Boston Getaway

As most of you know, Paul and I just got back from a weekend in Boston...just the two of us.  The week before we left we realized we had not been away overnight with just the two of us since I was pregnant with Rose!  We have gone places since then, but not by ourselves.  Needless to say we had a great time and got to do many things that would have been hard to do with kids.  We walked a TON, went on boat cruises, went to a brewery, went to nice dinners and bars, etc...we saw pretty much everything we wanted to see.  And we couldn't have asked for nicer weather! 

This is the Duck Boat we went on that took us on a tour through Boston on land and in water.

On the plane ride home, there was a couple in front of us with a baby Madeline's age, then a family beside us with girls Rose and Ava's age.  Although the flight was only about an hour, the parents struggled to keep them occupied without bothering other passengers for the duration of the flight.  It sure made me miss my girls when I saw their cute little faces, but it also made me enjoy the peacefulness of my flight all the more.  Soon enough I would resume my responsibilities as a mother:)  Olivia and Jack picked me up from the airport and brought baby Madeline with them.  She looked so much bigger to me!  I was so happy to hold her and snuggle her...I had missed my sweet baby.  When I got to my parents' house, Rose and Ava greeted me with open arms...you can't beat the unconditional love of toddlers!

We came to the conclusion at the end of our trip that we are going to try to get away overnight (for at least one night) every 6 months or so.  It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day activities of our children, that we don't spend the time to really talk (about things other than work or the kids) or do activities together.  Plus, the break from responsiblity for a night refreshes us so that we come back happier, nicer parents. 

And we are lucky to have such great families who enabled us to have a worry-free trip, knowing our girls were in good hands.  Thank you!

Hugs!

Big Girl Rose

Now that Rose is 4 years old, she believes she is a real "big kid."  I think to Rose 4 is the new 16.  She thinks now that she is 4, she should be able to do things big kids do, like not take a nap, not sit in a carseat, stay up late, make her own lunch...

The other day she said, "I wanna make my own peanut butter and jelly sandwich because I'm 4 now and I know how to do it by myself."  So I got out all the things she needed and she spread the pb and jelly on by herself...she was very precise...covering every inch of the bread.  I couldn't have made it better myself!

Then she finished all her watermelon at dinner and feeling very proud of herself she said, "I ate all my watermelon, so I must be four!"  And when I tell her she has done something well, she says, "That's because I'm four and I always do what you want me to, Mom!"  Her favorite number is 21, so if she ever quantifies something that she thinks is a lot, she will use the number 21.  If she sleeps past 7:30 in the morning she'll say, "I slept a long time...like 21 hours!  That's because I'm 4."

She is funny with the things she says.  She will often say to me very seriously, "Mom, I wish I was a real mermaid."  Or if I won't let her have a certain snack or do something she wants, she will say, "I wish I lived at Ally's house, because her Mommy lets her have fruit strips for a snack."

She is getting so grown up.  I took her school shopping on Saturday...just her and me.  It was nice to have one-on-one time with her.  She felt like such a big girl because she got to skip her nap that day.  She is very excited about school, so I can't help but be excited for her.  But it is also bittersweet for me, because I can't believe she is old enough to go to school.  It's only for 2 mornings a week, but I am going to miss my little helper.  She is always watching out for her little sisters and is more than willing to help me when I ask...I am going to miss that.  And Ava won't know what to do without her!  ...It all starts this year. 

Hugs!

Little Miss Personality

In the past month or so, our little Madeline has developed quite a cute little personality.  It is amazing to me how much they pick up on at just 11 months!  She's aware now of what's happening when we take something away from her and lets out a loud cry letting us know she is not happy with what we just did!  Don't even think about taking a toothbrush away from her...it will not be pretty!  I had to get a toothbrush for her just so I could brush my teeth with my own toothbrush!  She also has this pitiful, fake little sad face that she makes when she is unhappy...usually winning us over every time. 

As many of you know, Madeline is our squirmiest baby...she doesn't like to hold still...ever!  She will hold her hands up wanting to be held, but then squirm back down in a matter of seconds...then do it all over again.  Her favorite thing to do now is climb the stairs...she'll usually stop halfway to see if I'm looking, then race the rest of the way up when she sees me coming.  Another thing she discovered how to do is to stand on top of the dishwasher when I am trying to load it.  I have to load as quickly as I can to try to avoid the wrath of the "Little Destroyer" as we call her.  This is the age when she is into everything.  All the contents from our drawers often end up all over the floor.

She constantly learning from her big sisters, Rose and Ava and will try to imitate them...never wanting to be left out.  She knows to draw on the sidewalk with chalk...although I believe she thinks that eating it is a better use of her time.  And just the other night at bedtime, I was reading Rose and Ava some books and Madeline was entertaining herself in their bedroom.  She found a backpack and tried to put it on her back...she almost got it right.  Then she found a headband that she tried to put on her head and walked around the room like that, carrying a blankie.  She was pretty proud of hereself:)

This is such a fun age of discovery and Madeline is such a sweet, happy little girl...we can't help but pick her up and snuggle her.

Hugs!

Preparing for the Unexpected

As a parent, you always try to be prepared for anything and everything that could go wrong at any time.  However, I think every parent will agree that there are often unexpected events that occur that you could never possibly prepare for.  Parents have to be quick-thinking and try to handle the situation with as much grace and poise as possible, even if we are truly freaking out inside.  For example, the daily dealings of a two year-old can quickly go from sweet to sour without an ounce of notice.

As many of you have already heard, we had such a situation this past weekend, when Rose and Ava posed as flower girls for their Uncle Ben's wedding.  Knowing how tempermental Ava can be, we tried to be prepared for the worst, with my Dad waiting in the back of the church, pacifier in hand, in case she freaked out and wouldn't walk down the aisle.  We had Rose and the other 7 year-old flower girl hold her hand and we tried to plan for them to sit down immediately after the reached the front to avoid distracting the guests.  Well, all this planning proved to be of no help with what actually went down that day.  After successfully walking down the aisle, Paul and I watched helplessly from the sidelines (because we both had a part in the ceremony) as Ava begins to fuss and decides to throw her flower girl basket in the middle of the aisle.  As her wailing gets increasing louder, I worry that the guests can not hear the preacher so I motion her to join me on the altar where I was waiting to read.  As she walks loudly up the steps to me, she steps on the bottom of her dress and falls flat on the floor.  Quickly I try to scoop her up and carry her out the side entrance of the church.  Luckily my Dad was quick on his feet and met me at the door so I could be back in time to do my reading. 

...Things went pretty much went as bad as they could go.  After the wedding, Paul and I replayed the events over and over in our heads coming up with multiple things we could have done to make things go smoother.  But the truth is, you can not always prepare for the worst.  We just have to try to do the best we can with what we know at that time.

Luckily God knew what he was doing when he made 2 year-olds so stinking cute...it is hard to be upset for very long!

Hugs!

Sisters and Best Friends

I love to watch Rose and Ava together.  They play dress-up together, ride bikes together, jump on the beds together, make messes together...even go potty together (gross...I know).  Their very favorite thing to play though, is 'Mommy and Baby.'  Usually Rose is the Mommy, but occasionally Ava gets to play the role.  The Mommy always tells the baby what to do, which sometimes includes going in 'timeout.'  It is definitely a reality check for me because they imitate the things I do!  But even in 'real life' senarios, they really are very caring with each other.  If one of them gets hurt, the other is often first to tend to them (unless they are the one who did the hurting:).  Even little Madeline, who can get upset when Paul or I leave the room, can be easily comforted by the smile of one of her big sisters.  I am so thankful that they have each other to play with and that they enjoy playing with each other. 

Rose is a wonderful big sister!  She shares well with Ava, teaches her new things, and always includes her when playing with friends.  The other day, Rose was invited to the neighbor's house to play while Ava was taking a nap.  When Ava woke up, the first thing she said was, "Where's Rose?"  I told her she was at Ally's house and of course Ava wanted to join them.  When it was finally time for Rose to come home, we went outside to wait for her.  As soon as Ava caught sight of her, she yelled, "Rose!" and ran towards her with her arms outstretched.  Rose did the same and when they met, they gave each other a big hug and Ava said, "I Love You, Rose!"  It was like Rose had been gone for days!  Ava is not going to know what to do with herself when Rose goes to preschool.  By then Madeline will be a year old, so I hope the two of them can develop a close relationship like Rose and Ava have.

I truly believe that siblings are one of the best gifts you can give your kids!  They will be the ones who are always there for you and love you no matter what...and in my case (and hopefully in my kids' case) they are the ones who help me get to Heaven.  I have been very blessed with so many best friends in my life...10 to be exact!  Thanks Mom and Dad for giving me so many 'gifts!'

Hugs!

Ava's Style

Although Ava likes to do a lot of the same things Rose does, she is definitely her own person.  In the last 6 months or so, so has developed her own sense of style...the way things have to be in order for her to think she looks good.  One of the things she LOVES to have on her clothes are pockets.  Everytime I get her dressed (even in pajamas), she will say, "I have pockets, Mom?"  Luckily she doesn't throw a fit if it doesn't have pockets, but if it does, she will continually walk around with her hands in her pockets.  She will even try to stuff things in them sometimes too, just because she can (like the baby bottle in the picture below...oh, and she picked out the boots to go with her dress).

Luckily all of our girls are pretty good about wearing hats...either to keep their hair or the sun out of their face.  But ever since Ava started wearing baseball caps, she insists on wearing them backwards.  We encourage her to wear them forward to keep the sun off her face, but she always turns them around.  One time when I put it on her the 'right' way, she started crying saying, "I not wook pwetty, Mom!"  I turned it backwards and she was happy as can be.

Ava's girliest fashion trend is that she loves purses!  She will find any bag with a handle on it and make it her purse.  She usually tries to stuff her blankie in the 'purse' and if that doesn't work, she will put anything she can find in it...sometimes she'll just start grabbing toys from the toy basket and stuff them in there.  Or she will stuff a baby doll or stuffed animal in there...luckily she hasn't tried stuffing Madeline in one of them yet :)

And the last fashion must for Ava is her 'sundasses.'  If the sun is shinning through the window in the van, she will start crying and saying, "The sun in my eyes!"  Then she will tell me she needs her 'sundasses.'  Unfortunately, she has managed to break or lose about every pair she's had, but that's why we get the $1 pairs at Target :)

Ava can definitely have her moments, but she sure can give us a good laugh.  Sweet middle child!

Hugs!

Memorial Day Weekend

So I guess you could say I am jumping on the bandwagon by starting a blog, but I thought it would be nice for family, who we don't get to see as much as we'd like, to keep up with how the girls are growing and changing every week.  So if you want to know what is going on with us, you now know where to find us:)

Friday we watched my friend's baby, Kash, who is ten months, so we got a little taste of what it would be like to have twins...and I don't know how people do it!  Kash is very active just like Madeline, so it was hard to keep them both out of trouble at times.  And Madeline was a little bully!  She kept going for Kash's face and toys...she thought she was just playing happily, but he wasn't on the same page.  It got to the point where Kash would cry if Madeline got too close to him.  I guess she is a little on the aggressive side:)  But today, she took her first steps!  She gets so excited, that sometimes she just dives on the floor, but she eventually walked about 4 steps.  She is such a sweet smiley baby!

Ava seems to be growing up so quickly before my eyes!  We are working on potty-training and she didn't have any accidents yesterday!  She is doing awesome...so much easier than Rose was!  The candy she gets every time she goes without an accident is the perfect incentive for her!  Plus, she learned how to ride Rose's 'big girl' bike (with training-wheels, of course) so now she can keep up with the big kids.  She still LOVES her paci, but has done so much better leaving it in her room unless it is naptime or bedtime.

Rose has been cracking us up with her story-telling lately.  Today at naptime, she spent 30 minutes telling Paul about 'their' wedding.  She said they are going to get married in Florida with Ava and Ella (our neighbor) as the flower girls...because she needs two.  She said I can come down after the wedding.  Then they are going to go boogie-boarding and they are both going to get rashes.  When she has a baby boy in her tummy, she is going to name him Jesus and when she has a baby girl in her tummy, she is going to name her Mary.  That is just one of her many hilarious stories that she comes up with...what a hoot!

Well, I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  We look forward to seeing you all next weekend!

Hugs!