Nature Hike

Today we went on a Nature Walk at Turnbull Nat'l Wildlife Refuge. We saw a porcupine, deer, turkeys, ducks, and red-winged blackbirds. Harry said that he saw the deer eating, but who really knows? :) We met up with some of our friends from playgroup and had a picnic by the lake afterwards. It was finally a nice summer day- it got up to 65 today! We had beautiful blue skies and it was SO nice to get outside and do something other than walk around the mall. Both kids snored the whole way home- they were so tuckered out from all the friends and fresh air. Harry said to Emma as we pulled in, "Emma, you can't have my friends." :) Emma actually slept for most of the hike- I think it's the antibiotics. I took Harry in this morning to get his ruptured eardrum checked out and apparantly, he STILL has an infection. I guess the 10 days of antibiotics he took didn't do the trick. So, now he's on a quick 5 day cycle. I also had her quickly look in Em's ears also, since she's been really cranky again lately, but stopped the teething bit. Turns out, she has one too! So, now I have TWO kids with infections and on antibiotics. Whoo-hoo.... How many days till Jay comes home????? :P I think I might really need that spa day I've been hinting at....

Harry and Shane took off as soon as we got there!
Kai, Harry, and Shane checking out the rocks down below
The view from our picnic spot!
Harry and Shane on the boardwalk- this was the only way we could get them to walk with the group!
Emma got a "baby" yesterday- she's absolutely in love and gives it kisses and coos at it. So funny!!

Harry

So, my little Harry is 2 and half today. It's really hard to believe that he's that old already. Seems like just a few weeks ago that he was so little. My friend Amber and I were saying today how funny it is that we spend the first two years teaching them to talk and walk, and the next 16 telling them to sit down and shut up. Our kids are definately in the second stage of that scenario!! :P
I put together a little group of pictures to show you just how much Harry has grown... he's not so little anymore!!

Harry- 3 days old
Harry's baptism- 4 months old
Harry's pool at Ga-ga's- 8 months old
Harry reading a story- 10 months
Remember this face??? 11 months
Playing in the snow at Chrismas in MN- 1 yr
Cutie-patootie- 16 months
Driving a "dugga" at Frankie's farm- 19 months
This is Jay's favorite picture- 21 months
This is mine. 22 months
Harry and Ga-ga's b-day party! Age 2
27 months old- learning to pedal
Swimming in FL- 28 months
Off to Playdate- 29 months
My handsome little man. 30 months old!

Emma

So, my kids each have big milestones this week. Emma is turning 8 months old on Saturday and Harry will be 2 1/2 tomorrow. I thought I would do a post for each of them with some updates and fun stuff. And lots of cute pictures!! :)

Emma Beth- 8 months- 29 inches tall- 20.5 pounds- size 12-18 month clothes.

Emma in her pretty dress (that's already too small!!). This is also her first time wearing pigtails! Emma's "determined" face She just LOVES her brother!! She looks exactly like my mom's baby pictures here. My little pigtailed angel!



This video is of Ems crawling. She's been doing it for a few weeks now and is finally starting to get really good. She's up on her knees now, instead of just doing the "army crawl." I was dreading her learning to crawl because then I'd have TWO mobile children, but so far she seems content to simply explore where she's at a little more. She's good about staying in one room- although, she LOVES to sneak off and hide in the bathroom. She just sits in there and giggles until we peek around the corner at her. She still thinks she's hilarious and loves to laugh at herself when she does something she thinks is funny. Most times she's funnier than the action itself! This week, she started saying "Hidahdah," which, while cute, is incredibly frustrating since Jay's been gone for the last month and half and yet she STILL says his name first! I know it's just syllables right now, but it would have been nice. She also loves to play dinosaurs with Harry. He roars at her and she squeals and screeches back. He thinks she's playing with him, and she thinks he thinks she's funny. It's great and very entertaining. Emma still absolutely adores Harry- she follows him around the house. (And when she doesn't follow him, Harry will roll her there! I can't seem to get through to him that he's not allowed to "move" her!!) She's still sleeping with 89 stuffed animals at night with no signs of stopping. The spitting up has finally slowed to a minimum, and thank God for that. (For those of you who met Emma when she was itty bitty, she was a projectile queen!) She's also discovered our kitties, whom she thinks are stuffed animals that move, but she's far too slow still to catch them. Every so often she'll catch a clump of Jerry as she walks by, but that's about it. They're wary of her and stay FAR away from Harry, so we don't worry too much about them. I think that's about it... More on Harry later! :)

Mobius and the Hungry Caterpillar

Today was yet another cancelled park day. We got to the park in Medical Lake (our favorite!) and Emma immediately started screeching because she was cold. So, we headed for the mall. Again. :P Today was successful also, I found a dress! Actually, I found two... So, now I have to make a decision, but I'm pretty sure I know which one I like better. :) Yay! Plus, we hit the Macy's Clearance Center and I found some warmer clothes for Emma. They're Christmas-y, but whatever. Damn kids grow so fast!!! She got an adorable little denim jacket that I can't wait to see on her and some long-sleeved shirts. We also found "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" at Macy's yesterday for Emma. Harry picked it out for her and calls it by it's entire name. I thought we had the book, but it turns out we have "The Very Hungry Ladybug" and have been reading the caterpillar book at Playdate. So, now I guess we'll have to find the book too! Harry's very excited and wants to know where the egg is, too.... Can you tell we studied the life cycles of caterpillar/butterfly at Playdate this week? :P Yay for Harry learning SO much there!!
Emma and her Very Hungry Caterpillar. She just wraps around him and nuggles in.
Harry's been asking to see the "bugs in a box" for days now, so I finally took him to Mobius
Emma got to play today in the little kiddo area- she's turning into a climber, just like her brother! I think they get that from Daddy....
Harry driving the cars. This isn't the best picture of his face, but I couldn't believe how old he looks in this picture....

A Day with Friends

We spent the morning today playing with friends. We tried to meet up with people at the park, but the thermometer said 46 degrees, so I decided that was too cold for Miss Runny Nose and Mr. Ear Infection. So, we headed to the Mall to the play area. It worked out well, because Emma and I needed to get some shopping done. :) We both need dresses for Grandma and Grandpa Butterfield's Party in 2 weeks. We found one for her today that's just perfect AND it fits her, which is a big deal lately! :) Now, we just need one for me....
Emma and her new friend Kierra
Harry driving the cart around- this would make a great Christmas/birthday gift....hint. hint...
Emma being pretty- as always!
Harry, Joshua, and Thomas at the park!
Harry on the bridge
Emma all bundled up in the stroller!
And I've got some more bathtub pictures.... sorry, but I think they're adorable!! :)

This was Emma's first "sit-up" bath- normally she's laying on a sling, but I figured she was steady enough to try it!
...and she was thrilled!!
They're SO cute!
Emma in her new jammies. Her first nightgown!

Mom of the Week Nominations???

So.... apparantly, there is an epidemic going around of kids trying to make their parents look bad. The parents shall remain nameless, but: Thomas ate a bottle of chewable Tylenol, Amber put sand in her eye, Charlie's mom hit a parked car, Emma peed at Walmart, and Harry's mom didn't notice his ear infection for a week until the membranes burst. I'm sure there are lots more that I'm forgetting or don't know about, but I thought I'd put it out there that you're not alone. We all rock this week! :) I welcome all comments and funny stories. I think we need the laughs??!!
Emma has looked like this most of today. She's pissed that Jay's gone. Or maybe not...
Capt. Ear Infection

New Diapers!

So, I got the bright idea to start using cloth diapers on my monkeys. Where this idea came from, I'm not exactly sure. I think it stemmed from kids potty training early who wear them, and then when I looked into, I discovered that they're not exactly what I was picturing. They're much cooler, easier, and cleaner! :) Harry LOVES his new green diaper and we're working on not pooping in it. I told him it's his special diaper and he has to tell me if he has to poop so that he doesn't get it dirty. So far, it's worked okay, but we'll see... So far, my only complaint is that they're a little bulky on Emma, but it's not a problem yet. The brand I'm using is bumgenius in case anyone else is interested- I'll keep you updated on how they're working! :)
The kids playing in the diapers.com box. They always send these HUGE boxes and Harry just loves them, and Emma just loves anything Harry does.
Both kids loving each other. :)
being cute!