Visit From The Rogers Family

We were very excited to have a visit from Amanda, John and Sidney this weekend! I hadn't seen Amanda since her wedding last August (1 1/2 years) and of course hadn't gotten to meet baby Sidney who was born in December. They made sure to head down to Dallas from Canyon (right near Amarillo) to visit since we moved closer. They stayed with John's aunt so were glad to visit his family as well.

Lorelei was very excited and kept saying "Baby Sidy!" (Sidney) as we were counting down the days until their visit. That morning she woke up and all I heard from her room was "Baby Sidy coming! Baby Sidy coming!" :)















Saturday morning they came over and we got to meet babies we had been waiting forever to meet, my kids opened fun presents and then we headed to Joe's Crab Shack for lunch. I was wanting to go there since they have a playground and thought it was a brilliant idea to have a playground at a nice restaurant. Lorelei was not that interested, but it was still a kid friendly atmosphere at least.

Then we headed home for nap (late as is the usual these days) and visited before heading out to the little beach for some fun. Miss Sidney thought the beach was best for napping...I would agree and would love to take a nap there with her! :) Brad was excited to use Lorelei's new huge shovel. (I knew he would be thrilled that was her choice at the store.) He dug her a huge hole and then they filled it with water. She loved her "mud bath" as we called it.

After supper the Rogers headed home and the kids to bed. Had a great visit though!

Sunday we saw them for a couple of hours at Ikea where we then had to take pictures of the kids together since, of course, we failed to do so the day before. Makin is nearly twice as big as Sidney, but you can't quite tell in the pictures. :) Looking forward to watching the kids grow up together (even for short visits) like their mommies! :)

My Babies In Blue

And you can match boy and girl! :)

Just the two kiddos ready and waiting for the visitors Saturday morning. Lorelei loves to give Makin hugs and he loves to give her his slobbery kisses...then she wipes the slobber on me. :) Thats what moms are for right?

Grass

Makin got to enjoy his first chance to get his fingers on some grass. He absolutely loved it and as you can tell we couldn't even get him to look at the camera. We headed to a park Friday after Brad got home from work. Love going out as a family and enjoying the weather every chance we get. We are having a hard time keeping our usual schedule, partially because of the time change and partially because we just love getting out and enjoying it...gonna have to crack down so our kids get good sleep!

We Knew It Was Only A Matter Of Time...

Until Makin would have to play dress up. :) One of the joys of having a big sister little guy! Glad you are such a good sport!

Sleeper Escape

Okay, I know he would rather be barefoot but really? How do you do that Makin? Guess he is just figure out his own "one leg under the cover and one not" thing. :)

We Love Plano In March

Cannot say enough about the beautiful weather we are having. Wednesday we headed out again to enjoy it after nap. Makin played happily in the sand WITHOUT EATING IT!!! (Lorelei ate it in fistfuls when she was his age.) He did not complain once and was loving a couple of sand toys and just playing with the sand watching the big kids. Lorelei did a lot of water moving and shoveling wet sand. Love when a Wednesday feels like a Friday. :)

Assembly Required

Brad and I have been blessed by receiving many items needed for our house from family. One of these items was our grill. Unfortunately after getting soaked in the rain and then put onto a moving truck, the bottom completely rusted through. Somehow this also messed up the gas hook up, which made grilling a very scary thing.

SO we were in need of a new grill. After looking a few weeks on craigslist, I found one person selling one brand-new in the box. Yay! So, we now have our first brand new grill. What we have taken for granted with all of these hand-me-downs and craigslist used items is...they are already assembled...after about a week of assembling the grill off and on, it was finally ready to be used and we got to grill on Wednesday and enjoy some more amazing weather.

CU Cookout, Computer Ban, Strawberries Sprouting, To Do's Done and Park Fun

Okay so, maybe you can tell from the title, it was quite a busy weekend for us! Friday night I decided we needed to issue a computer ban until we got our house in order and some things on the to do list accomplished. Now I can finally see my dresser that has had papers etc on it since we moved here! It was actually quite nice having a little break from the computer and I'm thinking we may do it more often. :) Or at least on an as-needed basis to keep the house in check.

Now for the fun parts of the weekend...Brad finished putting the new grill together (future post) even before both kids were awake, after making a run to Home Depot a little after 6 AM...gotta start early if we want our list done! Then after a few other things, I headed to the mall in search of something for myself in order to coordinate for a family picture to be taken in the next couple of weeks...not much luck, but shopping by myself, for myself, was wonderful and a much needed break.

The afternoon brought us to our cookout. Amazingly we met a fellow Concordia Seward grad in line at the consignment sale a few weeks ago. She called and got a few other CU grad together to enjoy a cook out...many little kids running around having fun. Lorelei loved the swing set and playing outside. It was great to talk to some other adults and meet new people! We ended up being surprised that one of the other couples there had a younger sister who we were friends with. Such a small world.

Some green in the strawberry pot! Grandma you better email some advice on keeping these things alive!











Makin learning how to kid-proof the kitchen. You can never start too young.

Sunday we tried a new church which was nice. Lorelei even went up for a special children's portion and then went to children's church. She had a couple of friends as the CU grad's daughters kept her close, but she did a great job going!

After nap that day we headed to the park. Lorelei enjoyed the swings and playing soccer. It was such a great family weekend!

Prayer request: My friend Luke and his wife Annette are in Japan. They moved there this summer for Annette to teach at a military base there. They were told they would be flown out, then the military changed plans and said they had to stay as there are many students whose parents are helping with relief and will not come and get them. They are about 150 miles from the nuclear plant, but have been told not to go outside, given iodine pills (no idea why on that one) etc., so as you can understand, they are in need of as many prayers as they can get, as well as the rest of Japan and the many who are so much worse off than them, as Luke always reminds me. :) Thanks so much!

Sunscreen, Sand and Swimming

And yes...its only March. We are gonna fry this summer! :) Good thing we have trips to WI and NE planned to give us a short cool off in July and August!

Friday was wonderfully warm. After nap we headed to our little beach to enjoy it, and Lorelei was thrilled that we finally got to try out that water!

Lorelei enjoyed playing with a couple of other girls who were out enjoying the sand and water as well. Makin was a little leery of the water, but was also cranky and wanting a nap.



We were out there for 2 1/2 hours, so Brad stopped by to join us after getting home from work. Makin tasted his first fistful of sand, but generally left it alone. Guess we are lucky to have a mini-beach to transition from living at the real beach. :) We love it! Think we can build one in our future backyard? ;)

A For Adorable

Brother Sister Fun

These two are really starting to have fun together. Love them.

This box has been amazing entertainment...not sure when I will ever want to get rid of it. :)


One of my favorite moments with these two to date happened probably a month or so ago...Lorelei was dancing to Elmo (he has songs/dances...you remember the annoying one we got at a garage sale) and laughing. Makin was just watching her and cracking up. Hearing them both laugh together at each other was so much fun. Now Lorelei tries to crack him up with Elmo dancing every once and a while...and here is just a quick glance at what it is like. :)







Lorelei can get Makin to smile and laugh easier than anyone else. He still absolutely adores her and is excited to get to play with her more and more.

Lorelei loves to include him. When people say "Hi" to her in the store etc, she responds by saying "This is Makin." (of course they can't quite understand her, but its the thought that counts)

Looking forward to many more moments like these.

Fort Worth Botanical Gardens

We spent St. Patricks day with cousins Anderson and Finn...and actually from my side of the family! They are pretty much the only ones that exist. :) My cousin Lisa and I are the only two with kiddos yet on my mom's side of the family (my dads side has very few too) and we finally met up on Thursday. The live in Keller, TX so its about an hour from our apt. After a near miss of me thinking we were going to Dallas and Lisa thinking Ft. Worth (as she put it, two blonds planning things) we ended up at the gardens to enjoy the morning...only about 30 minutes late no less!

Then I was amazed to find that the gardens are actually free! Now, you have to pay to get into the section with the fish, but still...great to know there is something free out there to do! We enjoyed a picnic lunch and of course, feeding HUGE fish. Lorelei had no problem getting right up in their face...thankfully she didn't fall in. :) Makin was his usual wonderful self and sat happily looking around in the stroller. We didn't get through all of it, but the kids enjoyed it until nap time meltdowns ensued. Looking forward to many more fun times with these kiddos. :)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

We had a wonderful but crazy day today. More in upcoming blog posts. I was very thankful for something fun to do today as the last two St. Pats I had gone to MOMS events. We did miss our Krispe Kreme donuts today for sure!

Our big SP celebration was...mint chocolate chip shakes! Saw this idea in a cookbook and since Mint Choc Chip is Brad's favorite, seemed like the perfect treat. :)

Stuffed Animals

Think the girl sleeps with enough stuffed animals? :) This was what her bed looked like when I went and got her in the morning.

New Shovel

We had to make a Target run this week and I told Lorelei she could spend her $5 from Grandma and Grandpa's Valentine's gift if she found something she liked. And the winner was...a new shovel! And then a pinwheel because she had $1 left. :) OF COURSE we had to go try it out asap so when Brad got home he stayed in with Makin (it was a little windy and chilly) and we girls headed out to dig up some sand. Brad and I both loved getting one on one with each kiddo. It was fun showing Lorelei how to use the shovel and we loved burying our toes in the sand. :)

March Family Picture

Already Growing

Only day two and the flowers are already growing! Lorelei was ecstatic to see it and came out running to tell me.

Lorelei stories/quotes I have been jotting down...

When she walks on the linoleum floor with damp feet she is super excited and exclaims, "I squeak!"




Raising a neat freak...we hope :) ...
She does a great job singing the clean up song...so cute!

Came into our room and said "Oh Big Mess!"

Me: Makin needs a bath tonight.
Lorelei: No!
Me: Why not?
Lor: (leans up close to look at his face) No mess!

Daddy is learning to watch what he does in front of her. The other day he cooled of a french fry in front of the air conditioning in the car for her. Then the next time we had a french fry in the car I handed it to her and she said "too hot" so I started blowing on it with my mouth. She told me no and that I had to do it in front of the air...I see her developing many daddy habits! :)

I was rocking Makin and Lorelei started looking for me. She said "Mommy! You hoo! Where are you at?" Of course the "you hoo" part is what cracked me up. :)

As we were driving past a college I had to explain what it was as simply as I could to a two year old. Of course she said "I go there." I said yes you will go there when you are older. Then she said "Mommy come too." :) I said I would remind her of that when she was 18. :)

One evening we turned off one of Lorelei's shows and so a commercial was on. It said "Do you dream in chocolate?" Lorelei just nodded her head. :)

And one of our latest favorites. Brad came home during the potty fiasco on the first day and said "Hey, your naked!" Lorelei said, "No, I Lorelei!" She does this every time. :) Adds a little fun to potty training.

Splash King

Okay. Officially his last bath on the counter. :)




Just loved this one of the soaked big sister. :)

PJs

I love my kids in pjs. I especially love little babies in footy pajamas. Nothing can beat that cuddly feeling. Of course, the light first thing makes photo ops difficult, but just had to note the moment, when I'm getting sad realizing how fast they will be out of footsie jammies. Trying to cherish it!

Visit to Auntie Di's, Riding Bikes and Roller Skates

We headed out to the Kotera's (Di and Bob, Brad's aunt and uncle) house for supper Sunday evening and Lorelei was very excited when her cousins excitedly came to great her at the car door and then proceeded to get her decked out with roller skates and share their bike. She had a blast! Looks like a bike will be next years birthday present too! :)





And Makin was happy as can be hanging out with two cups in the sink. :)

















A little ice cream to follow up her supper and a cookie...this was right about 8 pm, her usual bedtime. Yeah it was an amusing ride home but she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Potty Training 101: The Brains But Not The Willpower

Yes, this is what your house looks like during potty training...at least our house. This is what it takes to keep two kids entertained (alone, since I sent husband golfing...brilliant move on my part) while sitting for 30 minutes waiting for a 2 year old to potty...

The plan is supposed to involve spending a three day weekend potty training, which requires Lorelei to be NAKED which is supposed to be enticing for this age. :) Plus, it just gives them no choice and they realize what is going on. If it were up to her, she would leave her diaper on all the time and sit in it wet or poopy forever. No willpower...she would rather concentrate on playing and not worry about running to the potty. The first full day we were amazed at how well she did, she actually realized when she needed to go and pointed to the potty, then ran there after instructed. Things are slowing down a bit as it gets old, and she is very unhappy about us sending her to the potty. The doctor recommended air for her bottom as she has had a terrible rash for a long time now, so that is helping keep us motivated.

The potty chart...I know this is the worlds ugliest potty chart, but I had to use what paper I had sitting around (left over from the March place mat of course) and I'm far from artistic. :) But it does the job! After 5 stickers (one sticker for pee and two for poop) she gets a new book. I was thrilled to find quite a few books at the consignment sale, so have a stash saved to pull out as needed. Then after 30 stickers she gets a bigger reward, the first being a Little People surprise, then a dinosaur (like Caillou, at Lor's request) and then after filling the chart she gets a trip to Chuck E Cheese (her dream place to go eat). After that... who knows but I will do another chart if necessary! Figure its always good to encourage peeing and reading right. :)



Oh and of course she is supposed to eat lots of salty food, which will make her thirsty, therefore need to pee more often, therefore learning how to go to the potty after doing it often...need to work on that part. Not sure this will happen in three days since we are not following "the plan" to the letter and going out of the house Sunday evening...but we are going to try it this way and then I can always stay home three full days and stick to it better if needed. We'll keep you posted I'm sure!

Planting Seeds

Of course, I get the kind from the dollar bin in Target so all you do is add water and it turns into dirt...the whole kit wrapped together. :) We planted Zinnia and Strawberries. A green thumb I do not have, but had to give a little spring planting a try. Hope we can keep them alive for a bit anyway! :)

I sent Brad for a much needed/deserved golfing break on Saturday. Amazingly this was a big motivation on making a big dent in his honey-do list...so going to have to try a better rewards system with him. :) Maybe he needs a sticker chart too. :) Anyway, he gave me a call as they got to the 10th hole since its right behind our apt building! :) Was fun seeing him enjoying his day. Lorelei was napping or I'm sure she would have been cheering him on. :)

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

No I Don't Like Wind

This is Makin's latest trick. On Friday I was carrying him outside and as usual, he was not happy with the huge wind taking his breath away. He started shaking his head no. I said "No you don't like the wind." He just got this huge smile and kept shaking his head no with a big open-mouthed grin and giggle. Love it!

Around The House

We have been around the house a lot this week in order to get a jump start on potty training. (More on that later of course.) So just have a few pictures we have taken enjoying our days. Had to show off my smiley boy. He is smiling much more now so the meds seem to be helping his ear!












And then we have our girl...whose latest facination is putting things up her nose...so far it has been popcorn and pretzels...I'm just hoping we don't reenact One Fine Day and end up with a marble stuck and a trip to the ER. :)

MOPS

Joining a new moms group... I knew it was necessary but really was not very motivated to go this time. Apparently being worn out from everything else leaves me little motivation to make new friends, and just reminds me that I'm sad we couldn't just pick up our friends and bring them with us. My heart broke for several reasons on Wednesday, starting with Lorelei saying "Lily come over see new house" after I told her we were going to a meeting to make new friends. I know the importance of making new friends, so I made us go.

As we got there we were led back to where the kids would stay. I knew that they had sitters, so had tried to brace myself. MOMS Club was supposed to have a sitter for meetings, but they usually didn't show up, or I just kept my kids anyway as did many other moms...not the case here. The church the group rents out for meetings actually has people there to work in three different rooms. Makin was in the baby room and Lorelei was in a room with kids her age. I had to try not to tear up leaving them there, but there were no tears from either of them and the ladies seemed very nice. I kept watching down the hallway for them to come out with Makin but that never happened. TWO HOURS leaving my kids with people I don't know. But you know what? We all survived. And it is probably a very good thing to get those two hours of uninterrupted time talking, eating, and doing a craft (gasp, but again, I survived and it turned out kinda cute). I got to learn some information about the area. While I'm not sure there is much friend potential, they were all very nice. They have A LOT they do each month and there were at least 30 people at the meeting...so very active group. When I picked up the kids they were both smiling and excited. They said Lorelei came to check on Makin a couple of times. (She was right next door and could peek into his room.) She was thrilled about painting her butterfly and on the way home kept saying "Had fun Mommy! Had fun!" :) So I guess it was a success. We'll see what happens!

Successful Consignment Shopping

Have to brag about my consignment finds. Two sales last weekend, one Friday morning and the other Sunday noon...resulted in this couch full of clothes for the kids spring and summer wardrobe. Just have to find a few more things and will be set...LOVED it. Top right is one of Brad's favs I found for Makin. :) Then left is the dress up thing I found for Lorelei. Found it at the sale Sunday, then went back for the half price sale Monday night and got it for $20! Cannot say enough how much I love it these sales.

Makin Is 6 Months Old

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't it seem I JUST typed the 5 month old blog!? You are growing way too fast little boy!

Stats:
Weight - 18.2 lbs 60th %
Length - 27 in 70th %
Head - 17 3/8 60th %

At 6 Months You:

Know your name!!!

Pass things from one hand to another.

Work to get a toy out of reach...getting good at grabbing things, including small food, but just get in fist.

Are very excited about the whole eating-real-food thing. :)

Love to get a reaction out of us, whether it is making your parents laugh, or picking on your sister by pulling her hair.

Bury your face into my arm when being rocked...thinking you will want a nice dark room someday. :)

Now have two teeth showing! They are still working on getting all the way out, but they are there! You seemed to be bothered a lot by the teething, but then at your appointment we found out you had an ear infection...sorry little man!

Sleep...ugh. I will try to blame the ear infection and teething, but sleep has been a bear over the last month. You had several weeks of sleeping through the night, then started waking up again, then a few more days without, then would still wake up. Hope we get it normal soon! We even bought a mobile to attempt to help with this...it does sometimes. And naps...well you mostly just want to cat nap unless I will rock you the entire time. I usually do this while Lorelei is sleeping...but pretty soon I will have to get tough. :( Not looking forward to it. You now wake up when we get somewhere, so the carseat stays in the car.

As for eating...it went down a LOT with the ear infection. You preferred your oatmeal over drinking for obvious reasons. I cannot begin to think what your amount is now, but you like your real food and still seem to be hungry at least every 4 hours but can definitely last longer if distracted.

Imitate us shaking our head and almost seem to understand when we say "shake head". You love that we think it is funny and get a huge smile on your face.

Still taking 3-4 naps, but would be down to three for sure if you took a decent one! :)

You love all the hand/eye coordination and control you have now, and want to play with toys all the time. You would rather be sitting up to do all of this. The pediatrician was not worried in the slightest that you have not rolled over.

Now wearing 9 month clothes.

So far only consonant I have heard you say is L. Must be all that "LORELEI!" You heard in the womb. :)





This is how you spend much of your day now...surrounded by toys and a nice fluffy blanket...for that rare time when you fall back. :)












And since your doc appointment, ear infection diagnosis and shots weren't enough, we decided to try baby food for your 6 month birthday! First food: sweet potatoes! Daddy got to pick and we waited to give it a try until he could be home to see it. He gave you your first bite, but Lorelei really wanted to. You ate the whole container and were ready for more...none of these small containers for you! The pediatrician basically told me not to worry about the rules of trying one food for three days like we did with big sister...that's "old school" so your first few days of food you had the sweet potatoes, you also enjoyed peas, peaches, mashed potatoes and pears (they are your fav it seems so far). I have also tried a few finger foods like a banana, pasta and Puffs. You are a hungry boy!

Ft. Worth Museum

Yep, that is one gigantic Light Bright! :) Just one of the many fun things there is to do at the museum in Ft. Worth. It is not technically a children's museum, but has many hands on children's activities to enjoy.









We had been talking about heading to the museum with Auntie Di, and this Monday worked out so that Lor's cousin Clarissa could go along too. Lorelei adored her and they actually got along quite well, even with the two year age difference. Pictures, top left - a huge dinosaur slide made out of all different types of machinery. The feet are scoops from a digger/loader thingamagig. :) I'll know more after I read Makin more boy books...either way, it was a fun slide! Then of course the grocery store and various things that are teaching kids science...sort of action/reaction type things. Then of course, reptiles right alongside the kids. The cage right along the play-mat had a gecko in it...and had to take the snake one just for Melissa...who probably can't even read this right now because she has closed out of the blog. :) She's a tad terrified of snakes. :) I was sent to watch a special 4D video for 7 minutes at the request of Aunti Di, and when I came back Makin was having fun chilling on the play mat with the kids. He probably sat there a good 20-30 minutes. :)

Lorelei loved the big track that the car went down. I loved watching her reaction. :)


One of the other activities they LOVED was a floor that lit up with circles underneath them as they walked. Took a video but it's too long to upload...will try and take a short clip next time. It was so cool, plus a great way to burn off plenty of energy! :)














I want one of these in my house! In front of the horse there is a big screen and you have to move the reins to heard the cattle into the corral! I rode behind Clarissa and enjoyed playing it myself! Very addicting and we were glad there were not any kids waiting so we could play a lot! :) However, its a good thing its not my full time job because we could never get all of the cattle! :)




Di loved getting some cuddle time with Makin. He warmed up to her no problem and I enjoyed having some hands free to play with the girls and just sit back and watch. They shared an oreo snack and Lorelei had her first-ever gummy worm...this is what happens when grandma's are along. :) Even if they aren't your own! :) Then on the way home the girls thought it was hilarious that they were putting stickers over their mouth, eyes, etc. The giggles from the back were a lot of fun.

We are excited to go back sometime soon and get to enjoy even more activities outside. They have a dino dig as well as water activities, but it was too cold to go out Monday...just more new to look forward to next time! :)

New Mobile

For some reason I never really saw the need for a mobile. As babies I just rocked them to sleep so didn't really see much use for it...well then Makin threw us for a loop and reverted back to waking up in the middle of the night after he had gone several weeks sleeping through. We are pretty much blaming teething on that, but got a special mobile to see if it could help. He is also not napping well during the day, so thought it might help in that area too. So far it works for the night time but has no use during the day. It would work for me! :)



Oh and just making sure it goes without saying that I got this for $20 on craigslist. ;)

Yummmm

Had to enjoy supper out at one of our favorite family spots - Red Robin! We seldom venture out after nap, so since we were out Easter dress hunting, figured we'd make a night of it. :) This was Makin's first real experience and he was totally entranced by everything going on and sat wonderfully and patiently watching all of us eating...soon it will be you too little man! As you can see we have somewhat given up on getting Lorelei to smile for pictures... :)