Visiting Daddy

     I had a dentist appointment today so afterwards we made a pit stop to visit Hubby in his office. The kids ran around and visited for a little bit before deciding that Hubby's desk was a nice place to hide and play. They didn't sit still for long but I thought it was adorable!

A nice little fort

Welcome Back Daddy

     Hubby had been away for training for the last few days and the kids were so excited when he came home. They even climbed into his bag while he was unpacking - I think they were asking him to stay.

If you leave again please take us with you!

I'm NOT getting out!

It's Back...

     Well it's not spring yet and winter made yet another appearance today. We went from temperatures in the low to mid 50's Monday and Tuesday to winter weather today. The morning started off ok but the temperature steadily declined and the rain turned to snow and sleet. By time I left work at 1:45 everything was icy. I had to scraped a layer of ice off of my car and yank on the doors pretty hard since they were nearly frozen shut.

What it looked like out the window at 10am

     While I was getting ready to leave work I could feel the start of a migraine coming on - you know the pressure around your eyes and the feeling that you're just not seeing things right. While the kids napped and my migraine crept up on me I unloaded and refilled lunch boxes, started dinner and laid on the couch. When Froggie woke up I tried to be entertaining but it was getting tough so I took some ibuprofen and brewed myself a cup of coffee. By this time Big Brother was up and wanted to watch My Little Pony. My grand idea was to set my laptop up outside the mesh of the pack n play in the living room and let the kids play and watch in there while I let the medicine and caffeine take effect. After an episode we sat down for dinner and the migraine was almost gone! I'm so glad that I get them sporadically and that they typically only last a couple hours from start to finish.

They were so good about this set up

Sibling Side By Side

Ok everyone, I need some help! Hubby and I are having a disagreement about whether the kids look alike. He says not at all and I say yes. I blame my sister and her fiancé for this since they're the ones that said they do. I pulled a picture out of Big Brother when he was the same age as Froggie is now, what do you think?

Big Brother (1 year)                     Froggie (1 year)

Brotherly Love

     In a moment of love (and a rare act of unforced kindness) Big Brother decided to help Froggie get out of her winter gear this morning. I guess I shouldn't imply that all of his kindness towards Froggie is forced, it's not. However, a lot of the time he goes a little over board and makes her angry. I suppose I should say that today was an unprompted act of kindness.

Helping with gloves

And now the other side

he was very gentle about helping her, I think she was confused.

Restful evening

     In light of Froggie's sick day we decided to take it easy after dinner tonight. After everyone was bathed and put in their jammies we laid out the kids couches with blankets and pillows. Big Brother picked out the movie "Turbo" and then ran to the play kitchen to "get his phone". He pretended to call my sister (she and her fiance got the movie for him for his birthday). He announced "I'm calling Aunt Jen" and when I asked why he said "to thank her". So thanks again for the movie! 

     Before Froggie realized her cup was full of puffs and not popcorn and started stealing popcorn from Big Brother they were sitting nicely watching the movie.

    

Kiddos ready for their movie

     Froggie is back to her regular self and her medicine has made a HUGE difference from our sick, sleepy girl on Monday!

Sibling Fun time

     After nap time this afternoon the kids picked out a movie, Froggie picked Fairies, and started watching on my computer until Big Brother woke up. I switched it over to the tv and they sat together on the couch with cups full of teddy grahams while they watched.

Nap time starts out in the car

Froggie watching Fairies on my computer

The kids watching Fairies together

     Then after dinner we opened up some new packages of Play-doh and the kids played for a while with that. Big Brother has gotten really good at playing with it and using cookie cutters to make shapes. Froggie did pretty well with it considering it was her first time with anything like it.

Cutting out bears

Investigating her play-doh

Cutting out apples

Help Us Find Phoenix!

Help us bring Phoenix home quickly!

     Like I said in the last post, my sister called around 10pm New Years Eve to say that their dog, Phoenix, had run off around 9pm. Phoenix is a 1 year old red Viszla and was wearing her tags when she went missing. If you live in the Erie, PA area and have seen her or heard of her whereabouts please contact her owners via the information on her tags, me through the blog, or through the Erie Animal Network post on Facebook.

Phoenix and Big Brother

Phoenix and Froggie

Phoenix and her mommy and daddy

November Challenge: Days 1 & 2

     I've seen the challenge circulate on various social media sites; for every day of the month of November post something that you are Thankful for. I thought I'd take the challenge to the blog. So each day or so I will post something that I'm thankful for as well as my reasoning. Since it is now the 2nd of the month I'll post 2 things today.
     Day 1 and 2, I am thankful for my Son and my Daughter!

     Big Brother and Froggie have been two of the biggest blessings in my life. Though they may be temporarily frustrating they never cease to remind me of how valuable family is and our time together. I love to spend time with them and watch as they grow.
   

9 Months Old

     Froggie is 9 months old today! She's come a long way in the past 9 months and has had her share of set backs. She is generally happy and lots of fun to snuggle. She's normally tolerant of her Big Brother which is saying a lot, since there are days where I have a hard time tolerating his behavior.
     Our little Nugget officially has 7 teeth! With another on its way through... She is a GREAT eater and will try whatever we give her. I don't think we've found anything yet that she doesn't like! She got a nifty new sippy cup with a straw yesterday and seems to do well with it. She crawls around and pulls herself up on everything from toys to furniture to the legs of anyone close by.         
   She's growing in leaps and bounds but lately she has been struggling with sleep. I don't like to blame behavior and illness on teeth but by process of elimination I feel that her sleep issues may have been tooth related. Some nights over the past few weeks she has woken up to have a mini party. She crawls around and throws stuff on the floor. This morning she crawled over to Hubby and attacked him with kisses!

Big Girl at breakfast

Such a happy Froggie

Big Girl at dinner

     November 1st is also the day that I choose what the kids will be for Halloween next year. I snagged a new superhero for Big Brother and a Strawberry for Froggie for about $18.50. The costumes originally cost $52.99, I'd call that a deal! We are all snuggled up now for the night watching Monster's University! 

Movie night

Pumpkin Farm Picture - Final Attempt

     So every time we've gone to the pumpkin farm something has come up and one of the kids was distracted, or asleep, or grumpy, etc. Well since it wasn't raining when we got home from work I decided to pack the kids up and head out to the pumpkin farm again and give it one last shot. Just them and I to limit distractions since every time we've tried before there have been other people around.
     Here's what we came up with:

Big Brother driving Froggie around

They had a blast

Big Brother, Froggie and of course we can't forget a race car!

My happy little pumpkin

An animal made a noise and the kids looked a little afraid

Happy Grandparent's Day!

     Today is National Grandparent's Day. So from my munchkins to all you grandparents out there - Happy Grandparent's Day! Here is a little something from them to you:

Outtakes

     So this evening I decided I wanted to take pictures of the kids together since the weather was pretty nice and at any moment it could snow. Not really, but I feel like months of nasty weather is quickly approaching.
     I got some nice shots and I'll share those at another time; however, I thought I'd share some of the "outtakes" tonight since I laughed a little about them. My kids are pretty goofy.

Not the worst but a funny face

silly Big Brother

Hubby trying to keep the kids from eating sand!     

Recovery Day

     Yesterday was our recovery day. We were pretty lazy all day but when it got too hot to be in the house comfortably we moved out to the porch. It had drizzled earlier but was just cloudy so Froggie got to go in the swing and Big Brother played with his train table.

     While we were out there a storm rolled in and it got pretty dark and started to thunder. Big Brother, who sometimes gets pretty anxious about thunder, did really well with the incoming storm. We stayed out and watched the rain come up to the house and enjoyed the air as it cooled off. Once the storm started to die down Big Brother went and ran through the rain in his shirt and underwear. He then decided that he wanted to take his shirt off and jump in the puddles in his underwear. He’s such a goofy kid!

Before he lost his shirt

     Because of the rain today Big Brother also got to play his first video game today. Hubby and I had bought the Cars racing game a little while back and had put it away. Yesterday seemed like a good day to bring it out and he had a lot of fun with it. He loved to see his favorite characters and be the one who drives them around.

     This of course will not be an every day or all day thing but every once in awhile it will be nice to be able to let him drive Lightening around in Radiator Springs. 

Driving!

Racing with Hubby!

Froggie with her taggies!

Late Summer Heat Wave

     It's hot... again... I get pretty irritable when it's hot and so do the kids. So todays solution was a mid-afternoon water break. After stopping at a local produce stand we filled up the little pool with water and splashed around for a little while.

Our loot from the produce stand!

     At first Big Brother said he didn't want to get in, but after seeing Froggie splash around he asked me to put his swim trunks on. Since Froggie was already in the water and he was wearing gym shorts I just took his shirt off and sent him in.  Froggie sat up on her own and did a great job even though Big Brother kept dumping cups of water on her head.

     After our pool time we prepped our string beans and made dinner. This was followed by our bath time routine and a movie before bed so that no one was moving around too much. Tomorrow is going to be another hot one so we'll see what's on the agenda.

Splashing Froggie

After he decided to get in

Peaceful bathing for Froggie

One of many cups of water over Froggie's head. 

Hi everybody!

Bumps, Bruises and Boys!

     Hubby and I are convinced we will be headed to the ER before Big Brother turns 5... I swear he spends more time getting up and brushing himself off than anything (except maybe falling down). He ran halfway home on our walk to and from the ice cream stand and managed to trip and fall into the coffee table 5 minutes before bed!

He LOVES to run!

The bump

Our trusty Spiderman ice pack!

     After some ice, checking his pupils and some observation time (as well as some extra snuggling and kisses) Big Brother was able to go to bed. He'll probably have a lump for a few days but this is definitely not his first bump and I'm 100% positive it will not be his last.

     Froggie has become pretty attached to her froggy wubbanub and she likes to hold its hands while she sucks on the binky, if she's not chewing on its feet! Froggie also sported her hand-me-down UNC shirt today and I had to post it for all to know - well some to know, and they know who they are...

Loving her Frog

UNC!