Friday, June 26, 2009

And Baby Makes Five....

We're excited to be expecting a new addition to our family!! I'm due on Jan. 21 -- right about my birthday which makes me about 10 1/2 weeks right now. I can't believe how fast it's going too!!

This time around has been sooooo different! I'm sure I've never been this tired in my life! Ha! I guess it's just preparing me for what next winter/spring will be like. :) I'm already looking forward to hitting the second trimester and hopefully having more energy and some appetite. Right now I'm pretty much living on fruit and string cheese (which I normally think is disgusting -- the cheese that is.)

To say that Madeleine is excited would be an understatement! She talks about the baby a LOT. When we told her we were going to have a baby she immediately said "I want a BABY SISTER!" We explained that God will give us what he thinks we should have and we will love it. She thought for a minute and said "Well, can I pray about it at night ...... for a sister?" How sweet is that!! Her nightly prayers usually consist of her asking God for her to be a good big sister and Harrison to be a good big brother and then praying for a little sister! We never fed her any of that -- she came up with all of it on her own!

When I went to the dr. today the heartbeat was in the 170s so maybe she'll get her wish! I have had a feeling from day one that it's a girl, but I can honestly say that I don't care AT ALL. I have one of each so this is just icing on the cake!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Harrison at 2 1/2

It's hard to believe that my sweet guy is already 1/2 way to 3!! He is getting busier and busier every day and I'm having so much fun watching him grow and change.

Some things about Harrison right now:

*He is into everything! He gets rocks from the fireplace, climbs on the table, helps himself to food in the pantry....

*He is still sooooo lovey-dovey. He give us lots of hugs and kisses everyday! He is super-snuggly when he gets up from his nap and we'll sit on the couch and cuddle while he gets good and awake. I love this time every day!

*He's still the BEST sleeper! He sleeps 10-12 hours at night with at 2-3 hour nap each afternoon. He's so busy during the day when it's time to sleep he just drops! :) Lately he's been wanting to sleep with Madeleine so we sometimes let him start in her bed at night. They look so sweet sleeping snuggled together.

*His long-term memory is amazing! He remembers things from several months ago and still talks about them. He remembers where Mimi hides the candy at her house and that they rode the choo-choo.

*He LOVES trains and airplanes. He plays with his airplane -- but his favorite thing to do with it is to have it crash! Then he laughs his little head off. Silly boy. His favorite thing to do is go ride the train and he asks to do it A LOT!

*This boy is hungry all the time! I think he'd eat all day if I'd let him. Last week I tried to limit him a little more on his snacking and he quickly turned into one cranky fellow. So, obviously he's hungry!!! His favorite foods right now are cheese, fresh peaches/pineapple, grapes/strawberries, toast, bacon, yogurt, cheetos and chocolate milk (which he calls "malk").

*His vocab is expanding daily! He can now count to 10 and recognize quite a few colors. He loves to play hide-and-seek with Madeleine. He counts "nine eight nine eight.....come!" He's pretty good at the game too.

*How stinkin' cute is he in this little Sunday outfit?! I had to put this picture in here.

*He runs everywhere! That boy doesn't know how to walk! It's no wonder that he's pooped at the end of the day!

*The potty training is on permantent hold until the fall. He will sit on the potty for up to an hour and hold it. Then as soon as the diaper goes on, he goes. It's not going well. He's gotten quite a stubborn streak about it.

*He is happiest when we're playing outside. He loves the pool and is getting braver, but his favorite thing is playing with the sidewalk chalk or kicking the ball around.

*He's such a ham! He makes silly faces or will dramatically fall down laughing. He is chatty with people everywhere we go. He talks with his hands alot too.....which looks funny since he's only 2!
I love every minute with him. He is going to be lonely this fall without Madeleine directing his day. :) But, I'm looking forward to seeing what he does on his own, too.


Monday, June 22, 2009

Our Daddy is the BEST!!!

We've had a fast and busy weekend! Grammy and Pops came and visited with us to celebrate Father's Day and we had such a fun time. Unfortunately, I was too busy playing, cooking, chatting that I totally forgot to take ANY pictures! :(

We had a great Father's Day! We went to church then came home and I cooked lunch. That morning before we left the kids gave Matt their gifts. When I asked Madeleine last week what she wanted to get Daddy she knew exactly.....GOLF BALLS! This is the first time she's been able to pick out her own gift and she was so proud of herself. She picked them out and of course Matt LOVED them! They are planning a little chipping and putting adventure this afternoon to test them out.

Harrison (with some help from mom) got Matt a new coffee mug for his morning coffee. It's got a cute pic of them on the front! He was excited to give it to Daddy and kept trying to open it himself.

I added a new holder for his new phone.....they we were off to church!


But first time for a few pictures!
Silly girl!
How sweet are they!!!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Kindergarden Registration

I've been putting this day off as long as possible, but yesterday we finally registered Madeleine for kindergarden. They've been holding a place for her so we didn't have too much of a rush -- it helps when dad's a member of the F'ville School "family."

We'd originally planned to place Madeleine in the Prairie Grove School which we're zoned for....but after doing some research Matt decided that she'd be better off in his district. He checked out different school and talked to administrators before deciding that Leverett Elementary was the place for her. It's one of the closest to us and it's just a mile from Matt's school. It's a small school -- one of the smallest in the district with only 350 kids K-5. They have a lot of diversity in their students which was important to us. And the principal is wonderful!!

They are right across from the UofA so they have a lot of involvement from them. They are going to a completely project-based curriculum this year -- Matt does this and thinks this is the best way to teach/learn.
After touring the school, neither of the kids wanted to leave! I think that's a good sign. :)

They have an open door policy -- even Harrison is welcome there anytime! He can even check out books from their library. I think by the time we left he was ready to go to kindergarden too!
We got her supply list and the date we'll need to come back for kindergarden testing, which I'm sure she'll ace! She's most excited about learning to read! Hopefully this will be a smooth transition for her. It's mom I'm not too sure about......

Monday, June 15, 2009

Weekend In Little Rock

This weekend we traveled down to LR to celebrate my dad's birthday. The kids were so excited to get to Mimi and Grandad's house! Madeleine has been counting down the days until his birthday, since she knows her's is next!! :)

We had an amazing dinner of chicken, beef and shrimp fajitas, which Harrison refused to eat. He laid on the dining room floor during the entire meal refusing to eat anything until the cake came out! Stubborn little guy.

They helped blow out the candles.
I think Madeleine actually blew out most of them. Hahaha.

Harrison happy after having him some cake. I have to say it was GOOD cake from Blue Cake and definitely worth all those calories I'll be burning on my treadmill this week. :)
Sweet girl. Happy to be at Mimi's. I didn't take a lot of pics of Madeleine since she spent pretty much the ENTIRE weekend playing with my old barbies.
Friday we went to Rock Creek Church to play in their HUGE tube play area! I was amazed at how high the kids went. When we were there in March they would hardly go off the ground level -- this time they got so high that Harrison couldn't find his way out and I had to go get him.


After playing, lunch and Harrison's nap, the kids helped Mimi do some cleaning. Actually I think Harrison vaccumed their entire house this weekend with his play vaccum. If only it was real....
Does it look like he's having a good time?????
Harrison and Grandad have started a little bedtime tradition when we're there. They curl up in bed and Grandad reads Little Black Sambo to him. This was his book when he was little and I remember it being read to me as well. Harrison looooves this book! When he gets tired he goes and gets the book and brings it to Grandad and off they go. When they're finished reading he just curls up and goes to sleep. When I ask him who he's going to sleep with at Mimi's house he ALWAYS replies "Grandad.....and read Tiger book." I think he really looks forward to this.


Saturday we spent the morning checking out the toys at Toy Up. And, we can't go to LR without a stop at Purple Cow for a Purple Milkshake! So we headed there for lunch where both of my kids downed an entire kids milkshake! They ARE so good.
Yummy!

Check out those purple lips.
We headed home after church on Sunday, with both kids crying for Mimi and Grandad. But, by the time we got home they were ready to get out and play and have been crazy all evening!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Library Fair

Last weekend was the Summer Reading kickoff at the F'ville Library. I wanted to go and sign the kids up for the Listener Program and check it out since we've never been there --we usually go to the kids library close to our house.

It was so fun!! They had all different types of activities for them to do. Each one had a card and as they completed an activity they got their card stamped then at the end they traded in their cards for a prize.....paints for Madeleine and a windsock for Harrison. So Fun!! They had jugglers, a magic show, musicians/instruments the kids could play, crafts, balloon shapes, face painting and more!

Here they are making bag puppets. Harrison's looked like a picasso work of art and Madeleine made a cute kitty.


Then it was on to arm painting. Madeleine wanted a unicorn and waited so patiently in line for it! I was really impressed with how nicely she waited her turn.

The finished project. Later that day she asked me if the unicorn on her arm made her special. How precious is that!!! (And, of course, I told her she was already and always special).
This is where Harrison stayed after the first event. They had the mascot from the Naturals there and Harrison was SCARED TO DEATH of him! He kept asking where "brown" was and looking for him. I can't say that I blame him....that guy is a little creepy looking (think the "cavemen" on TV).

Madeleine waiting in line yet again. This time for a balloon.
Ahhhh. Finally. She chose a flower.

And Harrison chose a "halt" (sword) although it hard to tell from this angle. He was too busy waving it around to stop for a picture. :)
Harrison did pose with the dragon. Still holding the Halt.

Finally we ended with the magic show. Madeleine was pretty captivated by this and I loved watching her face. She even landed a spot in the NWA Times last sunday!!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Friday Night Fun

We celebrated the beginning of summer with a night on the town last night! We started out with dinner at Mimi's at the Promenade -- YUMMY! I got to get my favorite Asian Chicken Salad and Matt got him some ribs. After dinner we decided we definitely needed to get out and walk off a little bit of that dinner, so off we went....

Our first stop was the super-cute train they have up there on the weekends. It's the perfect kid-size train and I'm sure we looked pretty comical all crammed into one train car! :) We ended up riding twice since it was such fun! Harrison LOVED it when the conductor blew the whistle and the kids waved at everyone we passed.
Checking out an airplane in the sky.


Then it was on to the playground for more fun. They both took right off! Thankfully it wasn't really crowded and they had lots of room to run! I love to see how much fun my children have together. They are so happy playing just the two of them. They're favorite game outside is "help" where Madeleine pretends to be falling and Harrison has to save her!

Save me!!!!
This is Harrison's new Pirate Face. He walked around yelling "Walk the Plank" and pretending he was a pirate (one of his favorite games to play!).
Then it was inside for a carousel ride. This was Madeleine's favorite part! She always chooses the same horse -- the sparkle one. We were the only ones on the ride and they gave us some extra time. I think we were all a little ready for it to stop when it did! :)



Of course we had to end the night with some ice cream!! We stopped by DQ where Madeleine got her favorite Dilly Bar and Harrison enjoyed an ice cream cone that he actually ate top to bottom, instead of his usual way -- bottom first!
We stopped to throw some pennies in the fountain on our way to the car. I think they would have stayed there all night just enjoying the fountain.

I think it was the perfect evening and the perfect way to welcome summer. I am actually feeling like we'll have a little bit of summer this year, since Matt's going to get to be home (and by home I mean work in Fayettevillle) ALL SUMMER instead of spending a month in LR. Hurray!!!