Mommy Date

Tonight I had the privledge to take Bug with me to run to Staples.  She was super excited to go, just us girls, very talkative in the car, super good in the store and just darling all around!  Staples only had 2 of the 3 things we came for, so I said, "Bug, is it okay with you if we run to Target too?"
She said, "Sure Mama, I don't care where we go, I just want to be with you!"

{Umm, melt my heart!!}

Then she continued on about how we were on a "Mommy- Bug date, no boys, just us giwls" (Bug's "L's" always sound like "W's").  Not only was Bug saying the darn cutest things, she was her most delightful self, and I was able to fully soak in just her!  I loved my little errand buddy this evening!  Yes, she went to bed an hour late, but so worth the bonding time I had with my Little Miss!

I need to remember to take advantage of my "solo running errand time" and really turn it into a date with just one of my little peeps!  They need the focused attention, and I need the opportunities to get to know them as an individual, not just a sibling.  They need the time to talk about whatever it is that is of interest to them, I need the time to fully enjoy the unique person God has made them to be!  They need the time to see their mama totally crazy about them, I need the time to show them how crazy in love I am with each one of them!

If you are not already doing it, go on a date with each of your kiddos!

ps. I have been MIA for a while, another post on another day to fill ya'll in

Big week for H!

It has been quite a big week for our firstborn!
has a new room (no longer sharing with baby bro)
first back to school night
started kindergarten
recited weekly verse in front of the whole school
experienced carpool (way cooler than just our little family)
first soccer game
scored 2 goals in the soccer game...
And tomorrow if our first day of homeschool Kindergarten!
So many fun things for our biggest kid!

silly kiddos on the way to school

Our family getting ready to bring H in for his 1st day!!

Flagged down the ice-cream truck after school for a special treat!

Soccer:

Loving that Daddy is the coach!

H and his best friend E!

 GOAL!!!

***********

What I didn't expect this week was how hard all of H's firsts would be on Bug.  Once we were in the parking lot leaving school, Bug lost it.  "Why isn't bro coming with us?  I want to stay too!  I want bro to come home with us..."

Her sadness didn't last all too long, when we got home I put B-man down for his nap and Bug and I played dolls for 45 minutes.  Do I dare admit, I have never played 1-on-1 with her for that long!  It was such a treat to just get to focus on her for window of time!

She is now enjoying our new routine and doing quite well with bro gone at school.  Tomorrow is our first day of homeschool for H for Kindergarten, so we will see how well she does sharing my attention with both of her bros : ) 

Though I was dreading the busyness of this season, I am really enjoying the unique blessings of this season more than I expected I would!

Big news for Bug

 

Potty training, ready or not here we come...

Bug vs. Truck

So sweet Bug is finally getting some hair that we can do cute girlie things with!  I am loving that it is finally long enough to pull back into pig-tails! However when it is down, it is long in back and short on top... a.k.a. the girl has a mullet!  But the sweetest toe-head, mullet you have ever seen : )

{Side note, doesn't she look so grown up in this picture?!?!}

Anyway, back to the story... Bug loves to play with her brother, and his toys, including his trucks, which is great!  They play together and have fun... However, this time it back-fired on her when she decided to "listen to" the noise the truck was making.  {You see where I am going with this}  She lifted it to her ear, and the next thing I heard was screaming.

Uggh, can you see her hair wrapped around the wheel???  I tried for 10 minutes to unwind it, gently pull... anything other than have to cut her precious hair off, poor girl doesn't have much to start with!!!  To no avail!  So Little Miss Bug is missing a small chunk of hair!  We were both a little sad about it, but have moved on!  Hopefully Bug learned her lesson of not putting motorized moving wheels up to her ear!

Final Score
Truck 1
Bug 0

day in the life of Bug

Oh, how I love my sweet little Bug!  So much of her personality is coming out more and more.  I love it!  She is determined, a tad strong-willed, but so full of life, humor and spunk.  She is sweet and thoughtful, adores her brothers and is full of snuggles.  There are tough days of testing the limits, but the good times far ought-weigh the bad!

So one of Bug's new favorite things is to pick out and change her clothes.  She will sneak up to her room and re-apear in a whole new outfit.

So, my mom told me about a girl just like Bug, who's favorite thing to do was to change clothes at least a dozen times a day.  There are many ways in which Bug is a little mirror image of me... 

like mother, like daughter

Bug is 2

Sweet Baby Girl, how are you already 2?

I love the way your eyes light up when you smile

I love your sweet little moves when you dance

I love the way you love your daddy and brothers

I love your determination (though some days your determination challenges me)

I love that you love sleep

I love the way you joke around and try to make others smile

I love your hugs, kisses and snuggles

I love how sweet and shy you are around people you don't know very well

I love your daring personality and how brave you are

I love how you come up to me and say "Mama, hold you peas" {Mama hold me please}

I love your sensitivity to others and your compassion

I love how when you do something right, you say "Yay" and clap for yourself

 I love you crazy Bug!

Things you love...
Brushing your teeth*  Big Bro* Reading books* Swimsuits* Joshy* Chewing holes in your binky* Climbing in the car and into your carseat all by yourself* "Baby Why Why" {Baby Levi}* Balloons* Your baby brother* Sleep* Taking a shower* Taking a bath* Cheese* Doing anything a big kid would do* Going to the Beach* Taking shoes on and off* Goldfish* Daddy* Mama* Mac and cheese* Binky and blankets* Drawing* Helping in the kitchen* Music class* Elmo* Trains* In-n-out french fries*

Rain boots

I have a new fascination with rain boots... Yesterday, while Baby Bro was sleeping the "big kids" and I went out to look for puddles to jump in.   Ahhh, to no avail, they had all dried up while we were at Bible-study.  But we had fun playing around, and I loved capturing each of their personalities, but also the sweet relationship they have.

And then about 30 pictures into it, I noticed this...

 Bug had put her boots on the wrong feet.  It made me smile and made me so thankful that I was able to capture yet another part of life at this point in time.  Oh, the ordinary day that I want to cherish and soak in!

We had so much fun...  I think this mama needs a pair of rain boots so we can make a tradition of jumping in the puddles... or the lack there of : )

She is still a baby...

Bug became a big sister at 19 months of age, which was (and really still is) a huge transition for such a little person!  I have tried to remind myself often that she is still a baby.  Okay, more toddler than baby, but still a baby none the less!

Today Baby Bro started fussing, so I started strapping on the Baby Bjorn to put him in it (I keep my cute Beco in the car for when we are out and about).  As soon as I had it on Bug said, "My turn?!?"  Followed by "Choo, Choo!"  Which, when translated, means "Hold you!" and this is Bug's way of saying, 'mama please hold me'.  So in light of my attempt to remember that she is still my baby girl, I picked her up and put her in, and carried her around for a while.

I think she liked it:

This little buddy likes it too : )

Lovin' on Baby Bro

We are all loving our newest addition.

Baby Bro has continued to be an amazing baby.  He only gets up 2 times a night.  Usually around 2am and then 5 or 6.  Bug and H still love Baby, which I am incredibly thankful.  Life is busy here, but life is good!

Everyday life is feeling more normal as a family of 5... well actually right now a family of 6.  Thank goodness my mom is in town.  She has been such a blessing... playing with kids, changing diapers, holding baby, cleaning, cooking, middle of the night shift,  playing in the ocean,  and maybe some more changing of diapers.    I only have 4 more days with her here, it will be a sad day on Thursday when she leaves...

Can I do 3 kids on my own????

Pre School this week/ and Bug School too

H- 4 1/2
Bug- 18 months

This week we have not been great about doing school time... a little here and a little there.  We have been busy playing at the park instead, meeting Daddy for lunch, going to craft stores, getting ready for the baby...  We did do some school time, here is what we have been up to:

H-man Preschool
Math:  I had H put together this really great puzzle that I got at Ross for $5.  It has 3 pieces for each number 1-20.  I started by taking out all of the words, and just had him count the pictures then match the number.  Once he did this for all 20, I took away numbers 11-20.  Then I pulled out the cards with the the words (names of each number) for 1-10.  I would hold up the card and ask him if he knew what it said.  Some of the words he has memorized, others he tried to sound out. 

Art time:
Just painting, per H's request

Reading:
For our real reading time we are still slowly working through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.   He is now to lesson 26 (I think) and each lesson has a "story" for him to read usually made up of 2 sentances of words he can sound out.  This book is honestly amazing, he can already read the little stories.  Then after each story there is a list of questions to help the child with reading comprehension.  We do reading time always while Bug is napping, it helps us both concentrate : )

H has also been really into "reading" or what you might call reciting stories to the baby.  Here are some of my favorite pics:

Yes that is by big bare belly. haha

And this one shows when the baby kicked H's hand as he read... look at that face!  I just love his expression!  It honestly made H's day that the baby liked his story so much!

Tiny Tot School:
Bug is not the best at sitting still, or having a very long attention span, so we have started working on this in a couple of different ways.
1.  High Chair time:  When I am doing school time with H, I have Bug sit in her high chair and play with 1 toy at a time.  She usually has 5 minutes of interest in the toy, then she will gather back up the pieces, and try to hand it back to me.  I know 5 minutes isn't long, but it was huge for her.  And I was so proud of her that she didn't throw the toy on the ground when she was done, that she waited for me to come over and take it from her.  Then I gave her another set of toys... again, 5 minutes of interest, packaged it back up and handed it to me.  On the first day she lasted through 4 sets of toys for a total of 20 minutes!

random, but fun... 1.  Farm Toy

2. Garlic press (don't worry no sharp edges)  

3. Metal bowl and spoon with plastic sharks

2.  Sit still time on a blanket:
Again, sitting still is not her strong suite, but an area we can improve on: )  Both of the kids get Gummy Vitamins each morning.  Instead of just giving them to the kids, I use the vitamins as little rewards or re-enforcements for sitting still.  Bug gets 1 vitamin and H gets 2.  So to lengthen the training time,  I cut hers into 4 pieces and his both in half, giving 4 pieces.   We lay out a blanket, sit down, I start by reminding Bug that it is "sit still time," then I start the Bible story.  If she can sit still for a page (2 -3 sentences) then she gets part of her "bite" as she calls it.  H has the skill down, but I use this time to let him be an example for Bug.  Praising him when he is sitting still, and letting Bug see Bro get his "bite."  Oh, we have a long way to go in this area, but it is worth all of the time and effort.  Training is never easy, but with time it does have it's rewards.

3.  Painting:
Every now and then I will pull out water-colors or finger paints for Bug to do while H is painting.  But on days that I don't have time for a lot of clean up.  I give her a paint brush, construction paper and a little cup of water.  She LOVES it.  And clean up is so easy, simply throw the piece of soggy paper away : )