Christmas in November!

For tuesday kid's club at my good friend Mia's house she embraced the spirit of Christmas early this year since they are going back to South Africa for a visit and won't be here for the holidays.  Everyone brought a Christmas book and a toy to put under the tree and then the kids got to pick.  

They did crafts such as make snow globes, decorate reindeer and 

santa masks, sing Christmas songs and much much more.  

 My favorite thing we did was learn that Jesus was born at Christmas so 

that eventually our sins would be healed by his sacrifice for us on the cross.  

For this lesson all the kids got Christmas band-aids to remind them that 

Jesus can heal their sins just like a band-aid can help heal your wound.  

You could see the lightbulbs go on!

 After all they games, crafts, art projects, lunch AND christmas presents 

they discovered the best thing of all... 

 a 1 x 8 board lying on the ground in the back yard!

Becoming Best Friends

This is better than Christmas morning for me.  My girls are becoming best friends right before my eyes!  Every morning Addie wakes up and goes into Segans room and says "HI SEE-GAN...mommy Segan is awake"!  I hear a squeal of excitement from Segan and then bouncing up and down holding the crib shaking it until I get up and get her out to see her sister.   

It's so amazing. 

Moved water table inside because it was a yucky day.  Actually worked out better than expected for you moms who have two and need to keep them occupied.  I don't know why kids with water are always a hit but they ALL love playing in it!

Addie catching a ride in the mall with Segan in her Stroller.

3 Years Old!!!!

Three Years!  Could it be?!?!?  Since Adler is born on October 28th we have come to embrace the Halloween Holiday and have a dress up theme for your birthday every year.  It couldn't be any cuter than seeing all of your little friends running around dressed up as Lady Gaga, fairies strong men, bees and of course Dorothy.  What a fantastic time we have had with you little Miss Adler.  You have been around the world and have seen so many things.  We have had a blast taking you everywhere with us and have always been so proud of you.  

We love you little Addie Bug.  Happy 3rd Birthday!

Tire Trouble

Advice for all of you who have two and the 2nd one is active,  

DO NOT leave the stroller next to your tire while getting the older child in.

Though I think the real lesson is 

that maybe mommy needs to hit the carwash a little more often.

Pumpkin Fun

My fantastically talented and creative friend Mia has a "crafts day" at her house once a month for all of her mommy friends and today was above and beyond!


The little girls dressed up as fairy witches with hats and wings, the little boys became skeleton pirates.  They planted pumpkin seeds in her back yard and low and behold after making pumpkin projects inside they came back out and "magically" pumpkins appeared where they had planted the seeds.  All the kids got so excited!

It's awesome to have creative friends!

(notice the shoes...love this age)

School Saga

 

At school Addie was keeping up mentally with her class but she was getting knocked around by the bigger kids.  I believe all parents know their kids strengths and weaknesses.  Adler is not a wimpy kid, she's super athletic and her best feature is that she's not a whiner.  So when she comes up to me upset I know something is off.  

Addie doesn't go to school thursdays so I went to the school in the morning and talked with the principal face to face.  This was going to be a good lesson of learning to walk the fine line of protecting your child and yet not being "that mom" at school  (bringing a dozen doughnuts helps).  I needed to see for myself the roster for Adler's class and for the younger class.  Turns out she is the youngest in the class by almost two months and would be right in line in the younger class.  I thought we should try the younger class out to see if it's a fit.  

She started the new class the next day and it turned out to be great!  The teachers are also giving her more advanced work since she was doing fine in the older class.  She likes the kids in her new class and her teachers are great.  I am so pleased that they were so willing to find her the perfect fit.  It was also nice to pick up a really happy kiddo. 

how to teach, let go and still protect

Addie started preschool a little over two weeks ago - three days a week.  Every day she is coming home with some sort of "booboo".  Today, she got this cut that looks like she fell off a bike going 15 miles an hour.  She started to cry and held her arm.   I asked her what was going on and she told me she is being pushed by a boy in her class.  This is a pretty significant "push".  My blood is starting to boil.  I talked with her teachers and they told me this boy has a "mean streak" in him and that they have made him sit out the rest of recess because he pushed her.  Though I appreciate this "punishment" I feel like it's bad parenting at home that's the culprit and maybe he should be allowed back to school until this is fixed.  Why should my child have to deal with this when she is the good kid in all of this.  I called the principal and had a great talk about this boy - she is going to talk to the parents about his behavior.  If it happens again, then I am going to "talk" to the parents, my kid is not going to end up scarred because some brat of a kid has a "mean streak".   My dad gave me good advise since we don't want Addie to push back he suggested she turn to him and take him by surprise and firmly tell him "STOP IT! DON'T PUSH ME"!!! We've been practicing.  So we'll see what takes place on friday when she goes back.   Fingers crossed.


You'd never believe that's true when they say you are much more relaxed with the second child.  You end up allowing things that you would never even consider allowing with the first one - such as chips to a ten month old bribing for a moment of peace.  After today with Addie I'm glad Dj and I have already discussed schooling for Segan.  I know it would make my life easier to think about putting her in school when she turns two.  To be fair to her we are going to hold off until she is the same age as when Addie started.  Knowing we have already made this age based decision will help guide me mentally in the future with other decisions I make for her.  It's a good reminder when the "age milestones" weekly email comes from baby center seeing where she is.  Realizing that at this stage every month makes a huge difference. A two year old is very different from a two and a half year old as far as capabilities, especially physically, ESPECIALLY boy vs. girl.  So for us, it only makes sense to "protect" our girls at home as long as possible.  


That's the plan.

One Mississippi

I can't believe I have two kids, I feel like I just got married!  Truly, I don't "feel" any older but looking at my kiddos, though still young, they are getting old.  Therefore I must be getting old...right?!?! :)  So here I go, in my ripe old age of 34 I'm starting a blog.  I want to remember these moments that slip by so quickly.  Let's be honest the baby book can only hold so many memories and I'm not the best at keeping up with it.  Hopefully this will give my girls something to read in the future and laugh about with each other and us.


I'm loving this age, my two girls want to play with each other. Adler (almost 3) and Segan (10 months) - Seegs just looks up to Addie and wants to follow her wherever she goes.  Which Addie is cool with most of the time until Segan tries to eat her puzzle pieces or her goldfish.  Then I get the old "MOMMY" call.  


I wasn't allowed to push Segan on the swing today, only Addie was allowed to.  So I sat down on the porch and watched while they laughed and laughed.  If you haven't had the pleasure of hearing a three year old and a 10 month old laugh together then you are missing out.  It's one of the greatest sounds in the world!  Addie was telling her about something (I couldn't make it out) and then I heard her start to sing twinkle twinkle little star to her. So stinking cute, then she burst into Happy Birthday to Segan (though not her birthday).  Oh well they loved it and so did I.


Would I remember this moment?? Maybe in some sort of vague manor but now it's documented and I can't wait for more moments, better moments, funnier moments, sad moments and fantastical moments to post on this blog.


So we begin....one mississippi.