefully to stand up and not move her, but she woke up anyways. Then she did not fall asleep until she was in her own carseat. She pretty much fell asleep the instant we were out of the bright city lights. But on the 2nd leg of the flight, this lady across the aisle kept trying to "help" me entertain Claire, but really she was just keeping her up, and I kept trying to hint she was trying to fall asleep. Freaking annoying lady. I know she was trying to help, but was she that clueless? She told me she had an 8 month old grandbaby, so she's had a least 1 kid. How do you nicely tell someone to leave you alone?

Just a warning...if you ever go through the San Franciso airport, security was AWFUL. We even waited in the family line so it would be faster. Usually the family line there is only about 3-4 families and it's less than 10 minutes. We had to wait at least 20 minutes. Then a crew of 10 came through and we had to wait for them. I'm not trying to complain. I'm glad we have security. I'm just observing how the INDY airport is awesome...I've never had to wait more than like 10 min. in the old or new one. I ended up throwing away some milk and water I had brought for Claire because I didn't want to take the extra time to have them check the toddler's liquids. And it was so hot. It seriously looked like a line for Disney with a 2 hour wait. Rows and rows of sweaty people waiting. I also think that the Indy airport has a bigger area than they did for security. I think they need to expand their security!

But we made it all in one piece with no lost luggage either way. The only bummer was I had some cheddar bunnies (think goldfish) in one bag that I checked that opened and spilled and got EVERYWHERE. I'm talking completely crushed horrible mess. ARGH.

But it's so glorious to come home and lay in your own bed and not worry about how child-proof the location is! So what does our house smell like? Well, believe it or not, it just smells clean and new. It smells like paint and carpet...I'm sure it's still leeching all sorts of crazy, toxic chemicals out even thought it's 4.5 years old now. But oh, they smell so good! :)

Home sweet home.

Lots of pictures to come...should I post them here or on FB?

Olbrich Botanical Gardens

Claire LOVED these fish!
She wanted to sit and watch them!

I told you Claire carried that pumpkin around all day!

Claire's first time throwing money into water:

Walking with cousin Kami

Check out their website for even awesomer photos: http://www.olbrich.org/

More Claire Commentary! And my first contest! :)

1.) "My precious!"
2.) "I didn't do it!"

3.) "Stop! You're burning my eyes with all the flashing from that camera!"

4.) ?

5.) ?

Ok, your job is to make up cute comments for 4 and 5! I'll pick a winner on Sunday by 10:00 pm CST, and mail you (or hand you if local) a book, game, or puzzle, from the USBORNE book show I am having this Saturday from 3-5 if you win. So there will be 2 prizes. Anyone can comment!

The book show should be a lot of fun. I already have several RSVPs so it should be a fun crazy time with lots of kiddos running around. Remember to wear green for St. Patty's Day if you're coming! And feel free to look at the Usborne books ahead of time here http://www.ubah.com/ecommerce/hostess.asp?sid=F2314&gid=75566487&HID=HOS139151 or place an online order if you can't make it. I already have 2 online orders that people have already gotten so they ship fast! They have stuff for all ages, not just little kids!

Josh's Mom Visited!

Josh's mom came up for about 5 days. This is from last Friday night. She is quite creative on what to do with napkins for fun!

The rest of the Video Party

I uploaded too soon...oops! Ok, in this video Claire says "Boo!" for Peek-a-Boo and "Shoe"--and she calls socks and shoes both shoes. In the video below you can hear her quack (been quacking forever it seems like!) as well as neigh like a horse and the newest which is snorting like a pig which is also a little hard to hear, but watch how she sort of wrinkles her face up. She is also squeaking like a mouse and mewing like a kitten. She loves the animals so much!






Here she is in her jumper! She still loves it, although I'm afraid she's going to break it because she jumps so violently! It's funny because sometimes she will put her dolls in there or her swing and say "Whee!" as she moves them appropriately.



Here is Claire enjoying an Ice Cream Cone. YUMMY! She loves ice cream more than life itself! :) She also likes these Pedialyte Ice Pop things, which I'm sure are full of sugar and fake dye so I probably won't buy them again. One of my New Year's Goals was to buy more and more organic stuff as much as possible. It is hard though as stuff is not widely available.



Ok, I know I post a lot of footage of her in the highchair, but it's easy to film as she's not trying to climb on me, grab the camera, or poke at the light or lens. :) Plus she is distracted by the food. I can't even keep track of all the stuff she's saying anymore. Her language button basically clicked on when she started liking food around Christmas.


We tried the booster seat for a few days, but put it in the spare room, as the mess was a lot harder to clean up when it was caked all over the table. It's much easier to wash a high chair tray. Plus, she was pushing against the table and moving herself away to get down...resulting in a big mess of course.

So my stitches are so itchy right now that I want to rip them out with a pencil and then scratch them with some sandpaper. Ahh...just thinking about that makes me feel some relief! The doctor's office called. I don't have skin cancer from the mole biopsy...but the best part? No more moles on my shoulder. Yay. I know you really wanted to see pictures of my stitches too the other day. Ha!

Attempt 2

So then I thought maybe she would want to pose with me in front of the tree. FAIL!
Almost! At least I got a real nice hug out of the deal! I love real hugs!

Uncle Richard with little Claire in front of the Christmas tree!

This is a really good picture of you, Richie!

Claire had a ball playing with her Uncle Richard!

Catrece and Claire

Claire and Catrece had fun playing together shortly before Christmas. Christy and I swapped some babysitting hours, which worked out really well for us to get to some appointments.
Catrece arrived in a pretty pink outfit that Claire happened to have as well, so I had to put her in it too!

Catrece likes to give kisses! This is so sweet!

Catrece shows Claire where her ear is! RIGHT THERE!

Claire is trying to take off her sock. As always!

Claire, "Oh, look! A BABY! WOW! I can poke her!"

Well the are both looking, but not smiling...

Happy in Hats

Considering SEVERAL of Claire's outfits have coordinating hats, it is not a big surprise that she is in love with wearing them all the time. Even. In. The. Bath.
This is the little hat that matches a onesie. The hat is a tad small, but she loves wearing it and playing with it around the house. She also loves to dump water with her cups in the tub.

And she still loves to look at her reflection. Doesn't this get old? She has a real mirror she can see into easily, but I guess this is still entertaining.

Our little Claire is definitely Happy in Hats! And she's always eager to run down the hall and take a bath! YAY!

Playing with Oma and Opa!

Claire had an ice cream cone when Oma and Opa were babysitting. My mom just gave her a small scoop, but when she started to eat it, it got pushed down in the cone, and she got mad since she hasn't figured out you can eat the cone part. So then my mom was going to trade her cone with her, but Claire decided to keep them both.

"YAY! I GET 2! YUUUUUUUUUUUMY!"


"NOOOOOOOO! (Stewie voice if you know the show!) MIIIIIIIIINEEEEEE!"

"That's right, folks. You better step away! And nobody will get hurt!"

"Yeah, I have my own ride WITH a sippy cup holder AND 2 ice creams! "

"Sup fools!?! Go ahead and try to take one of these away from me. I dare you!"

Our little girl loves to wear hats...or buckets! This sweater was made by my late Grandma LaVerne.

"Oh you can't take a photo of me now, I have something on my face!"

Reading a German book with Oma called OUR FRIENDS.

She also loves pushing around her toys in her little shopping cart! VROOM!

Claire had a blast and didn't even cry the whole time we were gone Saturday night! She actually ate some food too...well...who wouldn't eat ice cream! She can say Oma really well now and has asked for her OMA several times. She reportedly said OPA while we were gone, but I haven't heard it yet. She also picked up the word, "Daisy," over Thanksgiving weekend...much to my chagrin. She likes dogs!

And I don't. Well...I'm allergic, but I'm also terrified she'll get bit by one. http://www.amazon.com/Animals-Translation-Johnson-Catherine-Grandin/dp/0739455303/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228869050&sr=8-3

Read that and you'll agree! Temple Grandin has autism and wrote that book which turned out to be mostly about animals and their behaviors rather than autism. I picked it up to read about 3 years ago thinking it would help me work with autistic students.

Anyway, she talks extensively about why dogs bite people and especially moving people and small children. Hmm...let me count the people just in my family who I know who have been bitten by semi-familiar, friendly pet dogs...1) my little brother Richard when he was little, maybe 2, by a friend's dog 2) my sister Holly in college while walking with a friend and pet dog and 3) Josh when he was about 5 by his Uncle's dog resulting in the scar which still can be seen on his upper lip. So these 3 cases confirmed what she wrote about basically stating that it's not "if" a dog will bite but basically a matter of "when." Daisy seems like a tame dog, but...