Big Boy Bed Take 2!!

Leo yells "MAMA WHERE ARE YOU??" or "DADA, WHERE ARE YOU" over and over each morning around 6:00 am.  This would wake Gwen up who is less than stellar when she doesn't sleep.  We decided to reintroduce the "big boy bed" i.e. toddler bed again, knowing full well it lasted less than a week last time.

This time it couldn't have gone better!  He goes right to bed around 7:30-8:00 and has been sleeping until 6:30-7:00!!  He doesn't get up once!!!  There are two issues with this though:

1.  Instead of getting out of bed and coming to get us.  He still yells for us to come get him.

2.  He no longer wants to be rocked.  I rocked him for over 2 years and sang "You Are My Sunshine" while snuggling with him.  That stopped without me being able to enjoy the final rocking session.  It makes me physically ill to think that my baby is no longer a baby anymore. 

Fingers crossed that this trend continues!!

She Just Gets It!

I just had to share this story on how amazing Gwen is and how she just "gets it. I keep this crystal that Maren gave me in 8th grade, in my car. Yesterday Gwen wanted to hold it. Our conversation:


Gwen: "Mommy who gave you this again?"

Me: "My friend Maren"

Gwen: "Oh yeah, I remember her. She's the one that watches over everybody. What is she called again?"

Me: "An angel honey"

Gwen: "Being an angel is the most important job on earth"

She just gets it doesn't she?

Too Sweet

"Mommy, when you get old and die, I will dream about you." 

This is what Gwen said to me last night at dinner.  Took everything to not start sobbing.  Although, I am not sure why she is constantly talking about my demise.

Odd Coincidence

On this very rainy Thursday, Leo got his first bee sting on his cheek.  They say it takes the 2nd sting to see if he is allergic.  Great...........another thing to worry about!!  The weird coincidence is that Gwen got her first bee sting on her toe like 2 weeks ago.  What are the chances it would happen that close together???

Follow Up to Leo Pooped

Today Leo did not poop on the potty at school.  He kept sitting on the potty and telling the teachers he pooped.  My hopes have been crushed (not really, I have little expectations that he will be potty trained by age 3). 

In other news, he did cut up his pants, that he was wearing, with kiddie scissors.  Seriously, why was my son playing, unsupervised, with scissors, at daycare?

Leo Pooped...........

on the potty at school today.  We made a huge deal about it when he got home.  He seemed very excited. 

Applesauce

Along the way I have been trying to keep track of all the funny stuff that the kiddos say.  A friend of mine from college has a day planner where she'll write down anytime her kids say funny stuff.  I am going to attempt to keep track of it on the blog.  I mean, I am connected 99% of the time to the Internet, so it can't be that hard right??

You are probably wondering why I am bringing this up.  Well today in the mail I got the Fisher Price Spring 2013 catalog.  Leo and I looked at it before bed.  He saw all the toys and couldn't get the words out fast enough that he wanted something.  I told him "maybe Santa Claus can bring it for you for Christmas."  As we read it, 3 times, he kept saying "Applesauce get for me!!  Applesauce get for me!!".  I'm like "um, do you mean Santa Clause".  He's all like "YES!  APPLESAUCE!!"

Ultimate Girls Day

My mom came out to visit in August by herself.  We ate too much, drank too much, and spent FAR too much money!!  Obviously that is a recipe for lot of fun..........which we did have!!!  One of the days we had a Girls Day with Gwen.  We had a great time at lunch, but lost her during shopping.  She wasn't really into it.  I am assuming it was because it was nap time. 

It meant the world to me to be able to have a Girls Day with my mom.  I have been in Denver for over 12 years and my biggest struggle is missing out on all the times with my parents and now having them miss out on the lives of my kids.  Luckily, Gwen and Leo are old enough now that they know who Grandma and Papa are.  They even talk about them when they aren't here.  Leo is big into talking about Papa sleeping and splashing him with water.  It's an everyday discussion these days!!

I am looking forward to many Girls Days with the three of us.  I think it was so fun for my mom too that she will make it a yearly occurrence!!!  Love you Mom!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Two Peas In A Pod

 

Gwen's First Day of Pre-K!

Gwen had her first day of Pre-K at Ben Franklin on August 22nd. I can't believe my baby girl is in a real school! I have already received fantastic feedback from her teacher about her excitement to learn and read. Gwen is the oldest and definitely acts it and looks it. I do think the program will be great for her to slow down and take her time with her writing and reading as she tends to just fly through it.  I am excited to watch her learn and grow. 

I absolutely love her new teacher, Mrs. Olsen.  She has such great energy and is huge into reading.  For birthdays she recommends we wrap a book up and give it to our child.  The child then unwraps it in front of the class and they read the book.  I would inscribe Gwen's name and birthdate.  The book would stay in the classroom.  I think it is an amazing idea!!!

Labor Day in Winter Park Pictures

Labor Day in Winter Park

We just got back from an amazing weekend in Winter Park for Labor Day.  Our friends Jenni and Andrew asked up to their place.  We were a bit nervous at first because you never know what will happen when you get two families with 4 kids (ages 1-5) together for a weekend in the mountains.  It could be chaos or crazy fun.  Luckily it was the latter!!!

Our weekend consisted of exploring the woods, climbing on rocks, making fires, eating smores, fishing, and playing at new playgrounds.  All the kids laughed and were so happy.  Gwen absolutely loved "camping" and even wore jeans.  I hadn't seen her in jeans in years!!!  On one of our hikes through the woods we even ran across deer bones.  The kids were amazed.  We did get to see real deer as well.  Mike and the kids saw a herd of 9 which they said was amazing. 

There were only two negatives to the weekend and in the end, they weren't actually that bad.  The first would be the traffic.  Normally it would take 1.5 hours to get to their place, but it took us 2 hours 45 minutes to get there and slightly less to get home.  To be honest, it turned out to be worth it and we had a blast in the car.  We played games, Leo sang the alphabet song, Leo threw many goldfish pretzels around, and we even stuck our bare feet outside the window.  The weekend was a much needed break from the craziness that is life and I am so glad I got to truly enjoy my family without distractions.  I barely yelled at them, I laughed with them....etc.  It was wonderful!!  We are looking for our next invite :-)

The second was the circus debacle.  When the guys were golfing we decided to take all 4 kids to the circus at the last minute.......in the rain.  I parked with the kids and Jenni went to see if there were tickets (for the record, I successfully got 4 children out of the car and walking towards the entrance).  Unfortunately, they were sold out.  One would think 4 kids who just got their hopes crushed, would be sad.  They weren't!  We instead got them excited for ice cream and they thought that was great.  We got to the ice cream place and unfortunately it was not peanut free and tons of cross contamination.  I felt bad for poor Leo so I took him outside to play while everyone else ate ice cream.  I stood there in the cold rain so that my little man could have a smile on his face.  I had no complaints and were so impressed with positive attitudes the kids had.  After ice cream we all explored the woods and climbed rocks.  Another potential negative situation turned fabulous!!

I can honestly say it was one of the best, most relaxing weekends, that I have had in a long time.  I feel refreshed.......well kind of, the adults did stay up late having cocktails both nights, so I am feeling a bit sluggish at the moment.  I am finding that my kids are like a fine wine (that I drank this weekend) and are getting better with age.............

Short & Sweet

Dear Leo,
Happy Belated Birthday Little Man.  It has been a month since your birthday and you are probably wondering why it took me so long to write this.  I could have cheated and back dated the post, but I wanted to be honest with you.  I thought I had to write this grand letter to you.  I thought the birthday letter had to be this perfectly written letter that summarized the past year and communicated my deepest feelings and thoughts.  I was wrong (FYI, I am right 99.976% of the time........just ask your dad).  

I came to this epiphany the other day when I came downstairs in the morning.  You jumped off the couch and ran towards me yelling "MOMMY!MOMMY!MOMMY!" with such excitement that one would think that I had been gone for months.  I realized that in the past year you have brought me more joy than anybody ever has in my entire life.  You are always smiling and happy. You have this zest and energy for life that is contagious.  I hope you can keep your innocence for as long as possible as I believe this is what causes you to be such an amazing little man. 

The day you were born completed me and my family.  Each day you cause my heart to grow and grow.  There are some days when I look at you that I truly believe my heart is going to explode with love and happiness.  You have done that for me, so for your 2nd Birthday I want to thank you, for being you............and for all your kisses and hugs, for singing with me as I rock you to sleep, for crawling in my lap and holding my face saying "mommy/mommy", for being a Minion, for the excitement in little things, for being an unbelievable 2 year old athlete, for your love of cheese, for those melt downs over nothing that make me laugh, for how much you love your sister, for the smile that you kept on your face as you endured many doctors appointments and procedures........the list is endless. 

I love you Leo!
XOXO
Mommy