Jump!

Today we met some of our new friends at Jump Zone for some fun playtime! The kids had a BLAST!! Madeleine was all over the place and after a little while Harrison was right behind her. The only problem was that Harrison didn't want any "help" from momma and wanted to climb/slide by himself!

Unfortunately most of the pictures I took ended up looking like this:

However I did get a few good ones when they were still for a moment!

Harrison mad that I made him wait for me to go up the slide.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

To Kindergarden or Not to Kindergarden???

Right now we're facing our hardest parenting decision yet. We have to decide whether or not to send Madeleine to kindergarden this fall. I just don't know what to do. We'd always said that we would hold her back......remember that she was so shy and quiet. Well, that all changed this past fall. She LOVES preschool. She pops up out of bed on preschool days and gets herself dressed. She comes home chatting about what they did and what her friends said, etc. She's such a different child from 1 year ago!

A couple of weeks ago her teacher sought me out to tell me that she'd heard that we were going to hold Madeleine back.....she said that in her opinion (she's been teaching preschool for a long time and was a teacher before that) Madeleine was "totally ready" for kindergarden. I'm not kidding when I say that my heart just sank when I heard that. Even as I write these words, I am fighting back tears. I'm not ready for this. Not at ALL. But, I don't want me not being ready to hold her back from what she's ready to do. It's just a hard call.

And then, factor in the mommy guilt. Oh, yes. This hasn't been the year I'd planned in so many ways. I had always wanted her last year at home to be one filled with lots of fun activities -- park days and picnics, chickfila lunches and playdates. But, moving and working at preschool 2 days a week, and having 2 months of sick kids has really cut into that time. We haven't done most of what I'd planned for and next year we can is she stays home.

But, I don't want to keep her at home because of what I WANT. That's not fair either. So, it's just a hard, hard decision. Today her teacher did a kindergarden assessment and madeleine did great!! I'm so on the fence about this. I wish it was half day -- that would be easier. Oh, and what's harrison going to do without her???? They play so great together. :( I think I just feel cheated out of a year with her. But, if we hold her back, will she be bored next year going into kindergarden at 6??

Ok. Enough rambling. I did want to post a little on my girl and what she's been up to!!

* She can count to 100 and write all the numbers too. She can do some basic adding as well (thanks to matt).

*She can spell/write all her colors as well as mommy, daddy, harrison, madeleine and mimi.

*She is still BIG into princesses. Her little princesses go everywhere with us! Her favorite movie is Thumbelina (the old one) -- which I have to admit I LOVE as well (although she is a little flighty at first, but hey, the songs were written by Barry Manilow). She has to get dressed up and act out the movie as she watches it. She's also really into playing with her my little pony sets.

*She loves to color and draw and craft - the playroom floor is constantly covered in glitter and beads. She draws pictures of her and matt playing golf. Last week she traced her foot and drew bones in it -- all her idea.

*She loves to dress up -- most days you'll find her in a tutu running around the house.

*She's really into healthy food -- she will ask me for a "healthy snack" then "like apples or carrots." Last week we went to get donuts for breakfast and she told me "mommy, donuts aren't healthy." I asked her if she still wanted one and she replied, "of course."

* She loves, loves, loves to play golf with matt!! They try and go hit once a week and putt/chip a couple of times during the week -- it's nice that it's just out our backdoor. :) She really looks forward to these times.

*She has become a good helper when it comes time to cleanup and she's always "organizing" something!! Haha-- where does she get that from?? She also loves to clean and last week "cleaned" her bathroom all by herself (imagine water and wet papertowels everywhere).

*Her favorite books (aside from princess ones) are Dr. Seuss, Fancy Nancy and Pinkalicious. She also likes for us to read her bible to her and even has her favorites in it -- The Saddest Day is the one we read most which is about the crucifixion and has lead to some very interesting/difficult discussions.

*She counts time by "sleeps" and will ask me "how many more sleeps till mimi's house?"

* She tries to talk so big! I am constantly laughing at the things she's saying to me!

*She's decided that she only likes the girls at school.

*She would rather sit in church with us than go to children's bible hour. She loves it when they sing songs she knows during church and I love listening to her little voice singing.

*She can work 100 piece puzzles by herself.

I could go on and on about how wonderful she is and how much fun we are having, but I guess I'll stop. :)

Sous-Chef

Madeleine has become quite a little helper in the kitchen lately. She sets the table and puts the napkins out. She's also really into cooking! Her favorite thing to cook? Pudding.....which she can make all by herself! We've been eating a LOT of pudding lately and she's so proud of her cooking skills. And, I'm excited to have a little helper in the kitchen (most of the time). It's going to be such fun to impart all of my culinary expertise (ha!) to her.

Enjoying her pudding.

Harrison likes it too!

Spring Break, Part 2

We started off Wednesday with a trip to Sugar's school to eat lunch with her. While we were there Madeleine got to see what a "real" kindergarten class looks like before she goes next year (sniff, sniff).

Madeleine had to do some "work" while we were there. She made bookmarks for Sugar.

This is the best picture we could get get with Harrison -- and that was after we bribed him with a sucker. :)

Then, we headed downtown to ride the trolley. They both loved doing this!! Madeleine sat in her own seat almost the whole time and looked out the window. Harrison even sat super still in my lap. We joked that maybe we should have taken the longer ride since he was still for once!!

Again, the best picture we could get.

We hopped off the trolley at the Peabody Hotel and we in to see the duck. Who knew ducks could be so fascinating?? They watched them forever, especially this one duck that kept eating the food off the floor of the fountain.

Harrison wanted to join them in the fountain!

Madeleine watching the elevators going up and down.

Before leaving we had to ride the elevator up once. They both thought that was so fun! As soon as we got off at the top Harrison took off running down the hall toward the rooms so our view from the top was short lived!

Spring Break, Part 1

Tuesday afternoon we packed up and headed to spend some time in Little Rock during our spring break. We had a great drive down there because of this:
Harrison slept the last 2 hours and Madeleine slept the last hour. Hurray!! They were both in great spirits when we arrived and I was spared from hearing "how much longer till mimi's house" more than 100 times. :)

Wednesday we decided that we'd check out the new indoor play area at the Rock Creek Church and it definitely didn't disappoint!! We were the only ones there the entire time and it is fantastic! It has plenty of fun things for toddlers to do on the ground level. Madeleine and Harrison were both sweating when we left from playing so hard!! Madeleine is already excited about going back tomorrow afternoon!!

How fun does this look?? It made me want to be a kid and play!!

Harrison's favorite part.....rolling through these.

Getting brave and climbing to the second level.

If you live in the LR area and want something fun (and free) to do, I'd definitely recommend this!

Blogger Blah

I've been so bad at posting lately. But, in my defense, we've had just about every sickness that you can get from pink eye (all 4 of us) to stomach flu (everyone but me) to fevers and more.

So, I'm too tired to blog.

Harrison is our latest sickie. I took a picture of him napping this morning since it was the first real sleep he's had since Tuesday. Yeah. 5 days. But, I'm not going to post it since my computer is still sick and I'm having to use Matt's that has a funky photo program that takes forever. If you want more pictures, send me $$ for a new computer! :)

After a bad, bad, BAD night Friday night I gave in and took him to the urgent care clinic on Saturday. I know now that I should have taken him in sooner, but the last two times I've heard...."sorry, it's just a bad cold. We can't do anything for him. Yep, we know there aren't any over-the-counter meds for 2 year olds, sorry. Don't forget to pay on your way out."

Hey, these are tough times and there's alot of other stuff I could do with that $15 copay.

Back to Saturday. We headed out -- in the rain -- to take Harrison to the doctor. As soon as the nurse calls his name -- hysteria breaks out. He starts screaming, point to the door and yelling, GO GO GO. We get back inside and he refuses to stand on the scale. He kicks his legs out when I try and put him down, so we try the baby scale. Where he screams. And screams. Finally the nurse thinks she's gotten a good weight -- almost 1 1/2 lbs less than his 2 year weight (and probably true as sick as he's been).

We get to the exam room. I look around for something to keep him occupied. Nothing. Nothing?? This is a pediatric clinic, right?? Where are the books and toys to keep your kids quiet and calm until the doctor get to you? All I see is the free Bible that's in every room. Great. And we wait....

We finally see a doctor. And it was worth the wait. He's got croup and a "raging" ear infection. I know the drill with the croup treatment and know to ask for the shot instead of the oral meds. No, I'm not mean. I did feel bad that he had to have 2 shots since they had to spilt the steriods b/n his legs. But, I know from experience that the shot gives him about 24 hours of crazy behavior, whereas the oral makes him a sleepless maniac for 3-4 days.

So, bandaided legs and prescription in hand, we leave. I was shocked to find out that we'd only been there an hour. It felt like so much longer. SO MUCH LONGER.

Hopefully last night was our last bad night. He seems much better this evening. Although today hasn't been the best since Madeleine cut her hair. Boo. And, I stayed home with Harrison. I think I've been to church 4 times since Christmas. I wonder what's the record for most Sunday's missed from sick kids?? Can anybody out there beat me??

Okay. If you're still reading this you must really love us. Or be really bored. Or be a mommy who can sympathize. This spring has been tough. So so so tough. It seems like every week has been the same: Monday/Wednesday school. Tuesday homeday.....where matt's gone until around 10pm. And, Thursday someone gets sick and is sick until Sunday. And we start all over. I haven't been out of my house much except to go to the grocery or pharmacy and it STINKS.

However, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. I know that on the worst days I'd rather be at home with my babies that at work somewhere else. But, I have to admit that there are days when I miss getting up and dressed and looking NICE. I miss having the energy and time to exercise daily, which I love and feel frustrated that I can't even find 45 minutes for myself. I think I'm getting used to feeling like a walking zombie. Scary, huh.

And sometimes, I just need to vent. I promise my next post will be more upbeat. And have pictures.

Our New "Pet" and My Newest LOVE!

Harrison loves wild animals (maybe that's because he's becoming one!). I mean, he loves, loves, LOVES them! He especially likes lions and tigers and walks around the house growling all day long. He even does a mean growl at me when he's mad/upset, which is another post all itself -- the trying 2's. :)

A couple of weeks ago, Mimi saw this in a store and knew it was something Harrison would LOVE!! She sent it to live at our house (and a special thanks to Grandad for driving it up here in the front seat of his car -- don't you know he got some strange looks!).

This is what Madeleine thought about it!!

The kids love it! They lay on it to watch TV and drag it around the house by it's tail. It's extremely life-like. I have to make sure it's not laying around the living room when I go to bed 'cause I think it my scare the pants off of me at 2am!!

Little Ms. Fierce.

I also have to post about the fabulous birthday gift I got! This is my new favorite toy.....

Yep, it's an 8lb Oreck vaccum. It's amazing. My carpets have never looked so good, or been so taken care of. I've lusted after my mom's for years and now I have my own! Yippppeeee! I know it's totally 1950's housewife-y but this vaccum thrilled me!

Happy 33rd Birthday, My Love!

In honor of Matt, 33 things to love about him....

his work ethic. his discipline. he makes the BEST coffee. he is an amazing teacher. he makes us laugh. he gets on the floor and plays with the kids first thing when he comes home. he loves a good cheesecake. he loves golf. he takes Madeleine to play with him. his patience. with the kids. and me. he loves ice cream. he take criticism well. he gives encouragement often. he gives compliments easily. he does what it takes to provide for us. he is the killer of spiders in our house. he takes out the trash. without complaining. he washes the kids hair. he prays with the kids. he always has time to read to them. he does the voices when he reads. he encourages me. he challenges me. he writes thank-you notes. he likes to shop. with me. he has more clothes than me. he lets me sleep in. he tries harder than anyone I've ever known. he loves unconditionally.