Giveaway

A really fun giveaway over at Heart Cries. Great products. I attended a home party and ordered a few things for myself. I actually am hosting a party in March. Head on over to her site and enter to win.

Jump Class

All weekend Melia asked and asked and asked for us to take her to "Jump Class".

me.."What do you do at jump class?"

"Mom, we jump"

me.."Well, of course...who is at jump class"

"Makayla" (a little girl who Melia has officially met one time...she is the sister of a girl in her preschool class...who she sees now and then at pick-up and drop-off...she talks about her all the time, even telling us all the things that Makayla likes to do at her house)

Today after being asked ten times in 30 seconds if I could take her to jump class, I had a brainstorm and decided to make a car with the girls, so Melia could drive herself to jump class.

Here is what we did.

Personalized Initials License plate

This sporty convertible has two doors, four (paper-plate) wheels, and TWO moving steering wheels. It is even equipped with seat belts, but this model is not equipped with airbags or power windows :).

A little video of the work

And for a bonus...a few pics of Melia ready for her Valentine party at preschool

Valentines in hand...we made choc covered pretzel sticks with pink, red, and white

hearts on them (used a candy mold)

Strike a pose

8 Months

Parker turned 8 months old last week. He is the light of our life (or one of them at least). He is growing and learning so much every day. He started imitating many of the things we do. He learned to give kisses on command this month (open mouth ones at that). He is making so many new nosies these days. He loves his hands and fingers (almost as much as food) and can't keep them out of his mouth. I am pretty sure he intentionally signed "eat" yesterday. We have been teaching him the signs for more, eat, please, and drink.

He is such a calm baby. People are always asking, "Does he ever cry?" Not very often is my answer. He is happy and content watching and observing all that goes on around him.

He weighed in at 20 pounds this month and is 28 3/4 inches long. He is still wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes, more and more 9-12 month clothes are being sprinkled in the mix. He loves to eat and would sit in his highchair forever if a supply of puffs were coming his way. He still sleeps 12 hours every night and takes two naps a day.

We just love this boy to pieces. He has braved the cold a few times this month, going out to play (or watch) his sisters play. He even went with us to the sledding hill yesterday and watched Melia come down the hill a few times.

Here are a few pictures of our handsome boy. (Getting him to look AND smile at the camera has proved difficult these days, but he is still cute as can be)

Eating puffs...does life get any better?

Blowing bubbles with his mouth...another favorite past time.

Standing (or leaning) on the basket (with some help to get there from his sister)

He got a new (craigslist find) walker this month. It took him about 3 mins to start cruising the kitchen. He has a runway of wood floor to move and groove.

Daddy Daughter Snow Day

Melia has been such a daddy's girls the past few weeks. She has even been crying when he leaves in the morning. She told Chris this morning, "I want mommy to go to work and you stay home with me." Doesn't she know who gave birth to her :). Seriously, I love it. There is nothing more special than watching a dad with his daughter...it melts my heart. Yesterday with all the snow, Chris decided to take a snow day. Melia was thrilled. Here is how they spent the day.

After he dragged her all the way to the top of the hill, she boldy exclaimed, "You stay here, I want to go all by myself" and that's exactly what she did.

Snow to her knees in some spots

Snow castles and sledding

She LOVED being buried in the snow

big and little snow angels.

Melia and our neighbor boy sledding.

I had to drag her in from outside after about 3.5 HOURS (crazy)of playing, snow fights, sledding, building, and great quality time with her dad.

New Family Motto

In the last few weeks Chris has adopted a new family motto: "We are going to miss this"...it was inspired by this post on a popular mom blog who has four children, four and under. Today after I took Melia to preschool, I was running a few errands and heard a song which rang true with this theme. Your Going to Miss This, by Trace Adkins (click on the song to hear it) I had heard the song before, and even talked about it with Chris, who teared up the first time he heard it.

I am going to miss...

• a little person with cold feet crawling into bed with me at 2:30am and snuggling in close

• hearing Eva's bunny jingle as she is walking down the dark hallway to our room in the middle of the night, because she needs to be snuggled


• the middle of the night snuggles, when someone has a cough


• the way that Parker's head fits in the crux of my neck


• the temper tantrums because they want something and mom is saying no


• the "I love yous" and the "your the bests" that Melia says in her most tender voice


• asking Eva to repeat herself because all the words coming out of her mouth at one time sound like a jumbled mess


• Eva's eye squinting, head turned, cheesy smile


• Packing three young kids up in the middle of winter...getting them all in and out of the car 8 times in two hours to take Melia to preschool


• having pj days in the middle of the week


• swimming in the "hot pool" with the girls on a chilly winter nights


• making Micky mouse pancakes for them on Saturday mornings


• always wondering what Melia is getting into when she is quiet for a little too long (she is always trying to "make" stuff with whatever she can find and a roll of tape)


• seeing Parker's face looking up at me in his crib when I go to get him in the morning now that he can finally roll over


• giving him his passy in the middle of the night...even if it is the 10th time that night

• or when there is glitter and glue from one end of the kitchen to the other

• and most recently when your two year old picks up a piece of rock salt (to melt the snow/ice) off the floor and pops it in her mouth like its candy in front of ten other moms while picking up M from preschool, and then she loudly exclaims, "it good mommy" as it crunches in her teeth

• open mouth kisses from Parker

• seeing two little girls, hearing the creak of the backdoor knowing their dad and hero is home from work, run through the kitchen screaming his name to hug his leg

• listening on the monitor as a dad talks/reads to his girls before bed

• sitting back and watching the girls play together and working out their squabbles all on their own

• watching Eva eagerly wait for Melia to come out of the preschool classroom door and wrap her arms around her, because 2 hours way from the one you look up to is just too long

The list could go on and on...when Chris and I are getting frustrated and or loosing patience with the kids we gently remind each other "we are going to miss this". Living in the moment is hard sometimes, when the chaos is unfolding before me, but taking a step back, thinking about how short this time will be, and taking advantage of every opportunity with them, brings it quickly back into perspective.

There may be dishes in the sink, weeks since the rug was vacuumed, mail piling up, a toothpaste filled sink in the bathroom, and laundry overflowing BUT I am NOT going to miss this.