Enjoying the Weather

Friends

Angela sends me pictures once in a while of the kids during the day. Here were a few of Alivia this week having fun with Brayden and Chase.

I'm sure they were great helpers with the laundry.

Sitting on a mountain of stuffed animals.

Running and holding hands with Chase. :)

Toothbrush

I just love this stage with Drew. He's starting to show us how much he understands by following simple directions and taking the initiative to do things on his own. The other day we mentioned we were going to go get groceries and he went into the kitchen, picked up his tennis shoes and brought them to me in the family room. He'll also take off down the hall when he knows it's time for nap/bed, and has recently started using sign language. He'll often sign for 'more' and 'please' and once in a while will sign 'drink.'

One of Drew's favorite things to do is brush his teeth. He would do it ten times a day if we'd let him. When we started this, I would make him sit on the rug in the bathroom so he wasn't walking around the house with his toothbrush. Now as soon as Brad mentions brushing his teeth, Drew takes off and gets in his seat. :)

Turtles

We had to make a pit stop while shopping in Edinburgh over the weekend. The kids saw this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles car and had to go for a ride. It was a successful trip to the outlet mall, but I had to stop and think about how much more we could have done if the kids weren't with us. Maybe next time we'll find a babysitter and do this one on our own! :)

Happy Harvest!

Hooray for days off from work! We had an extra long weekend and enjoyed every minute. We traveled to see family on Friday and Saturday and stopped to ride with Papaw "Bine" for two hours. We managed to get everyone in and the kids found a way to get comfortable enough to each take naps. I remember fitting much better years ago, but we made it work. If we lived closer, I'm sure the kids would want to do this all the time. It's one of my favorite times of year. Thanks for letting us ride, Papaw!

My "comfy" seat on the floor with Drew in my lap.

Brad in the buddy seat with the kids on each knee.

Alivia was able to help Papaw drive!

Drew napping. He slept for an hour, so we hated to get out.

Alivia finally fell asleep on Papaw's lap. I'm pretty sure it made his day. :)

Alivia Update

I wish I could keep up with all that Alivia is doing these days, but it's just too hard! She's so busy all the time. She constantly cracks us up with stories, 'one liners' and facial expressions that find us saying "Where did she learn that one?" For the most part, we keep a straight face as long as we can. But there are times where we just can't help it and she quickly says "I funny." :)

Here are a few worth sharing. Enjoy!

• While sitting on the chair in the family room, she yells to Brad in the kitchen: "Daddy, don't watch me. I pumping my boobs." Yep, she had her shirt up, her play kitchen glasses on her chest and she knew exactly what she was doing. After watching me pump for 24 of her 33 months of life, we can't be surprised. I think it just caught Daddy off guard. I'll take the blame for that one. :)


• One afternoon she was unusually quiet in the kitchen. Brad asked her what she was doing from the family room and she replied, "Just colorin'. Don't mess with me!" She said it rather nicely, but she's only 2! We never say that to one another, so we're not sure where she's heard it.


• We were trying to figure out what to make for dinner the other night and Alivia quickly speaks up and says "Texas Roadhouse. Yeah, I like that." I blame Brad. I think he must mention going there every evening on their way home from Angela's. It's always her first choice.


• She went "shopping" the other day while playing at home. She had her purse full of the essentials and then asked Drew if he wanted to go with her. Obviously he doesn't reply, so she said "Drew wanna go to Walmart instead of Home Depot?" They pretended to "shop" for the longest time. :)


• Alivia does great going potty by herself, but frequently requests help to wipe. At what point do you trust them to do that on their own? These last few weeks I've decided it's time for her to take a bigger role in doing it herself because I'm tired of hearing "Mommy, come wipe my butt!" I can be at the other end of the house and she'll yell at me saying just that. My new theory - If she can talk like she's 13, she can wipe like it too! :) And yes, she's definitely sitting on the potty in the picture above. I cropped it to not embarrass her someday, but I caught her sitting there "reading" her daily report from Miss Angela. I hate to admit it, but I would be the one to blame for that one too. :)


• Brad has worked late a few nights these last two weeks and missed bedtime. Alivia always wants Daddy to put her to bed, so this usually throws her off. Instead he tries to call and talk to her so she knows he'll come give her a hug and kiss when he gets home. Recently, she's been loving every opportunity to talk on the phone. When he called the other night, she quickly said "Hi Daddy. What you doing?" Then after a few minutes I heard her say "How your day?" It was the sweetest thing to hear and I could immediately tell Brad melted. If only she was this sweet all the time. :)


• One more before I go - The other night while playing outside, Alivia stood up in the fort of her swing set, looked out at us and said "I the princess of the castle!" As long as she realizes she's not the queen, I think we'll be ok. :)

Hi Da!

Drew has been saying "Mama" all the time lately. I love it, but have moments when it would be nice for him to request Daddy's attention. I even re-introduced him to Brad the other day to make sure he understood Brad could be just as helpful. :) We ended up outside that evening on the swing set while Brad mowed the yard. As soon as Brad came out of the shed on the lawn mower, Drew got excited. He kicked, waved, took out his pacifier and said "Hi Da!" It was so sweet. Fortunately, I was able to get a little of it on video so Brad would believe me. I think he gets a little tired of hearing "Mama" too.

Riding Along the Canal

We enjoyed the beautiful weather Sunday afternoon with a ride along the canal. We rented this bike that gives the kids a great view and Mommy and Daddy some much needed exercise. They loved it! As you can see, Ala joined us for the ride too.

Alivia trying to love Drew. Poor guy still isn't big enough to hold his own.

Much better. :)

Yes, Daddy was here too, but he was kind enough to let Mommy get in the pictures today.

At the Zoo with Mamaw

Mamaw joined us on Saturday for a trip to the zoo. Mom gets us a membership each year and unfortunately has never been able to go with us. We're so excited that she feels well enough after her hip surgery to make the walk. She kept up and never got tired! There's no way she would have been able to do that 3 months ago or even last year. We're thrilled she's back! :)

Alivia and Drew loved petting this dog "Ala" in the cheetah exhibit. Dogs of this breed protect farm animals from the cheetahs in the wild. Ala also has a brother named Solo that Alivia saw on our last visit. She hasn't stopped talking about him. Mamaw treated the kids with stuffed cheetahs at the end of our visit. Alivia chose to name her pink cheetah "Ala" and Drew's is "Solo." Ala has been everywhere with us ever since.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Yesterday we celebrated my 31st birthday. There wasn't much to celebrate, but it was a good excuse to go out to dinner and get a DQ cake. You can tell the kids enjoyed it too. We learned that next time we'll make sure to get the cake without the red icing. Drew was especially a mess!