Watch Calder, Tessa and Alyse Grow

Half Birthday

2012-02-19T21:50:00.000-05:00

Calder is 5 1/2 today! To celebrate, we made cupcakes and he decorated them with every variety of sprinkles that we had in the house. I can't even believe how fast the last 6 months have flown by. I asked him tonight "How are you growing so fast?" His response: "Well, I just grow a little bit every day!"

Two party animals.

Your Friendly Mail Carrier

2012-02-19T21:43:00.000-05:00

At school this month, Calder's class has been learning about the mail carrier. They made this adorable hat and mail bag -- he was SO proud of it! There was even a letter inside the bag for Mom!

Family Hike

2012-02-18T21:32:00.000-05:00

We've had some unbelievably warm weather this winter, and today was no exception. We took advantage of it by loading up the whole family for a hike at a trail near our house. Lots of fun for us all!

It was Alyse's first time in the backpack carrier. She was a big fan!

We walked by a baseball field, and the kids loved playing in the dugout!

Little man loves his binoculars. He had to bring both pairs on our hike.

It was Tessa's idea to wear pigtails, which she NEVER lets me do! Oh how I love them!

Somebody's hiding!

Movin' On Up!

2012-02-12T20:49:00.000-05:00

We finally took the plunge and moved Tessa to a big girl bed! We had been talking about it for a long time, but weren't super anxious as we recalled Calder's difficult adjustment (although he was almost a whole year younger when we moved him). She was SO excited when it was delivered and all set up in her room.

The first few nights were a little difficult, but aside from keeping some pretty late nights, she has done amazingly well with the transition! She just loves her new "big boy bed" (as she calls it).

Meanwhile, Alyse graduated out of the mini-crib and into the big crib. I hadn't expected any adjustment issues with her at all, but she did have trouble going to sleep those first few nights. Now she's doing great and feels right at home.

Party Time

2012-02-05T23:12:00.001-05:00

Last weekend, we had a small party at home with a few friends to celebrate Alyse's big day.

Ready to party!

Hangin' with her favorite guy.

Caught red-handed!

Where's the cake?

Best family shot of the bunch.

Hey, this frosting stuff is pretty good!

Mmmm! Really good!

Mommy and Alyse.

All cleaned up and ready to party some more!

We are all exhausted from an exciting month of birthday celebrations!

She's One

2012-02-04T23:48:00.000-05:00

I begged Alyse not to turn 1, but she went and did it anyway. I forgive her though...I mean, how could I stay mad at this sweet face?

She's still on the small side (at least for my babies). She's just starting to grow out of 9 month clothes and into size 12 month. We'll get official 1-year stats in about a week, but she's just shy of 19 lbs. (We know this because of a birthday trip to the pediatrician for an ear infection. But, at least I got to stay home with her for the day!)

Baby girl is finally on the move. She started crawling just a few days before her birthday. She went from a perfectly content observer to having to get her hands on everything! Within a week of beginning to crawl, she discovered outlets and the electronics below the TV. Guess it's time to step up the babyproofing! Clearly, I'm biased, but she has the cutest little crawl ever. Her back legs always move together, so it's sort of like a little frog hop. Love it!

She loves to eat real food. She basically eats whatever we're eating, and so far is not too picky. She definitely prefers dairy and fruit to veggies and meat, but she'll eat it all. We just started attempting whole milk and so far she's not a fan at all. I think it's mostly a temperature issue, but we may have to get creative on that one!

She loves books. Mostly because they make good eats.

But they also make for good bedtime cuddling too. This particular book, Good Night Baby, is by far her favorite. She goes crazy over it, and absolutely loves all of the pictures of babies inside! She's been a really good sleeper for a while, but also an extremely early riser (hello, 5:15am!) But ever since she started crawling she has been sleeping in until about 6:45! Woohoo!

Baths make her super happy too!

She's still crazy in love with baby dolls. I think it's because they make for nice, giant teethers. She's got 6 teeth already, and possibly a few more trying to make their way through.

She scored a few baby dolls of her own for her birthday, so she doesn't have to hijack big sister's anymore. Although, this particular one had to be pried out of Tessa's hands immediately upon opening it.

She's starting to say more and more words. In addition to her favorite, "dada", she has also said (or made some type of decent attempt at saying) hi, bye-bye, dog, ball, and Tessa. And I think she's whispered 'mama' once or twice when I wasn't around...so I'm still waiting to really hear it. :)

Calder helped me decorate cupcakes for her birthday, and he also made her a sweet card. <3

Looking a little frightened of the cupcake!

You could say she liked it.

Happy First Birthday, sweet girl!! You are a joy and blessing to all of us!

Style Icon

2012-02-03T21:45:00.001-05:00

Winter Fun

2012-01-29T21:17:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we got slightly more than a dusting of snow, but it was enough to let the kids go out and play for a bit. They were so excited to pile on all of their snow gear and head outside!

Tessa was most interested in taste-testing the snow.

Calder loved digging in the snow with his construction trucks!

Tessa's attempt at a snow angel wasn't very successful. It wasn't the right kind of snow!

He was so proud of his idea to stake the flag in the snow!

Sibling Love

2012-01-26T18:21:00.000-05:00

I was taking a video of my earliest riser one Sunday morning when our other early riser awoke and came down to join us. Alyse adores her big brother, and it really shows in this video. So happy that I was able to capture it!

Building Bears

2012-01-25T23:08:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Tessa's birthday at Build-a-Bear Workshop. What a super fun place for a party! An overwhelming number of friends from daycare came and we had a whopping 17 kids!! The staff at Build-a-Bear was really great though and everything went smoothly. Tessa was pretty shy and wasn't crazy about being the center of attention, but she did have a fun time building her new doggy!

The best shot I could get of her and her sweet friend Sydney.

Bath time for bears!

So happy with his ninja bear!

Before they sewed up all of the bears, they did a really cute 'heart ceremony'. The party leader threw out handfuls of hearts into the crowd, and each child was told to select 2 hearts.

Then the kids had to rub the hearts all over their bodies - for example, on their ears so the bear would be a good listener..

and on their muscles so the bear would be strong! When they were done, each child kept one heart for their own bear and gave one heart to Tessa's dog. It was sooo cute to see all the little ones bringing their hearts to Tessa. Her doggie has a LOT of hearts!

Not so successful attempt at a group photo!

Afterwards, we headed down to the food court for pizza and cake. We were so thankful for Zaidy, the pizza man!

Cake time! Tessa was so shy when everyone sang Happy Birthday. She closed her eyes the entire time and sunk into Dave's lap.

Hugs from daddy after the trauma!

Who likes presents?

Supercleaning

2012-01-25T22:04:00.000-05:00

For Tessa's birthday, I made her a superhero cape. I'm really happy with how it came out, and I'm in the process of making one for Calder too so they can run around and save the world together!

Since she actually likes to clean, we also got her a cute little broom and dustpan set.

Supercleaning!

The cape is actually reversible, but she's not such a superfan of the batgirl side.

THREE

2012-01-22T23:37:00.002-05:00

Tessa turned three last week and I'm still trying to comprehend how she went from this cute little girl...

...to this beautiful "big" girl in just one short year.

I won't lie. It was a rough year with this one. But, you can hardly blame her. Two is not an easy age for little ones, and her world was rocked with the arrival of her baby sister just 2 weeks after her 2nd birthday.
She has quite a stubborn streak, and while we haven't exactly cleared the "terrible twos" quite yet...I think we're starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. The other evening when she started into some not-so-desirable behavior after a particularly good day, I asked her "What happened to the nice girl that was here earlier?" She replied with "All gone. Out." I guess she had already used up all of her 'nice' for the day!

Despite the adjustment to being the middle child...she loves her little sister SO much.

And hopefully it's not just because she can boss her around...

If there ever was a bossy little girl, it's Tessa. Calder surely agrees. Last week, when Nonna asked him if he thought Tessa would make a good teacher someday, he said "Yeah. Or a boss. She bosses me all the time." But at least she knows who the real boss is -- she often greets me with "Hi Mommy Boss". :)

Some recent quotable quotes from our girl:

"I have a bottom. Calder has a butt."

"I want a wreck-a-saurus." (While playing dinosaurs with Calder.)

Tessa: "Mommy, my face! my face!"
Mommy: "What happened to your face?"
Tessa: "I cried on it."

Tessa: "Lucky, you want to try some chocolate?"
Mommy: "Honey, Lucky can't have chocolate, it would hurt his belly."
Tessa: "He doesn't have a belly!"
Mommy: "Yes he does, where do you think his food goes?"
Tessa: "In his tail."

Her favorite things right now are Caillou, her stuffed piggy and her baby dolls. She's accumulated quite the collection of baby dolls over the last year, although her favorites are still Jaya (left) and Rohan (right). Poor Rohan needs to get some boy clothes. She takes very good care of them all, making sure to change their diapers and clothes frequently.

She loves prunes and grapefruit.
She prefers snacks to a meal.
Trying to brush her hair is a living nightmare.
She loves to help.
She loves to sing and listen to music.
She keeps a huge stack of books in her bed. She lines them all up and calls them her "class". Each night a different book gets to be the "line leader".

A few funny things that she says that I can't bring myself to correct...

She likes to go to "resta-haunts".

She misplaces the word "all". As in, "I drank my milk all."

She says "tree" instead of "three". She recently moved up to the 3 year old classroom at school and I did a double take when she came home and announced "Mommy, I went potty in the trees today!"

Happy Three to our sweet, spunky, shy, sassy, sensitive, stubborn little girl!

We love you!

Funnyman

2012-01-16T17:38:00.000-05:00

11 months

2012-01-05T21:26:00.000-05:00

At 11 months, Alyse

Shakes her head 'no'
Eats anything and everything you put in front of her
Really tries to do all kinds of talking. Until today, she was pretty much only saying "dada" and "baba". But today, she said......."Tessa"! Twice! Unfortunately, I missed it both times.
Can get up on all fours and rock back and forth, but is not quite crawling yet. But, this doesn't stop her from getting where she wants to go -- she rolls and scoots all over the room!
Is totally, 100%, positively in love with Tessa's baby dolls!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T22:04:00.001-05:00

Christmas Day

2011-12-29T21:59:00.000-05:00

We enjoyed a relaxed and low-key Christmas Day with Dave's parents and later, John, Lauren, Madison and Olivia joined us for dinner.

Alyse waves hello on Christmas morning.

What's this in my stocking?

Sure enough, Tessa's favorite thing in her stocking was the chocolate. And she even claims it was her favorite Christmas gift!

Dominos!

Christmas morning hugs (or maybe tackles...)

Calder could not have been more excited about this T-Rex from Uncle John and Aunt Lauren. It was definitely his favorite gift!

Techie girls.

Posing by the Christmas tree. Moments earlier she had been munching on her shoes -- see the evidence?

Christmas cuties!

Sweet Olivia!

Alyse getting to know cousin Madison.

Alyse plays with her Christmas loot before bedtime.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-29T21:43:00.000-05:00

We had a busy, fun-filled Christmas weekend in Pittsburgh! The weekend started off on Friday with a 70th birthday celebration for Dave's mom (no pictures, unfortunately!). On Saturday (Christmas Eve), Dave and I had tickets to the Steeler game. When we walked in, we were handed a scratch-off ticket with the chance to win a prize. I scratched mine off and saw that we had won 2 pre-game field passes! Since it was only 30 minutes before the game, we rushed over to the prize tent and they immediately escorted us down to the field where we got to hang out until kickoff. What a great experience!

On the field!

Polamalu before he let his hair down.

Brett Kiesel. Dave was cursing the fact that he didn't wear his Kiesel jersey, because he ended up handing his warmup gloves to a guy standing right near us who was wearing his jersey!

We got to stand in the Terrible Towel lineup as the players ran onto the field. Do you recognize that guy waving the Terrible Towel about 20 feet from us? It's Buzz Aldrin!

Back at Dave's parent's house, Alyse made friends with Aunt Maria.

Before bed, the kids posed for a Christmas Eve photo by the tree.

And then they were treated to a few Christmas Eve presents!

Santa and Mrs. Claus

2011-12-21T23:45:00.002-05:00

We had an amazing visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus this year. I really wasn't sure what to expect out of Tessa or Alyse, but they all did fantastic. Santa was awesome and spent a significant amount of time talking to both Calder and Tessa. It was by far the best Santa visit ever!

Tessa observed that Mrs. Claus was sparkly and Santa was soft.

Happy kids

Santa was telling jokes about dinosaurs!

Sooo excited about the little elf that he got.

Tessa hopped down to try out the little rocking horse. It was sooo cute. Seriously...right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

After their turn was over and we were walking away, Tessa realized she never actually got to sit in Santa's lap. So she ran back and jumped in his lap for one quick hug.

All Over the Floor

2011-12-21T23:26:00.000-05:00

Tessa yelled to me from the bathroom the other day "Mommy! There's pee all over the floor!" You can imagine what was going through my head as I high-tailed it over there. Fortunately, she was wrong about the "pee" part...but she wasn't wrong about the "all over the floor" part!

Cousins!

2011-12-20T23:27:00.003-05:00

We were really happy to be able to spend several weeks with my brother and his family in November and December (as well as my mom for 2 weeks). Here are some of the highlights.

Tessa and Jaiden get reacquainted

Bike Parade

Picnic lunch on a warm November day!

Jumping in leaves!

Tessa excitedly reported that she and Sandhya had the same shirt and the same hair (curls).

Twins Rohan and Jaya!

Does that taste good?

Alyse is excited to see Jaya crawl!

Tell me how you did that!?

Two peas in a pod. These two picked up right where they left off and played so well together.

All seven cousins!

Alyse gets to know Aunt Vandana

Bedtime snuggles with Jaya

Jaiden, Rohan, Tessa and Jaya

Calder and Sandhya enjoyed playing games together!

Making Christmas tree desserts.

Hugs from Sandhya!

The three babes

Teething anyone?

Alyse finally started warming up to my mom after almost 2 weeks! (She is going through a huge "mommy" phase right now.

Ready and excited for sleepover #1! They are wearing their fuzzy "sleepover socks" that my mom got for them.

Hmm...only half of the duo looks ready to sleep.

They were so excited about the sleeping bags...but they did not last long. They had both climbed into bed within 5 minutes of me leaving them. (But it took a bit longer than 5 minutes for them to fall asleep!) Calder fell asleep with Sandhya's socks on his hands!

Sandhya's pretty cake!

The birthday girls. My cousin Jennifer came down for a weekend. Their birthdays are one day apart.

They had a lot of fun with Jennifer!

Holiday Programs

2011-12-19T00:07:00.007-05:00

A week before Christmas, Tessa and Alyse participated in the daycare's annual caroling program. Alyse had a total ball in the baby buggy!

Hanging with Daddy afterwards!

Tessa wasn't much of a fan of caroling. I didn't get any good pictures of her, but here's one that I took afterwards with her wonderful teacher, Ms. Penka. We will miss Ms. Penka as Tessa begins transitioning into the 3 year old classroom. We look forward to Alyse someday being in her class!

Tessa had all of the parents in stitches as she tried to sneak away with a "lil bit" of the fake snow. She grabbed a little more than she intended, and ended up all tangled up!

Calder's school didn't do a holiday program, but he took drama as an after school activity this fall, and they put on a show at the end. He played an elf in their presentation of "The Shoemaker and the Elves". It was very cute, and he was so happy that Grandma and cousin Sandhya were also able to attend!

Here he is with his good buddy, Ethan.

Dr. Tessa

2011-12-17T00:00:00.007-05:00

Jaya looks good...

Rohan looks good...

Hmmm...having trouble getting a good reading on Alyse!

10 Months

2011-12-14T21:12:00.009-05:00

This post is a bit late...but our baby girl is already 10 months old!

At 10 months, she claps (especially in response to someone saying "yay!" or singing "If You're Happy And You Know It"), waves, and shimmies and rolls all over the room on her belly. She's starting to do some kind of backwards semi-crawling thing too.

Poor thing has had a rough fall/winter so far. She's had some type of cold or virus on and off for the last 2 months. She's currently suffering from RSV and her second double-ear infection in a row. :( She's a trooper though, and is still generally happy.

Here she is posing on the blanket that I made her. Although I love how it turned out, I will never ever ever attempt to knit a blanket again! It took me 2 years to finish that thing (not continuously, obviously). I started it when Tessa was Alyse's age!!

Tree Time!

2011-12-13T22:07:00.000-05:00

The selection of our tree was a unanimous decision this year! Too bad we didn't realize that it is slightly crooked until after we got it home. Oh well...it's still pretty.

The kids had a lot of fun with the decorating.

With a ~~little bit~~ lot of goofing off mixed in...

Tessa came up with this idea all by herself. She waved goodbye and said she was going shopping!

And Calder decided that Tessa had a pretty good idea. :)

Dinosaurland

2011-12-08T21:48:00.000-05:00

To surprise our wannabe paleontologist, we headed out to Front Royal a few weekends ago to visit Dinosaurland! We didn't tell the kids where we were going, and they did a good job of tolerating the long, suspenseful drive. Tessa was actually the first to spot the giant dinosaurs out the window. Calder was SO excited, he could hardly contain himself. Mr. Sweetness started thanking us profusely before we even got out of the car!

A friend had warned us that this place is pretty run down (he was right). But, to a 5-year old dinosaur obsessed little boy, it was heaven on earth.

Tessa was a fan too!

The replicas were meant to be life-sized. This Giganotosaurus, as you would expect, was gigantic!

And this baby Triceratops was actually quite small. Calder loved the baby dinosaurs the best and spent a lot of time petting and talking to them.

Tessa wanted to ride them, but no climbing was allowed.

This massive shark was pretty cool too -- especially since the kids could climb in and out.

Tickling the Brachiosaurus' belly!

Bigger Tricertaops

Alyse and I check out the Dimetrodon.

Giving me his scariest dinosaur ROAR!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-06T21:07:00.000-05:00

We spent Thanksgiving with Dave's family in Pittsburgh. I didn't take many pictures, but it was fun catching up with the whole family, and all of the cousins had lots of fun playing together!

5 of the 7 cousins

A game of HedBanz for the big kids!

Tea Party for Sisters

2011-12-05T23:20:00.000-05:00

Spaghetti Love

2011-11-27T22:53:00.002-05:00

Alyse seemed starving at dinner tonight (after downing 3 rice rusks and a container of squash), so I decided to toss some spaghetti on her tray. She was in love. I'm pretty sure she ate more than Calder and Tessa combined (I'm not even kidding).

Yay!

2011-11-27T20:56:00.000-05:00

A while back, my friend Carrie told me about a weekly photography challenge over at The Paper Mama. So, in an effort to improve both my photography and editing skills, I've been entering the challenges every now and then. Last week the theme was "Family" and I entered this picture. I'm excited to report that I won 5th place! Woohoo!

Pilgrim and Indian

2011-11-26T21:31:00.008-05:00

Calder's class had a big Thanksgiving feast and craft day on Tuesday. I was sad that I couldn't go and share the day with him, but Dave and I did help out his teacher by cutting out pilgrim hats the weekend before! We think he makes an adorable pilgrim and Indian!

Alyse "talks"

2011-11-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

I finally caught Alyse on video saying her favorite thing "Dadadadada". At one point this afternoon, she was sitting next to him and looked straight at him and said "Da-da Da-da", but unfortunately I did not get that part on camera! The end of the video shows how excited she gets when Lucky enters the room -- she loves her doggie!

Fall = Fun

2011-11-15T22:15:00.016-05:00

Tessa's Christmas Wishlist

2011-11-14T21:21:00.001-05:00

Halloween apparently made quite an impression on Tessa. The #1 thing on her Christmas wishlist? Candy. And the only other thing she plans on asking Santa for is a dinosaur. Wonder where she got that idea?

First Wagon Ride

2011-11-13T20:54:00.001-05:00

I took advantage of the warm November evening to take Alyse for her first wagon ride tonight.

She was a HUGE fan. Lots of giggling from this girl!

The sisters thought it was hilarious when big brother decided to join in. That's 96 pounds in that wagon. I consider that my workout for today!

Weekend 'o Fun

2011-11-12T21:53:00.000-05:00

We had a fun weekend when Auntie Niki came to visit all the way from Texas!

It was also a good excuse to hang out with Auntie Corey and sweet baby Amelia.

Calder loves babies! He still likes to say that we should have 100 babies. Yeah...we'll get right on that. :)

Two cute little gal pals.

We also went to a farm/orchard -- it was a beautiful day!

Mmmmm...

I couldn't resist posting this one. Doesn't this cow look terrified? I don't blame him.

And here's a pic from back in August when we first met Amelia!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-05T22:40:00.001-04:00

We met up with our friends Alison, Rachel and Ms. Mary at a pumpkin patch on Columbus Day. We had so much fun playing with them! Later, they even gave us a cute photo book filled with pictures of our fun day! We love it!

I can see that I'm going to be faced with the challenge of getting these three to all look in the same direction (and smile) for the rest of my life. (And let me apologize for Tessa's lack of modesty. I don't know what was going on with that skirt...but it has now been moved to the "too small" pile.)

Welcome to my pumpkin house! (Don't worry, Mary was holding her from inside the pumpkin.)

Wagon ride!

The 'patch' was filled with tons of pretty sunflowers!

Mary and Alyse!

Racing out of the corn maze.

Tessa always wants to be carried. Looks like she roped Ali into it this time. :)

A few baby cuddles before saying goodbye. Can't wait to do it again soon!

Aunt Maria comes to visit

2011-11-05T22:08:00.000-04:00

Aunt Maria and Tom came to visit the first weekend in October.

Calder had a blast playing HedBanz with them. {Seriously...if you have a child 5 years old or older, this game is a must. SOOO much fun!}

And they brought us all kinds of yummy food and interesting fruits from the Vietnamese market.

Calder and Tessa tried them all and even asked for seconds (..and thirds)!

Nine Months

2011-11-05T21:54:00.001-04:00

I'm 9 months old now. My Mommy and Daddy can't believe it!

I love to help Daddy cheer on the Steelers!

This ball popper belonged to my brother and sister when they were little. Mommy got it out for me, but they usually hog it.

I'm starting to eat a few finger foods like puffs and cooked peas and carrots. I even had some pot roast. I think my new tooth helped me chew it up. I'm getting another tooth too! It kind of hurts. :(

I am usually a very happy girl...

...except when Mommy puts me in a pumpkin.

I also love to "talk." My mommy is working on getting a video of me saying "dadadadadada!" I'm sure she will post it soon!

Official 9 month stats: 16 lbs 9 oz (13th percentile), 26.4 inches (20th percentile)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T21:37:00.001-04:00

The kids had a lot of fun trick-or-treating tonight!

Little Miss Peacock

Little chicken caught with a mouthful of chocolate!

And, a few pics from their "Dress Rehearsal" the other night.

Sleepy Ballerina!

It was too cold to wear the ballerina costume (her first choice) on Halloween night, and sadly, she didn't get to wear it to her daycare Halloween parade either, since Alyse was sick that day and both girls stayed home. But she was happy enough to prance around in it at home!

Practicing twirls!

Dinosaur ROARS!!!

A rare family pic, thanks to our neighbor!

Froggie Recreations

2011-10-30T23:26:00.002-04:00

I am so easily entertained...

Beach pics -- finally!

2011-10-24T22:26:00.001-04:00

Once again, I am crazy late with posting our beach photos this year. I tried to use batch editing in photoshop, but most of them ended up looking worse, so I got frustrated and quit. Two months later, I realize I'm never going to find the time to go back and edit all of the photos individually, so I'm just posting them as-is (maybe someday I'll get around to editing my favorite favorites.) And since I'm kind of obsessed with keeping the blog in chronological order...you can find the posts (er...photo dumps) here:

http://watchcaldergrow.blogspot.com/2011/08/obx-2011.html

http://watchcaldergrow.blogspot.com/2011/08/beach-dancing.html

http://watchcaldergrow.blogspot.com/2011/08/beach-birthday-celebration.html

I love this kid.

2011-10-16T21:57:00.002-04:00

Life is hectic these days, and I'm really missing my sweet boy now that he is in kindergarten. I spent some extra time cuddling with him tonight at bedtime. When I got up to leave he asked me not to make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch tomorrow. It's his favorite, so I had to ask why. His response? "Sometimes I like to sit next to Ava at lunch, and she's allergic to peanut butter and jelly." I told him he was very sweet to think of another person's needs and promised not to put any peanut butter in his lunch, and he said "No jelly either, mommy. She's allergic to jelly too." :)

8 Months

2011-10-03T21:54:00.000-04:00

I'm 8 months old now. Look what I can do!

Here I am on my 8 month birthday, wearing the same outfit my sister wore on her 8 month birthday!

I like blocks. I especially like to eat them!

I am a happy, happy girl!

Last Day of Summer

2011-10-02T23:29:00.002-04:00

On the last day of summer, we broke out the sprinkler and a certain little someone had just as much fun as her big brother and sister!

All Me

2011-09-25T22:03:00.002-04:00

I picked out my own outfit and I am so proud of myself!

Soccer Time!

2011-09-24T22:44:00.001-04:00

Fall is here, so it's soccer time! Calder tried soccer a year ago and it didn't go over so well. So we skipped it in the spring but decided to give it another shot this fall. So far, he's having a great time!

And while Calder was lovin' the soccer field, big sister was lovin' on little sister...

Big Helper

2011-09-24T21:51:00.001-04:00

Tessa is my big helper when it comes to feeding Alyse. She loves to help. And I have to say...she gets great results!

He Pledges Allegiance

2011-09-19T22:29:00.001-04:00

Calder agreed to recite his kindergarten morning routine, complete with the Pledge of Allegiance. (I love the way he says "Pledge of Allegiance".)

I Pledge Allegiance from courtney on Vimeo.

Did anyone else notice that he could have a prosperous future as a ventriloquist?

Sisters in PJs

2011-09-18T23:35:00.000-04:00

Baby Loves Crackers

2011-09-18T23:19:00.002-04:00

Sweet Love

2011-09-18T22:25:00.000-04:00

On Friday morning Calder popped into our room extremely early, as usual. And, as usual, we asked him to go back to his room and listen to a story on cd or read a book and then start getting dressed for the day. He disappeared and a little while later I dragged myself out of bed to go check on his progress. He wasn't in his room...but I heard his little voice coming from Alyse's room. I opened her door and found this:

He had brought the rocking chair over to her crib so he'd have a place to sit while he read her a book. He even gave her some toys in her crib. Oh, how this boy loves his baby sister. My heart swells!

Kindergarten!

2011-09-13T23:01:00.013-04:00

Our big boy is a kindergartner! So far he is really loving it and enjoys being a Rockin' Robin. His teacher seems great, and we are looking forward to an exciting year. Because of our work schedules, he's enrolled in before and after care at school. I was kind of worried that he wouldn't like it, but so far it is his favorite part of the day! What's not to love about a room filled with games and legos as well as extra recess time?

He did amazing on the first day. We got to school a little early so that we could go check out the SACC (before/after care) room and then we walked to his classroom together. He was getting a little clingy in SACC, but once we arrived in his classroom the excitement took over! While I was the one getting teary-eyed, he found his seat at the 'yellow bear' table and immediately sat down and started working on a matching game that his teacher had left for him -- totally ready to get on with this kindergarten business! He did ask for an extra hug and kiss before I left though... That's my sweet boy!

He apparently already got a lesson in time management. Every day during the first week, the first thing he told me upon picking him up was that he didn't have enough time to eat his lunch. Now that he's in week 2, he seems to have figured out that more eating and less talking = full tummy. And a lesson in responsibility came when he "lost" his lunch bag and was devastated because he thought it was gone forever. In reality, he left it in his classroom, forgetting to bring it with him to SACC. He was thrilled to get it back the next day.

Although he loves school, he wasn't the least bit upset when he had his first "snow day" -- the first week of school! We had a crazy amount of rain due to Hurricane Lee, so many of the area's roads were flooded. Hey, who doesn't love a good snow day?

Calder Lost a Tooth!

2011-09-05T21:17:00.007-04:00

Just 2 weeks after turning 5, Calder lost his first tooth! It had been loose for about 3 weeks before it finally came out. He was very excited when it finally did. It was actually pushed out by the adult tooth coming in behind it, and the adult tooth was completely in within a few days!

And talk about good timing! I finished this tooth fairy pillow for Calder about a month ago. I had seen one like this on etsy a long time ago and loved it. It was super easy to make and I can't wait to make girly ones for Tessa and Alyse. Calder already has a 2nd loose tooth, so I'm sure it won't be long before the tooth fairy makes another visit to our house!

7 Months

2011-09-03T22:56:00.008-04:00

We've had some slightly cooler weather this week, so seven month old Alyse happily posed outside for a little photo shoot while Mommy got in some practice using her camera in manual.

She's finally back on track in terms of sleeping, for the most part. It was a very rough 1 1/2 months, and I ultimately had to let her cry it out. But after 2 nights of 70-80 minutes of crying it was all worth it! She's starting to take more regular naps now as well, which is really nice.

She's a happy, giggly, good-natured baby who loves the constant attention from her big brother and sister. She's not sitting up yet, but I think she's slowly getting there. I'm not sure how long I'm supposed to use the "she was 6 weeks early" excuse but I'm not worried. No teeth yet either, but she's working on that as well! She loves to play with musical toys and her teething rings. She gave up her pacifier, and I'm totally aware of how lucky we are that we have 3 kids who all gave up the pacifier on their own as babies!

She loves to pull hair. Really loves it. And this time I'm not the only one on the wrong end of that -- poor Tessa has been the victim more than a handful of times.

Next week is a big week -- I return to work and she starts daycare. We love our daycare center, so I have no qualms about it, but I sure will miss my baby. I haven't been separated from her for more than a few hours in the last 7 months (oops! 6 months! Have I forgotten our 27 days in the NICU already?), so it's going to be a tough adjustment for both of us. I know how lucky I am that I have such a flexible boss who allowed me to take such a long maternity leave (but not without a few reminders of how much they are looking forward to my return! She's asked more than a couple of times "You ARE coming back, aren't you???") Our biggest issue now is that Alyse flat out refuses to take a bottle. Yep, that's sort of problematic since the big day is just 3 days away! EEEEK! We've been trying for about 3 weeks and she just will not have it. So, that just adds to my nervousness about returning to work. The one thing we have going for us is that she loves baby food. She loves carrots, yogurt and all fruits. She'll tolerate peas and green beans, but doesn't eat as much of those. I've heard the worst that will happen is that she'll keep me up all night wanting to nurse. GREAT. ;)

FIVE!

2011-08-30T22:09:00.008-04:00

Our baby boy is officially half a decade old. He's so excited about being 5. He frequently says things like "Remember when I was 4?" and "When I was 4, I couldn't do XXXX, but now I'm 5, so I can do it." My favorite so far is "Do my arms look longer than they did when I was 4?"

In case you don't know what it sounds like to have a five-year old living in your house...it sounds something like this: "What does 'about' mean? What does 'progress' mean? What does 'never' mean? What does 'ever' mean? What's inside skin? What is lint? How does a straw suck things up? How did you get milk to feed Alyse? What does 'I fell in love' mean? What does 'run for president' mean? What does 'offered' mean? How old will Tessa be when I'm 7? How old will Alyse be when Tessa is 7?" And I'm only talking about a 30 minute period of time here...

It's becoming increasingly difficult to get a good picture of him. If I want to take his picture, he gently reminds me that I have to say "Can I please take your picture?" I said please for this one.

He is sooo in love with his baby sister. He constantly showers her with kisses and attention and loves to point out to strangers how cute she is. For a while he would say "Alyse is cuter than a box of animals" (no idea where he got that!?) But recently he tends to just say that she is soooooooooooooooooooooo cute! He recently decided that she is no longer to be called "sweetie", but rather "L.A. or Little Angel'. He asked me for some spelling help, wrote "Little Angel" on a piece of paper and taped it to the wall above her crib. :)

And Tessa? Well, Tessa really knows how to push his buttons.

But, they have good moments too.

He loves to perform 'science experiments' which usually involve water, mud or ice (or all of the above) and sometimes my kitchen floor too. This particular experiment involved mud, water, chalk and bubbles. He made "white mud" and "mud chalk".

Other tidbits about Calder at age 5:

He loves dinosaurs, outer space, and legos. He received a lot of legos for his birthday and he does such a fantastic job putting them together!

He LOVES to swim!

He is already showing a love for math (how could he not?) His addition and subtraction skills are really quite impressive!

He's starting to recognize and spell some basic words. He's especially good at spelling sets of rhyming words (big, pig, wig, etc.) He's so excited about learning to read! He's not so excited or interested in the writing part.

He came home about a week before his birthday and announced that he has his first loose tooth. It's really quite loose and we can already see the adult tooth coming in behind it, so it looks like the Tooth Fairy will be visiting our house very soon! (September 1st update: He lost the tooth today! Let the Tooth Fairy duties commence!)

At his 5 year well visit, he told the pediatrician "I'm a man because I have hair on my arms. See?"

Did I mention he is very inquisitive? After learning that one of his classmates is allergic to pineapple, he came home asking what it meant to be allergic. We explained that it meant that if his classmate ate pineapple he would feel sick afterward. His response? "Oh. I'm allergic to chicken."

His favorite things to eat are Peanut Butter and Jelly, fruit and yogurt. He ventured into eating chicken for a few months, but no longer does. (I guess it's because he's allergic.)

He's starting to become a little picky about his clothes. He frequently doesn't want to wear what I pick out for him and he will sometimes disappear into his room only to emerge in a completely different (non-matching) outfit (underwear and socks included!)

He loves to make his bed -- especially "the fancy way, like in hotels" (i.e. the sheets turned down). He loves to help me bake and prepare food. He sets the table, clears his dishes from the table and even sometimes asks "May I be excused?" :)

When he grows up he wants to be an astronaut or a dinosaur digger and a daddy. But he also wants to live with us forever. :)

He's incredibly interested in places. When he hears of a new place from a book or TV show or just in conversation he always says he wants to go there. Among other places, we need to start planning visits to the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, California, Rhode Island, the Arctic and Africa. Oh, and we'll be booking a submarine ride soon too. :)

He gets so excited when I ask him to go get the mail. He comes running back from the mailbox (minus a few pieces of mail that he dropped along the way) grinning from ear to ear.

He's very sensitive. He's funny. He's silly. He's smart. He's energetic. He's curious. He's sweet. He's our amazing little boy!

Ahoy Matey!

2011-08-29T23:18:00.000-04:00

Shiver Me Timbers! Calder is 5! We had a great turnout for his pirate-themed waterpark birthday party, and a good time was had by all!

Ready to get the party started!

Sitting on the treasure chest!

Cheesy little sister looks ready too!

Momma and her big boy

Fun in the pool!

Cap'n Will!

The kids each got to take a turn digging for treasure (candy and "gold" coins). It was definitely a hit of the party -- not bad for a last-minute random idea!

AJ's turn to dig!

Who's up next?

Cake time!

Excited to blow out the candle!

The wind blew it out the first time, which he was not happy about. So, we moved the candle closer for a second try!

His sweet little friend, Audrey, from school. She offered to share her towel with him after he got out of the pool shivering.

Thanks for coming to my party, Me Hearties!

Now, if I hadn't misplaced the list of who gave him which gift...I'd have those thank you notes in the mail by now!

Beach Birthday Celebration

2011-08-28T22:07:00.000-04:00

We were at the beach this year on Calder's actual birthday. He sure does love it there, so I don't think he would have had it any other way. We let him choose what he wanted to do on his special day, and he settled on a fishing trip with Daddy and Zaidy! They caught 2 fish and 1 crab. The fish were thrown back in the water, but they gave the crab to a group that was crabbing nearby.

Birthday boy in his fishing hat

Ready to go!

The fishing crew!

First fish!

Zaidy does the hard work.

Taking a break at the playground.

Calder and Mike share the same birthday. Calder thought Mike would like a skittles cake...so that's what they got!

Beach Dancing

2011-08-27T22:23:00.000-04:00

OBX 2011

2011-08-27T22:00:00.000-04:00

To mark the end of the summer, we enjoyed a fabulous week in the Outer Banks. This year, Dave's parents came along as well as our lovely friends, the Harmsens. Having three little ones certainly redefines "vacation" but, as usual, we had a wonderful time. Can't wait until next year!

Photo Cred: Carrie Harmsen

Be With Me Playseum

2011-08-23T23:48:00.000-04:00

Earlier this month, we checked out the Be With Me Playseum in DC with some friends. The kids had an absolute ball, and after 3+ hours, I was dragging them out of there! It's not a huge place, but there is just so much for them to do. We didn't even make it to every room. It's all hands on play and so super fun -- it made me want to be a kid again! (Once again, excuse the low-quality pictures...but I very rarely bring along my good camera when I am taking all three kids out by myself!)

Sandbox play for Tessa

Where's the water?

Calder tries out his kayaking skills

Tessa was in absolute heaven when she found a basket 'o shoes!

This was sooo cute and probably my favorite room. It was a room made out like a Domino's pizzeria! They loved serving the pizzas, but I think they loved playing on the cash registers even more.

Pizza man in training!

One man band.

We splurged on one of the 'extras' and let the kids make their own ice cream sundaes. How cute are they in their aprons and chef hats!?

Happy girl!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Mommy and Me

2011-08-23T23:06:00.000-04:00

Dave took Calder to a birthday party a few weeks ago, so I had some rare one-on-one time with Tessa. We spent the morning playing at a park. (Technically, Alyse was with us too, but she snoozed in her car seat most of the time.) Tessa is such a different girl when big brother isn't around. I feel like I learn so much about her during those times and wish I had more opportunities like this!

She loved cleaning all of the mulch off of this little table. She likes to help clean at home too -- here's hoping she never outgrows that! :)

Maryland Science Center

2011-08-23T22:54:00.000-04:00

Several weeks ago we decided to check out the Maryland Science Center with some friends. It was fantastic! The children's room alone was worth it -- the kids could have spent hours in there. We all had a great time and we can't wait to go back. I don't have too many pictures because I only brought along my uber-crappy point and shoot, and most of the pictures did not turn out.

Digging for dinosaur bones

Tessa does some digging too!

Calder tries out the bed of nails

Making handprints

Home

2011-08-22T22:25:00.001-04:00

We're home after a great week in the Outer Banks! Lots to catch up on, including the birthday celebration of a certain little boy who just turned FIVE!!!

Thank you, Carrie! With three little ones, I thought we'd never ever get a good family photo again, but you did it! :)

Eyes

2011-08-18T15:21:00.001-04:00

There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.

Whatever

2011-08-11T23:06:00.002-04:00

My friend Carrie suggested it...so I figured, why not? I'm entering this pic of my sweet Alyse in a photo challenge. :)

6 Months

2011-08-10T23:10:00.001-04:00

Sweet baby Alyse is 6 months old! At 6 months, she loves to roll from back to belly, giggles a lot (especially at Calder and Tessa), chews on anything and everything (even your face if you're not careful!) and is just a joy to be with. She's 14 lbs 13 oz (28th percentile) and 24.75 inches (18th percentile). She's definitely starting to catch up...although she may never catch up with big brother and sister who were always much higher on the growth curves.

She found her feet! But only when she's sitting up in the bumbo seat.

She has officially ventured into the world of baby food. So far...she's not much of a fan (just like her sister) although she's still trying to figure out what to do with her tongue. We've tried rice cereal, avocado, squash, bananas and peaches. She wasn't too crazy about any of them...except peaches. This girl really loves her some peaches (again, just like her sister)! I stepped away from the table for a moment while I was feeding her and she burst into tears! But all crying stopped when I came back and shoveled the next bite into her mouth. :) Calder and Tessa get a real kick out of seeing her eat, but in general they think her food looks "distusting".

What is this?

Movin' to the country, gonna eat me a lot of peaches

Hmm....maybe she's just holding out for the real stuff!

We've hit a bit of a hurdle in the sleep department. She started rolling from her back to belly, so we had to stop swaddling her. NOT GOOD! She rolls and scoots herself all over the crib and gets stuck in compromising positions, waking herself up in the process. Then she screams for help because she has forgotten how to roll from her belly to her back! Ever since we said goodbye to the swaddle, the nights just have not been the same. (Part of me thinks it might be karma for telling someone a while ago that the sleep deprivation wasn't bothering me the 3rd time around. So, I'm eating my words. It's bothering me.) We did make a bit of progress this week however, when we realized we were keeping her up too late and she was extremely overtired. She goes to bed between 6:30 and 7 now and at least that part is going a little more smoothly now!

Help! Help!

No teeth yet, but she is a drooling machine!

She loves to chew on the crinkle taggie toy that I made for her!

She loves to grab her toys and try to get them in her mouth. She has started to notice Lucky and loves to watch him when she's perched upright in the exersaucer.

She loves her big brother and big sister. They make her laugh with their funny antics. And big brother and big sister love her oh so much. We all do!

Fun with chalk

2011-08-05T23:08:00.000-04:00

I found this idea on Pinterest, and I had to give it a try. I think they are fun...but I'm not crazy about the angle of the photos, so I may have to try it again! (Don't worry...I put a washcloth under her head to protect her sweet baby peachfuzz!)

Family Fun

2011-08-04T22:20:00.000-04:00

Last month we had another wonderful summer visit with our California and Maryland families!

I love the next two pictures because they remind me of some pictures I posted last year here. They weren't even posed! Last year it was at the Washington Monument, this year it was the Lincoln and Korean Memorials.

We so enjoyed having Bakura stay with us for a weekend. She was so great with the kids and it was just wonderful to spend a longer period of time with her!

Do you like my hat?

Do you like my party hat?

What do you think...did the kids have fun with Bakura too? :)

Wired

2011-07-27T10:03:00.000-04:00

When Alyse was born, she had two tiny holes in the upper chambers of her heart and a slightly low heart rate. It's not something that's totally uncommon in newborns (especially preemies). So, it wasn't much of a concern, but they asked us to follow up with a cardiologist when she was 6 months old. I took her in on Monday for the followup and they ran a lot of tests. As expected, the holes have closed, but her heart rate was still a little low. Although she doesn't have any obvious symptoms of any heart issues, they decided to put her on a 24-hour monitor just to get a more detailed reading of her heart rate. We'll get the results in about a week, but don't expect it to show any problems. As you can see, she tolerated it very well and remained her normal, happy self!

LOVE

2011-07-25T17:30:00.000-04:00

Babywearin'

2011-07-21T08:54:00.000-04:00

I made a baby sling for Tessa a few weeks ago, and when I gave it to her, Calder said "Mommy, don't you know I have a blue baby???" Little man was a tad bit jealous, so while he was sleeping I whipped up another one just for him. :)

Two and a half

2011-07-18T23:54:00.014-04:00

Our sweet Tessa is two and a half! We celebrated with pink half-birthday cupcakes and sang "Happy Half-Birthday". "I big girl" she likes to say.

Some things that I want to remember about Miss T at 2 1/2:

She whispers at bedtime. We can barely hear what she is saying, but she just keeps whispering at us. It's super cute, but sometimes frustrating because we can't hear what she is saying and she just won't speak up!
Whenever she sees the letter T she yells "T for Tessa!"
She's becoming very choosy about what she wears. She frequently turns down my suggestions of adorable dresses and goes for shorts and shirts instead. Preferably pink.
She's obsessed with bandaids.
She's very sensitive to loud noises. She does not like lawn mowers, blenders, hair dryers, and vacuums. Oh, and thunder. ("I no like bunder.") Apparently she doesn't like loud voices either. The other night, Dave was reading "Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now?" and when he said "Will you please go?" in a booming voice, she looked up at him and in her tiny, sweet, little voice said "Daddy, why you do that????" and burst into tears.
Some things that she can frequently be heard saying are "Where's my boy baby? Where is him!?", "Stop bovering me.", and "Whatchu doing?".
More funny mispronunciations include "Kepitch" for ketchup, "Mines" instead of mine, "foon" for spoon, "snowflakes" for cornflakes, "baving soup" for bathing suit, and "peanuts" for...well...a certain male genitalia. (As I was giving her a bath the other night she said "Don't touch my peanuts!")

She loves to care for her babies. She changes a lot of baby doll diapers. And uses a lot of wipes in the process. A LOT. She's a good assistant when I'm changing Alyse too. She always insists on the cookie monster diapers, and will search through the entire stack until she finds one. It's a complete travesty if Alyse does not get that cookie monster diaper.

She's also a very caring big sister who is still learning how to use "gentle" hands. And gentle feet and teeth for that matter.

She's the "passfire" police. Always checking to see if Alyse needs it. Sometimes even in the middle of a feeding.

My kitchen and bathroom towels frequently go missing. Turns out they are the perfect size for covering up babies and baby dolls.

Legos are super fun too! Especially if they are the ones that Calder is currently playing with!

Although she's not a huge fan of most vegetables, she absolutely loved the peas in our "garden" (read: small patch of dirt in our front yard). She nearly ate every single one!

Now this is more her style! (Yes, she even eats ice cream cones with a spoon.)

Her Shirley Temple curls are to die for. She gets compliments on them wherever we go. (One random lady even reached out and touched them as she was walking by...that was kind of creepy.) Even though the hair on the top of her head is quite unruly, I can't imagine cutting it -- I'd be too afraid the curls wouldn't come back! I think they'd make the most adorable little pigtails, but she won't let me do it. Her hair is very prone to tangles, and she runs when she sees me approaching with the detangler spray and a hairbrush.

Poor girl is LOVED by mosquitos. She gets huge welts with the bites and even got a black eye from a bite right under her eye. See that mosquito on her forehead? Yep, it got her.

She can frequently be heard singing Baa Baa Black Sheep, Wheels on the Bus, ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row Your Boat and Ring Around the Rosy. And as of late, the Spanish version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star! So, I'll let her close out this post with one of her favorites!

Baa Baa Black Sheep from courtney on Vimeo.

What do you think? American Idol finalist in 2029?

4th of July

2011-07-09T22:56:00.005-04:00

We had a low-key but fun 4th of July this year. We met up with a few friends at the local parade and had a fun (albeit hot) time.

Tessa and Will sharing snacks

Alex and Aubrey watch intently

Really, this parade is full of more political candidates than anyone cares to see...but it's close to home, has easy parking and you don't have to get there hours early to get a spot in the shade. Win, win, win.

American beauties in matching shorts!

Yeah, it was hot.

The obligatory sibling picture in their red, white and blues.

Popsicles after lunch!

Later in the afternoon, we headed over to the pool. Alyse snoozed in the shade while the rest of us enjoyed the cool water! We recently discovered that Miss T can now touch the bottom of the pool in the shallow end. She LOVES walking around in the pool. She's really becoming very comfortable in the water!

Practicing her kicks!

Our little fish.

Happy July!

All Dressed Up

2011-07-07T23:37:00.002-04:00

I took my two little ladies to a friend's baby shower a couple of weeks ago. It was fun to get them both a little dressed up. These aren't the most stellar pictures of Alyse...but I thought Tessa looked especially cute in these. :)

I totally expected to have to leave the shower early, since it started right at Tessa's typical nap time. The child just does not function well on no nap. But, she completely surprised me, and was perfectly behaved the entire time! (I won't mention what happened later that evening...)

Oh, and do you like Tessa's hair bow? I made it! Go me!

Beachin' It

2011-07-06T23:46:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, Calder spent a week in Pittsburgh at "Camp Nonna and Zaidy". It was his first time away from us and he did so great! Nonna and Zaidy kept him very busy with vacation bible school, museums, and swimming. He's already looking forward to next year!

While he was gone, Tessa, Alyse and I met up with our friends Will and Carrie at a beach about 45 minutes away. It was almost deserted and we basically had the whole place to ourselves. Will and Tessa had a great time swimming, taking turns rocking the baby, playing ring around the rosy, and just being silly toddlers.

This last picture cracks me up. Doesn't it look like it's right out of the Summer Lovin' scene in Grease?

First Dip

2011-07-03T23:43:00.000-04:00

Alyse took her first dip in the pool a couple of weeks ago. Just like Tessa's first dip in the pool, she had absolutely no reaction! What is up with our oh-so-serious babies!?

Spray Park

2011-07-03T23:35:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, we checked out the new spray park in our area. It's free, so it was super crowded on a Saturday morning...but it was a lot of fun for the kids. After having a blast the whole time we were there, Calder complained that the water was too cold and said he didn't ever want to go back. I don't think he really meant it. :)

Thump...Thump...Skip...Thump...Thump {5 months}

2011-06-30T23:11:00.011-04:00

Five months. I absolutely LOVE this age. This baby girl of ours is so full of smiles and coos, she makes my heart skip a beat every time I look at her.

And I'm not the only Alyse fan in the house...

Big brother and big sister are just a bit crazy for her too (and don't forget Daddy!)

Can you believe she already knows how to share!?

I think she's going to have to wear this onesie more often. She was called a boy on 2 separate occasions this past week!

There. That's better. :)

She's a pretty chill baby...

...who likes to help mommy during work calls....

Really, mom? Simple response variance is so...simple.

...and bounce around in the doorway jumper.

Hey mom, can you help a kid out?

We had a little blip in her sleeping record when she started to escape her swaddles. So, I tried a few nights without swaddling, which was not.good.at.all. She scoots around in her sleep and was doing 360s all over the crib, waking herself up multiple times a night. So, we tried a new, bigger swaddle and we're good to go! Hello 9 hour nights (most of the time)!

She graciously took some time out of her busy schedule to model for some 5 month pics this afternoon...

Remember when Tessa wore this ensemble? I'm so glad I kept it. :)

My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!

Her reaction to the sunglasses was nothing short of hysterical. She was literally trying to eat them off of her face!

BFFs

2011-06-25T23:31:00.001-04:00

Two weeks ago, Alyse got to meet her BFF, Samantha! They are birthday buddies...born just 4 days apart. Alyse and Samantha's mommies have been friends since high school, and we hope they become lifelong friends as well!

Kickin' it in the bumbos

Who doesn't love some chubby baby feet?

I found these matching dresses at a consignment sale this spring and I couldn't resist!

Snuggles!

Mommas and Babies

The writing is on the wall...

2011-06-22T14:56:00.000-04:00

At least I don't have to wonder who did it...

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T20:44:00.003-04:00

More Cousin Adventures

2011-06-17T21:44:00.001-04:00

The kids had lots of fun adventures while their cousins were here!

Racing at Clemyjontri (on the hottest day of the year so far!)

4 year-olds sharing ipad apps...

Water/Sprinkler parks

Science experiments

Photo ops

Pizza and movie night!

Tea parties

Reading

and a trip to the aquarium!

It was such a fun week and we miss them all already!

Grandparent Time!

2011-06-15T21:31:00.000-04:00

My dad and Peggy also came to visit for a few days while Sean and Vandana were here!


I was pretty impressed that we actually got this photo! The big kids are all wearing the t-shits that Poppa and Grandma brought them from Mexico.

Water + Chalk = Fun!

2011-06-14T20:58:00.000-04:00

A few days after we returned from Michigan, Sean & Vandana and family arrived for a week at our house! It was a full house, but lots of fun for the kids (and us)!

During an afternoon playing in the sprinkler, the kids discovered that mixing chalk and water is a whole lot of fun!

Memorial Day Weekend -- Part 3

2011-06-13T16:37:00.003-04:00

On Monday, we rounded out the weekend by taking the kids to my hometown Memorial Day parade and then had our big family gathering with aunts, uncle and cousins on my mom's side. It's always a lot of fun watching all of the little cousins play together!

Watching the parade

Aunt Vandana and Tessa

Sprinkler time!

Blake and Tessa

I think Blake's got the right idea!

Awww...even though Blake wasn't so into the hug, they still played so well together!

Jake and Ella

Uncle John and Ethan

Sean with his little boys.

Tessa played in the grass by herself like this for a long time.

Aunt Sharleen and Jaya

Sandhya models her "wedding dress"!

Alyse and Great-Grandma Bird

Babies! Rohan & Jaya (2 months), Alyse (4 months)

We stopped in Pittsburgh again on the way back home and got to visit with Maria and Abigail. Abigail was so sweet with Alyse!

Memorial Day Weekend -- Part 2

2011-06-13T16:12:00.000-04:00

My brother and his family arrived in Michigan late Saturday night. It was so great to see them after a whole year!! On Sunday, we all headed over to my Grandma's nursing home for a big family picnic in their courtyard. It was a little sticky and hot, but a great place for a picnic because the kids could just run around the enclosed courtyard and we didn't have to worry about keeping a very close eye on them. My Grandma seemed to really enjoy watching all of the activity, and she definitely enjoyed the Kentucky Fried Chicken and strawberry shortcake (with extra whipped cream)!

Poppa meets Alyse. Tessa had to be right in there too. :)

Poppa with the five littlest grandchildren!

Yummy veggie appetizers!

Bubbles all around!

Grandma and I

Gram with her baby boy

My family with Grandma

We probably should have tried this group photo at the beginning of the picnic instead of the end. Everyone was hot and tired at this point!

Tessa with her Great-Grandma

Grandma, Mom and Tessa

Memorial Day Weekend -- Part 1

2011-06-12T23:32:00.000-04:00

We had a very fun and eventful end of May and beginning of June. I'm going to try my best work my way through hundreds of pictures so I don't get too far behind!

For Memorial Day weekend we went to Michigan with a stopover in Pittsburgh to celebrate Dave's brother John's 40th birthday. It was also the first time John, Lauren, Madison and Olivia met Alyse!

I love this picture. I love how Madison is looking at Alyse and how Olivia is totally hamming it up for the camera. :)

John and Lauren

Madison helps her dad read his birthday cards.

Alyse and Uncle John test out his new anti-gravity chair!

We made it to my mom's house on Saturday afternoon. We didn't have anything planned, so it was nice to just relax and let the kids run around and play outside. I love watching my kids play in my mom's yard. It brings back so many of my own memories of playing there as a child.

Calder is totally into dandelions. On a family walk the other night, I overheard him telling Tessa "It's not a flower, Tessa. It's a dandelion. The white parts are the dandies."

This little girl loves dirt!

Calder loves this magnifying glass with built in bug catcher that my mom keeps at her house. Well...she used to keep it at her house. Calder lifted it during this visit, and I didn't realize until we were unpacking the van after we got home. Sorry, Mom. We'll give it back one day!

4 Months

2011-06-06T21:56:00.057-04:00

Our baby girl is 4 months old! At her 4 month well visit she weighed in at 12 lbs 3 oz. (20th percentile) and was 24 inches long (42nd percentile). (By comparison, Tessa was 15 lbs, 12 oz. and 24 3/4 inches).

So, although Alyse is technically still on the smaller end of the scale, she no longer looks like a preemie. She has little rolls on her arms and legs and even a double chin! She's even starting to fit into 3-6 month clothing! She had a serious case of cradle cap, but her pediatrician gave me some tips and it cleared right up in one day!

She's not on much of a schedule yet, but she is finally starting to 'wake up' and no longer sleeps the days away. She demands more attention which, of course, we are all happy to give her!

Like her brother and sister at this age, she enjoys watching ceiling fans and the mobile above her crib. She loves to suck on her fingers and barely takes the paci anymore. She likes to try to stand on our laps with her strong little legs, so we've been giving her some time in the doorway jumper. She's not exactly jumping yet, but she seems to really enjoy being upright and seeing the world from a new perspective.

We definitely struck the jackpot and got another good sleeper. She sleeps from about 9:30pm to 4am every night, and then goes right back to sleep after a quick nursing. Yay!

Happy 4 months, baby girl! You are so loved!

Practice makes {almost} perfect

2011-06-01T22:25:00.001-04:00

Take 1...

Take 10!

New Bike!

2011-05-30T22:06:00.018-04:00

Last summer Calder wasn't interested in a bike, but we decided to give it a shot this summer. I was happy to score this bike at a yard sale after much searching!

He's still getting used to it, but finds it very exciting!

I'm sure it won't be long before he's riding circles around the neighborhood!

Calder's Dino Book

2011-05-28T11:50:00.001-04:00

Calder is soooo into dinosaurs lately. He has several dinosaur books and soaks up all of the information like a sponge. He knows so much more about dinosaurs at age 4 than I ever have! So one day he sat down and drew out pictures of all of his favorite dinosaurs, and then decided he wanted to make the pictures into a book. He stapled all of the pages together and asked me to write down the words on each page as he dictated them. I wrote down everything exactly as he said (he even told me where to put the words on each page). Of course I am biased, but I think the result is quite impressive!

*Disclaimer: Poor spelling is a huge pet peeve of mine. But when it comes to dinosaur names, I'm way out of my league. So, please excuse the fact that I have completely botched the spelling of many a dinosaur name!

So, without further ado: Calder's Dino Book

Did you learn anything new about dinosaurs? :)

Bumbo

2011-05-27T22:17:00.006-04:00

Alyse gave the bumbo seat a whirl for the first time a few weeks ago. I think she's a little too small for it yet.. We'll try it again in a few weeks!

Someone else decided to give it a try too!

Water Bugs

2011-05-25T22:47:00.000-04:00

Calder and Tessa both took swim lessons this spring. They just finished up their lessons a few weeks ago, and it was a huge success for both of them. We already knew that Calder LOVES swimming, and we were pretty sure Tessa would too, since she enjoyed the neighborhood swimming pool last year.

She was a little clingy with Daddy before her first lesson.

But once she got in the water, she was ALL SMILES! In fact, she made sure we knew that she was not ready to leave when the lesson was over by throwing her biggest tantrum to date. It lasted all the way to the locker room, out to the car and the entire way home. Fortunately, she continued to enjoy her lessons, but there were not repeat performances of that tantrum!

Can't wait to get started!

More swimming smiles.

Showing off his skills! I think he was a little advanced for the class that I enrolled him in, but it was hard to tell which class to choose based on the descriptions. Oh well, he still had a blast!

Super swimmer!

Mother's Day Love

2011-05-22T22:38:00.000-04:00

I definitely felt the love this Mother's Day!! We had a fun-filled weekend of family activities.

We decided early in the week that we'd do a boat ride on the Occoquan River for Mother's Day. But with rain in the forecast for Sunday, we decided to take the boat ride on Saturday instead. However, when we arrived at the boat launch, we discovered the boat rides were not taking place as scheduled. We were bummed, but decided to make the best of it and took an impromptu family hike through Occoquan Regional Park. It was really pretty and the kids loved throwing rocks into the river and waving at the boats going by.

After our hike, we headed across the river to grab dinner at one of the riverside restaurants. It was our first time dining out with all 3 kids...and I won't lie, it was tough. The restaurant was busy, and I don't think they were used to having such large crowds, so the service was pretty slow. Fortunately, we had an outside table by the river, so Dave and I took turns walking the dock with Calder and Tessa and letting them burn off some steam!

And for Mother's Day this year, I scored 2 bouquets! This one is from my boys. :) Calder picked out most of the flowers with just a little help from Daddy. I was quite impressed since these are the same colors as my wedding bouquet! Dave said the cashier liked the bouquet so much, he took a picture of it so he could buy the same one for his mother. :)

My second beautiful bouquet came from my sweet friend Lindsay. She never fails to surprise me!

I also scored homemade blueberry pancakes AND the necklace that I wanted:

On Sunday afternoon, we headed back to Occoquan and caught the boat ride. It was something fun and different to do, and we all really enjoyed it!

I can't conclude this post without the following picture, since it depicts one of my daily motherly duties so well...keeping Tessa from literally smothering Alyse with love.