Bedtime Stories

I have been really getting into reading to the girls recently since I decided to ditch the cheesy picture books and dive into chapter books with them. They have been eating them up, too. I find myself reading to them much longer and pushing them to make it through "just one more chapter". It is quite the change from me barely making it through reading them some random story.

So far, I have read them all of the American Girl stories we own. Those are mostly the ones for Samantha and Nellie. Ava is absolutely enthralled by their adventures and can't wait to hear what will happen to them next. We also read through the children's version of The Odyssey written by Mary Pope Osborne who writes The Magic Treehouse series. The interest in this came from a friend of mine that had been reading it to her children and her oldest daughter insisted on playing a game involving Circe's "magic soup" that had Ava intrigued.

Since we have started this, I have been on the hunt for more stories to read to them. I came across the Shoe books by Noel Streatfield. I immediately requested a copy of Ballet Shoes from the library to read to them. I know Ava will be thrilled with my choice since she is all about ballet right now. All she draws anymore is pictures of Odette from Swan Lake since they are about to do a children's production of it next month in which she will be a forest fairy complete with sparkling wand.

Once I have finished this, I will have to decide where to go next. I am thinking about The Secret Garden, but I am not sure I want to do that one, yet. I am also holding off on Little Women until they are a little older. I am just so excited to share with them some of my favorite books growing up. It is really reigniting my passion for reading that had been stagnant pretty much since having kids. I just have not found the time to really sit down and enjoy books. I am glad it is coming back to me.

Oh, and if you have any suggestions, PLEASE let me know!

Nocturnal Supervision

This is what Daniel calls his new style of parenting. *big eye roll*

I left Leila home with him yesterday morning while I took Ava to ballet class with Violet. Leila had been overtired from all of our activity with company in town and therefore acting up like she had been abducted by aliens and replaced with a bad version of herself.

So, I leave the house with Daniel relaxing telling me he has things covered. He suggested to Leila that she color at the kitchen table. Anyone who knows us knows we keep the house clean. Crafts, coloring, anything messy is contained to the kitchen...period. Leila, in particular, knows that she is restricted to the crayons unless told specially otherwise. So it was quite entertaining when I got a rather annoyed phone call from Daniel about an hour and a half after we left the house.

Apparently, he had fallen asleep for "only an hour or so" while I was gone. During that hour, Leila kept herself quietly entertained. By quietly, I mean disastrously. She had decided to get into EVERY single item in our craft cabinet in the kitchen. Daniel said it looked like a craft bomb had gone off in our kitchen.

There was paint all over the kitchen table. She had plastic bowls of water going to assist with any project she needed it with. She had gotten Q-tips out of our bathroom to help her paint like she learned to do last week at a friend's house while making V-day cards. She decorated her shirt with paint and glitter glue. There was mysterious pink powder all over the place like in the cat's water dish and the powder room sink along with the white towel she was using to clean herself off with. Later that night, I finally discovered what the heck that pink powder was when I found the container of Moon Sand in the refrigerator being preserved after she filled it up with water.

My husband did do one thing right, he cleaned the entire scene of the crime up before I got the phone call and made it home. Amazingly enough, she avoided getting paint on anything but herself, a towel, the kitchen table, and paper. My precious, light-colored carpet and furniture was spared.

Because of the lack of any permanent damage to the house, Daniel was quickly able to laugh at the whole thing. He is claiming to be the best daddy in the world for letting his two year go wild with crafts for a whole hour while he nocturnally supervised her. I told him he should look for that reward as soon as he figures out how to pull my foot out of his ass.

A a new generation of friends is born

I have been very occupied since Saturday. My childhood best friend, who lives in Ohio, came to visit us with her husband and two daughters. Our house was spilling over with estrogen. Our husbands seemed very tolerant of our antics over the last few days together.

This was the first time I had seen my best friend in four years since her oldest daughter, Autumn, was baptized. Ava was only 15mths old at the time and has no recollection of meeting them. It was amazing to see them take off and become immediate "best friends" as soon as they walked through our front door. Looking at them, it was really like seeing us at their age doing all the same things. They even sat up late, late, late chit chatting just like we always did. It was an amazing thing to relive through them. I wish they lived closer to us so we could have our girls grow up together like we did.

Ava was also just devastated when they left today. She is already asking when we can see them again. She wants to go to Autumn's birthday party. She said, "Autumn will have to mail me my invitation a few days before her party so that we have enough time to go all the way up to Ohio." So sweet. I am seeing what I can do.

Just can't win with her

We had a rare night out for dinner this evening and decided to make it a kid-friendly by taking them to Fuddruckers for burgers. Leila has been on a particularly big burger kick lately, so she was thrilled to get to eat one tonight.

Daniel ordered everything while I took the girls for a much needed potty break. So, we didn't hear everything that was ordered. I take them to sit, and Daniel comes back with drinks. Sodas for us and water for the girls. Pretty standard since I only let them drink milk or water.

Well, he then goes back up to the counter without saying anything. The girls asked where he was going, and I said that the food was ready. Unbeknownst to me, he had ordered them vanilla milkshakes and was proudly carrying the whipped cream loaded treats back to the table. He sat them down in front of the girls.

Ava's eyes immediately lit up with excitement, and she dug as fast as she could probably out of fear it was a mistake and would be taken away in no time. Leila, on the other hand, looks and them and grimaces. She then says in her not too happy with you voice, "But I wanted a hamburger...".

It took some explaining to convince her the her burger was still coming and that Daddy only wanted to get her a nice treat to enjoy in the meantime. After that, she was more than happy to drink it. In fact, she started to steal Ava's when she was too full to finish it.

Little rat...

Violet at 3 months

Violet is three months old today. She is becoming more and more social everyday. She never passes up an opportunity to smile and coo at anyone that even glances her direction. She is keeping her sisters pretty entertained when they try to see who can make her smile and laugh.

She is still a wonderful sleeper. She is settling into a great pattern of sleep and wake. She is blending in amazingly well with the rhythm of our family. She is still growing well. I have not weighed her lately, but I can only assume she is in the 13lb range. Maybe one of my friends at playgroup will have her scale on hand so I can check. Of course, I think she hit her three month growth spurt right on cue today because she has been awake every hour wanting to nurse.

Physically, she is so strong just like her big sisters. She insists on being held standing up just like the rest. She sits really well in her Bumbo and has excellent head control. I would not be surprised if she is sitting unassisted by the end of this month. Rolling over is becoming second nature to her, but it is still only from her tummy to her back. Thankfully, this is keeping her from rolling off to get into trouble yet.

I thought I would share a couple of pictures of her from today. It was hard to get a good shot because she only fussed when not nursing or briefly sleeping today. YAY for growth spurts...

Better than a rainy day

I am making a wish list of sorts for baby items I am saving up to purchase since I apparently I am not made of money.

1. I am trying to buy my own stash of cloth diapers for Violet. I borrowed all the ones I used with Leila from a friend who has a new little baby that needs them. I am really loving the idea of the one size diapers since we are done adding to the family and will only have one baby that needs them. I don't want to invest a crazy amount of money in all different sizes when I can make one purchase of the one size. I just can't decide if I want to go with the one size diapers from Bumgenius, Fuzzi Bunz, or Happy Heiny. I have heard pros and cons of all of them, but it has also been conflicting. I would love any and all input anyone has for me on these.

2. More Baby Legs. I told you guys I am addicted. While they are not a huge expense, I just want more, more, more. Never mind the fact that Violet keeps spitting up on them left and right. They have made diaper changes go so smoothly since I don't have to fuss with pants anymore.

3. I am in search of a good double jogging stroller to help me get out with the kids and get in shape again. If I could have my dream pick, it would be the BOB Revolution one. Again, as much as I would like it, I am not made of money. I can not afford to blow $450+ on a jogging stroller. So, I am trying to research what would be the best alternative for much less money. Any suggestions?

So, there is my current list. Not much to it, but they are important items for me to hopefully be able to afford soon.

Around the house today

Today was not out of the ordinary. I woke up at 7am to a cranky 5yo. That was fine. I needed to get up anyway in order to get out the door on time. I ended up leaving said 5yo at home with Daddy (again, the beauty of a husband that works evenings) to take Leila and Violet with me to my monthly LLL meeting. I had a great time sharing with other nursing moms. Then, I came home, started a load of laundry, and fed the kiddos lunch before settling them down for their afternoon nap. Or as I like to call it, the magic hour. I even managed to doze off with my snugly baby for a bit. After they woke up, I fed them a snack, started our afternoon routine of learning work, made dinner, and got them in bed. A pretty average day of activity. What wasn't normal was all the funny things my kids were up to today that just had me smiling and laughing at their antics.

First, I came home from my meeting to Daniel telling me about Ava's food person. Her what? Yes, her food person. She gets rather creative when left to entertain herself, and that is when she comes up with bizarre things like this. It even talks.
Second, my little baby must think the Bumbo seat is like the greatest and most comfortable thing ever to take a nap in. Every time I stick her in it lately, she is completely conked out in as little as a minute even after just having napped for three hours straight. I stuck her in the seat for a moment while I was prepping lunch on the counter next to her only to find this before I even had their sandwiches sliced. Yes, I know I just posted a pic of this, but I had to show you how funny a position she found herself in and stayed in until her sisters started screaming at one another about which napkin had their name on it. Plus, it is so cute, and you will just have to deal with seeing another pic of it.

The third and final thing that just made my night came from Leila. She has taken to singing herself to sleep lately. I am always amused to hear sweet little toddler songs coming from her room. Tonight had me a little more concerned, though. She has obviously had entirely too much television since coming down with her awful cold last week because this is what she was singing up there tonight.

I know you are singing along now, too. Oh, I was on the floor rolling over it. I think I know what we are eating for lunch tomorrow.

Tagged!

So, I got tagged again by Momz aka Jen from TFOC. So I'll be cool and play along like a good girl.



The rules:



1. Link to the person who tagged you.



2. Post the rules on your blog.



3. Write six random things about yourself.



4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.


5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.



And away we go...



1. I am really, really into vintage clothes from the 40s and 50s. In fact, the majority of my closet is filled with it. Unfortunately, I am still shaking the baby weight I have gained and can't wear any of them. Never mind the small fact that I really have no place to wear them at this point.



2. My hair is naturally a medium brown color. I starting dying it black in high school. So, that is about ten years ago now. My mom has always hated this color on me. When I get lazy and don't dye it for a while, it fades to a funky reddish-brown color that she is always so quick to compliment me on how much better it looks. This always makes me immediately run home and dye it back to the blue-black shade I love.



3. I am dying to own a dog. Not just any dog, though. I really, really want a West Highland Terrier. You know, the Caesar's dog food dog. There are only two things holding me back from getting one. First, I would want to buy a puppy, and there is no way I am going to have one with young children, especially a newborn. From what I hear, puppies will have you up all night like a baby does. Of course, not my babies. They are incredible sleepers and a puppy would totally cramp my style right now. Second, we have carpet in our house that is a rather light shade that we are anal about keeping clean. We don't wear shoes in the house and vacuum religiously. I know a dog would destroy the carpet, and I just can't have that. Maybe one day I will own a dog and have hardwood floors.



4. I am a bit phone-phobic. I have no trouble talking to friends or anyone I actually know. However, ask me to make a call to someone I don't, and I am a total mess. This drives Daniel crazy, especially if it involves ordering pizza for dinner.



5. I recently discovered a new addiction, Baby Legs. I have bought three pairs in as many days and still want more. I can't get over how adorable my little Violet is in them. Look how cute she is in them sleeping in her Bumbo today.



Now, for the people I am tagging:
1. Tricia @ I am Trish Marie
2. Zackary @ Shindig
3. Sarah @ Demode Diva
4. Kelly @ Living in a House of All Boys
5. Lelia @ Table for Three
6. Mindy @ Party of Five

Rockin' to sleep

Daniel and I have always felt that music is one of the best parts of our relationship. It has really played and integral part of things since we began dating. There are albums that immediately bring me back to specific moments we have shared. We love to go to concerts and make a point never to miss anyone we really like. The few times we have, we just kick ourselves forever after. We always have music on in the house, the car, and anywhere we can get it to play.

The girls are really into it, as well. We love to take them to see live music whenever we can. They have their own iPods, and we have filled it with really diverse and interesting music that should help them grow really interesting opinions on what they like at a young age...we hope.

Each one of them was exposed to concerts in the womb. With Ava, it was Peter Gabriel and the Foo Fighters. With Leila, it was NIN and U2. With Violet, it was Neil Diamond, The Police, Elvis Costello, and Bruce Springsteen. Now, we aren't sure if any of it set in with them, but they do seem to enjoy all of this music when they hear it.

This evening, Violet was being a bit fussy as she has not slept a ton today. We were trying to watch the Super Bowl and the half-time was starting. We were really excited to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band playing. As soon as they began to play, Violet perked up to hear the music and got very calm. In the 15mins or so that they were playing, she was lulled off to sleep.

Now, I have no idea if it was the music she enjoyed or if it brought her back to some memory of being in the womb, but it worked so well in settling her. Maybe I will keep that in my bag of tricks, and bust it out whenever I need to get her down for bed.