Growing up

Our weekend was jam packed with activities and now we are all very worn out. Eric and I went out for our friend’s birthday, so Emily came to watch the girls on Friday night. They loved spending time with her, like always.

Saturday we woke up and went to the parade in town, got root beer floats, went to work with Eric and played outside. The kids had a ton of fun and were really worn out. On Sunday we went to church and headed out to go boating one last time for the summer. We went inner tubing, water skiing, wake boarding and knee boarding. It was so much fun. I am sure Eric will post video soon. I destroyed my face attempting to knee board. That is sure to get a good laugh.

And to top off our busy weekend, today, I was in the office and I heard a knock at the door. I said, “come in” and before I knew it I heard the pitter patter of little footsteps that could only belong to Zoey Belle. She is now tall enough to open doors on her own and apparently, just figured out how. She was all dressed in her footie pj’s and fresh out of her bath. She is getting so big.

Babysitting

Today I watched a total of 6 children. It was chaos to say the least, however, they mostly behaved themselves. Five out of the six of those children usually take naps and had missed their naps today, so it could have been so much worse. All the kids played and enjoyed each other.

Hadley and Zoey Belle get a special treat tonight because Emily is coming to babysit. This usually gets the girls pretty excited. They are especially excited because this is the third night in a row that they get to see Emily. We went to eat last night with Eric’s family and despite a terribly long wait, the girls behaved very well. Hadley was little rambunctious, but overall did great. We got home and it was already an hour past the girls’ normal bedtime. They didn’t sleep in any later than normal this morning, but they weren’t up super early either so that is good.

Last night Hadley told Emily, “your food goes down to your tummy and gets my cousin all dirty.”

She is just too smart. I love that she takes small pieces of information and puts them together to form her own logic. At three years old, I think she is a little bit advanced.

First dance class!

Hadley started dance class Wednesday. She is learning tap and ballet and appeared to be having a fantastic time. She told me after class all about what she learned and also told me that her spot was on the red tape. There are two little girls from her church class in dance with her, so it was nice that she knew some other kids.

Zoey Belle has been copying everything that Hadley does, which is sometimes not the best. I am very happy that they are still such close friends, but wish that she wouldn’t pick up on some of the negative three year old behavior.

The girls have been sleeping in until about 7:30am for the past two mornings, so I am hoping that we are moving past the no sleep phase.

I don't know what they have against sleep

Hadley has woken up for the third day in a row at a horrific hour. Usually we get to sleep in until about 7am. Today she woke us up at 5:45am. Granted, she did say she had an accident, which hasn’t happened for such a long time I can hardly remember. She shortly after demanded that she was soooooooo hungry and thirsty and that her bug bites itch. I think the only thing that is working in her favor right now is that she has a huge bug bite on her eye brow bone that has made her eye all swollen and it makes me feel so bad for her. Without that bug bite, I just might lose it.

It is all very irrational, but I am running on very little sleep these days.

Zoey Belle discovered that turning the TV off and on is a fun game. If I move the ottoman up to it to block the buttons, she just climbs onto it and shoves her teeny little fingers into the crevice to push the buttons. She spent a lot of time in time out yesterday, but it really didn’t seem to bother her. Instead of the tears and repentant expression I was going for, she more gave me a look that said “bring it on.”

I am not really sure how today is going to go. I made Hadley try to take a nap yesterday, which she was quiet for an hour, so I was pretty happy with that. However, she did then come downstairs and threw her hands up in the air to declare, “I didn’t sleep, not even one little bit!” Which, then I became confused because that statement perfectly describes my last three days. Except I am not as happy about it.

A little rough

Hadley had a bit of a rough day today.

It started with her wakng up at six. She was demanding that I get up and make her breakfast. This was just the beginning of a string of obstinance that was Monday.

She just really has a problem wih not only listening to you, but then doing what she is told. I know that she truly is a sweetheart but sometimes it gets frustrating.

Zoey Belle on the other hand is the perfect angel. Not really though. That ball of cute has got Linds wrapped around her finger and her little toothy smile doesn’t help. She likes to push her limits and is strugglng with sharing. Hadley never really went through a mine phase so this is new territory for us.

Mostly this has just been a god patience builder for Linds and I and hopefully we can remember that.

Sunday Ramp

It was pretty nice outside so this afternoon I decided to work on a skateboard ramp. Both girls came out and joined in the fun.

Hadley rode her trike around the driveway for about an hour and Zoey Belle just walked around coloring everything with sidewalk chalk. My skateboard now has a nice new design of pink and blue chalk lines.

After I got done with the ramp, Hadley decided that she needed to ride her trike on the ramp as well.

I was more than happy to oblige.

Lindsey did get her to wear a helmet at least.

Tonight we went to small group for church. The kids were really good and Hadley enjoyed the singing a lot. Zoey Belle played with Legos most of the time and enjoyed playing with the other kids.

Overall we had a great day.

spontaneity

This weekend we had nothing special planned. Just some laying around the house, relaxing and in general doing nothing. Then we went to church Sunday morning and Grandma and Papa surprised us. We went out to eat and then headed home. Before we knew it, we were packing up our bags and heading out to the farm. We spent the night and got up Monday morning to a whirlwind of fun.

The girls got up extra early and woke up grandma. Hadley said, “You didn’t even know I was sneaking around your bed…” They made cinnamon rolls and monkey bread and we all ate a large breakfast. Eric went to help papa get grandma’s new dining set and us girls got the house ready while Zoey Belle took an extra long nap.

Next we all put on our suits and headed out to the lake to do some boating. We had a really fun day at the beach and it ended with us getting pizza and ice cream.

One big piece of news is that Zoey Belle appears to be over her food allergies. We have been able to give her little bits of milk and she has been doing just fine. She ate her pizza with her cheese on it still and even got bites of ice cream today. We are very thankful that she moved past this phase faster than Hadley did because it makes it so much easier to fix her meals.

Hadley also told me tonight while we were eating that “Jesus doesn’t love you…God told me.” My initial response to it was to laugh, because it really took me off guard. I do know what our quiet bible time this week will be focused on though….

Saturday

Time has flown by this week. We have been baking up a storm and trying out some new recipes. It has been fun, and Hadley has enjoyed helping a lot. She is even helpful with cleaning up and doing the dishes.

Zoey Belle has enjoyed making messes like usual. Her new favorite game is to dump whatever food she may have on the floor and then ask for “more please?” She also hides her food in the crevices of her booster seat.

This morning, Eric took Hadley with him while he played soccer, and then to work so he could get some stuff done. Zoey Belle was up way too early, so I stayed home with her so she could go back to bed. When she woke up, I had just finished my coffee and she grabbed my mug from me. She sucked out the very last drop and began to drool and lick her lips. She then hugged the coffee mug to her chest, put her head on it and said, “nice.” As if that wasn’t funny enough she then kissed the side of the mug. She is her mother’s daughter.

Zoey and I got some good alone time before Hadley and Eric got back home.

We plan to go to the park this afternoon, after Zoey Belle wakes up from her nap, and I think we will try to have a picnic too.

And one little gem from Hadley…The other morning, Eric got up early with Hadley and I was still asleep. Hadley told Eric, “Daddy, you are the best Daddy in the whole world! And Mommy is the best sleeper in the whole world!” Crazy kid knows me well.

Spoke too soon…

Apparently not everyone is better. I was the late comer in the sickness department. Our weekend started out fabulously. Friday night I went to our craft night at church and got some of the girls’ scrapbook pages done. Then Saturday we headed out to the Farm so the girls could spend the night with Grandma and Papa and Eric and I could go to his High School Reunion. We had a fun day at the farm and just hung out pretty much, and also ate, and that was good too. Then Eric and I went to his reunion and I got to meet all of his friends from high school. We had a great time and everyone was really nice. Then on Sunday we went to church and then headed out to the lake. We had a lot of fun practicing skiing and wakeboarding and Hadley went tubing again. Zoey Belle played on the beach and took a cuddly nap on grandma. We even got to spend time with our cousin Marci and Gabe. We headed back to the farm to eat on Sunday night and all seemed to be winding down.

My poor stomach was not winding down however. It was an awful night spent awake in agony with stomach cramps and it did not end until all the contents of my stomach left in the way they came. It was terrible. I will say though that Monday proved to be the day that Eric won the Husband of the Year award. He stayed home from work to take care of the kids and even did laundry for me. I laid on the couch all day and slept and then went up to bed at 9pm and slept until about 8 this morning. Eric took care of the kids and went to walmart with them and even got the lawn mowed. I was highly impressed with his mr. mommy skills.

Thankfully, I woke up feeling much better and was able to get back into the swing of things.

On a side note, Hadley did not want to get out of the car once we got home and demanded to go back to the farm. She sat in the car for about 5 minutes until the Schwarz’ pulled up and then she got out to see Dawson. So, to ease her back into being home, this morning I had Hadley help me with all the chores she usually does on the farm. Feeding the kitties is not as exciting at home, but she did a good job. She also scrubbed my floors for me, and I will say she did a decent job. She also made some cinnamon swirl bread and all I did was measure the ingredients for her. I am impressed with her homemaking abilities.

There should be some new video’s and pictures soon. Eric has been super busy with work, but I am sure he will find time to add it. What fun would it be for him if he couldn’t point out to everyone we know that I still plug my nose in the water when I fall?