Spring Break

Last week was Spring Break. My father-in-law (Robert) came out for a few days on a last minute trip. It was so nice to not have school or anything else to worry about while he was visiting. We went to the park, which is becoming one of my favorite things to do with the kids. The kids played, we had a picnic and then went for a long walk. It was awesome!! The next day we went to the zoo with my friend, Val and her twin boys. It was quite an adventure. Five kids, three and under is never boring. We had a good time and the weather was great. My only complaint was the crowds. It was so crowded. What did I expect on a beautiful day during Spring Break?? We made it through in one piece and without losing any one. I think everyone had a great time. On the way home Robert decided to pick up supplies to re-finish our picnic table (it was in dire need). He worked on it until Eric got home and it looks great. I thought it was time for a new one, but I guess it just needed a Dad’s touch. Thanks Robert. I’m not sure who enjoyed a visit from Grandpa more, the kids or Grandpa. Either way, it was great to see him. We can’t wait for the next visit. Below are a few pictures from the last week. Enjoy!

Check out Syd's awesome balance.

Mason & Macky enjoying some juice at the park.

Syd on train.

Grandpa Robert and Macky

Macky, Mason and Syd checking out the animals.

Giddy-Up!

Today we went to a ‘Cowgirl’ themed birthday party. It was so much fun. It was at stables and they had horses for the kids to ride. All three kids rode the horses and had a great time. It was a little cold, but that didn’t stop them from thoroughly enjoying themselves. Syd was a little hesitant at first, but once she realized that the horse wasn’t going to hurt her, she relaxed and enjoyed the ride. The babies also had a good time riding the horses. Enjoy the pictures.

Cowgirl Macky before the party.

Kiki and Mason

Macky, "Horsey?"

Syd, "This is kind of scary."

Mason, "Go dog." (he was a little confused.)

Macky, "Look, no hands!!"

Trip to Oklahoma

On Friday, Syd and I headed to Oklahoma (my Mom followed us) for a short getaway. We left Friday morning and arrived in OKC at 12:45pm. We had a nice lunch with my Mom, best friend Angela, and her two kids at Pei Wei. After lunch, we went back to her house and she was nice enough to highlight and cut my hair. While we were doing hair, the kids played outside. The weather was so nice, a little windy, but I guess that is to be expected in Oklahoma. Ross (A’s husband) and I had planned earlier in the week to surprise her with a babysitter so that all of us could go to dinner. She was definitely surprised. I love surprising people! Dinner was so good, but the conversation and company was even better. Angela and I stayed up way too late talking and watching television.

Saturday was a very busy day. We (Angela, my Mom & I) were hosting my friend Heather’s baby shower. Everything went great and I think the shower turned out really nice. We hardly had any food leftover and Heather got a lot of great presents. I can’t wait to meet baby Carson. While we were having the shower, my sister was nice enough to take Syd to the Paint Station. They painted a ballerina, bear and a butterfly. Syd had a great time hanging out with her Auntie Autie and Syd can’t stop talking about all of the fun they had. After all of the festivities, Syd and I headed home. The trip was kind of short, but really nice. I really enjoyed going to Oklahoma and hanging out. Syd loves playing with her “best friend Braeden” and I enjoyed getting to have girl talk with my best friend as well. I can’t wait until we can do it again.

Angela & Stormi after the dinner.

Stormi, Heather & Angela at the shower.

Kim, Angela, Heather (baby Carson in belly) & Stormi

Syd & Auntie Autie are ready to paint.

New Friends and a Play Date

A few months ago, my Mom and I took the babies to the mall (Syd was in school). Let me preface this with, we NEVER go to the mall. I HATE the mall and pretty much avoid going at all costs. For some unknown reason, we decided to go and get out of the house. I was having a run of particularly bad days and I thought a change of scenery would help. While we were in Baby Gap, I noticed another mom with two babies about the same age as M &M’s. Mase and Mack were very interested in them. I asked their age and, sure enough, they were about a month older than the babies. We started chatting and found out that we live in the same town, our husbands are both named Eric and are both engineers. We exchanged information, said good-bye and went our separate ways. I called a few days later and, since then, we have really hit it off. It is nice to finally have found a friend that lives in the same town and has kids the babies’ age.

Today we decided to go to a local park, go for a stroll/walk and then let the kids play. The park was awesome. It has really long walking trails that go through these wooded areas. Syd liked walking through the trees and she even got to hear a woodpecker. After our long walk we let the kids play on the playground. After the park we took the kids to McDonald’s for lunch and a little more play time. Needless to say, we got a lot of stares. I think it had something to do with 5 kids under 4 that seem to mesmerize people. We both got a kick out of it. Today was a lot of fun. I definitely think we will do this again soon.

I also wanted to post some recent pictures of the kiddos.

Mase and Macky playing Clippos

"Cheese"

Why won't this thing fit?

"Hi"

Naptime? No Thanks!

As you can tell from the title, naptime has become quite a struggle at our house. It started with Sydney being “disruptive” at school during naptime. I talked to her teachers about it and they assured me that she wasn’t the only one and that they were, “dealing with it.” Needless to say, that was not sufficient for us, so we talked to Syd about her behavior. She reported that she couldn’t sleep because the other kids were too loud. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I do know that if other kids are talking then the chances of Sydney lying quietly are slim to none. Even though Syd wasn’t sleeping at school she was continuing to nap at home without too much fuss or complaint. For some unknown reason Syd is trying, with much resistance from me, to give up naps at home. This has been happening off and on for a couple of weeks now. Last week she told me that she wasn’t tired at all and didn’t know how to sleep. What the heck?? She has slept great nearly every day of her life and all of a sudden my wonderful little napper is giving them up, just like that? The whole ‘giving up the nap’ thing wouldn’t be that big of a deal except Sydney starts having major, major meltdowns in the early evening. I know it is because she is so tired, but seriously that doesn’t make them any easier to handle. I’m trying to come up with creative ways to resolve this problem. So far, Eric and I have come up with the idea of putting a clock in her room and telling her that she has to rest until a certain time. I’m hoping that this will work and, even if she doesn’t sleep, she will at least rest. Hopefully she will be a little less grouchy in the evenings. I guess only time will tell. Wish us luck.

Finally Better

The last few weeks have been a little rough around here. It seems like we have been fighting some sort of sickness for weeks now. First, it was the upper respiratory infection, then some sort of fever virus and finally the babies broke out with rash-like bumps around and in their mouths. After completely disinfecting the house twice and several proclamations of, “We are better, we are not sick any more.” I think it finally worked. Thank goodness!!

My Daddy has been in town this week, which translates to lot of play, a date, an adventure to the zoo and one very messy cupcake experience. My parents watched the kids for us on Valentine’s Day and we were able to enjoy a nice dinner with just the two of us. This is quite a treat and one that we really appreciate. We went to Bravo Italiano in Arlington. I had Pesto Tortellini and Eric had the Crabcakes, then we both treated ourselves to dessert. It was Yum-O!

Wednesday was our Zoo adventure. I decided to take the babies and tag along with my Dad and Syd on their usual trip to the zoo. We had a blast. Syd loves the zoo and has since her very first trip at about 17 months. This was Mase and Macky’s second trip to the zoo and they had a good time. We would walk/stroll up to an exhibit and both babies would point and yell, “Dog.” I don’t know how many times I had to say, “No, that is a…” Not only did we get to see a lot of animals, which were all out and enjoying the 75° day, but we rode the train and carousel. I was a little hesitant about the carousel because this was the babies first time and Syd usually freaks out every time we’ve tried in the past. I was pleasantly surprised with how much everyone loved it. I predict that riding the carousel will become part of all the upcoming zoo adventures.

As for the messy cupcake, the pictures tell a pretty good story, but I will elaborate a little. We had cupcakes left from ‘Kiki and Sydney Night’. Syd wanted one as dessert, which was fine, but as soon as she got one, Mase and Macky also wanted one. My Dad asked if they could have one, and I said, “Sure”, and then turned around and proceeded to finish cleaning up dinner. You can see for yourself the outcome. Needless to say, they were a big hit.

We are ready for our date.

Granddad & Syd checking out the animals.

Giddy-up pony!

This is fun and scary, but I like it.

No.more.animals....

I love cupcakes!!

Sick – Sick – Sick

I started feeling a little under the weather this weekend and it has finally morphed into a full-blown illness/upper respiratory infection. I’ve been coughing and sneezing like crazy. Monday after I picked Syd up I noticed that she wasn’t feeling that great either. I took her temperature and sure enough, 101.3F. She spent the rest of the day lying on the couch or at least trying to. Mason and Macky didn’t really like the fact that she was relaxing. They kept trying to lay with her/crawl on her, which really annoyed her. (poor Syd) I also noticed that Macky had a runny nose, but wasn’t running a fever. Thank goodness! I gave everyone medicine, myself included and went to bed hoping that today would hold wellness for all. I wish. Macky coughed all night and Syd woke up at 4am because she couldn’t breathe. The fever was back. After everyone was up and medicated again we were all able to go back to sleep about 6am. I really hope that we all start feeling well soon. There is nothing worse than sick kids. I just hate seeing them not feel well and knowing that there really isn’t anything I can do. I’m lucky that my kids don’t get sick very often. So, hopefully this will pass quickly and we will be back in our normal routine by the end of the week. I’ve dealt with more than enough snot this week and its only Tuesday. I think it’s going to be a long week!