Last Week...

Last week was a hard week here.  Nothing major.  Just a my kids are totally crazy and won't listen to anything I say kind of crazy.  As in, I asked Miss A to help Little J get a dress to wear while I packed lunch for our picnic, and instead both girls took everything out of the closet and found window coverings to use as skis.  And that was Monday.  By Wednesday I had taken away almost all of the toys after the girls dumped toys all over the floor and Little J's bed, then refused to clean any of them up.

A long week for my first week off work.  The first week in my 14 months off and it was not what I had hoped for.  I had to cancel fun plans because the girls were not following our rules.  I started feeling really anxious about adding a baby to the mix in less than two months.  I know that our schedules have been thrown off, and I'm tired so my patience was down, but it was a hard week.

Friday was better.  Not perfect, but better.  The weekend was better still.  I remembered that the first week of summer break was rough last year too (Little J was climbing EVERYTHING) but the summer got better from there.  We're all starting to get on a summer schedule, so I'm hopeful that our summer will still be great.  And even during the crazy week, they still had some moments of super sweetness and cuteness.

Happy Father's Day!

I have a really wonderful husband, who also happens to be an amazing daddy.  Miss A and Little J LOVE Daddy.  He does such a good job taking care of us and showing us how much he love us every day.  I feel lucky that my girls have such a great man in their lives.  

I've been asking Miss A a series of questions about E each year for Father's Day, and this year Little J answered a few too.  Below are some of their responses.

How old is Daddy?

Miss A: 8

Little J: 2

What is Daddy's favorite color?

Miss A: orange

Little J: blue

What is Daddy's favorite food?

Miss A: burgers  

Little J: watermelon

What does Daddy like to drink?

Miss A: beer  

Little J: orange juice

Where does Daddy like to go?

Miss A: to the children's museum with us  

Little J: the zoo

What is Daddy's job?

Miss A: to take care of us

How does Daddy take care of you?

Miss A: he helps our ouchies go away when we get hurt

What makes Daddy happy?

Miss A: hugs and kisses

What is your favorite thing about Daddy?

Miss A: that he takes me on adventures

Below are a bunch of pictures of Daddy and his girls from my June photo challenge.

Happy Father's Day E!  

Happy Father's Day to my dad, stepdad and the rest of the dads too!  

I hope everyone's having a great day!

Friday Favorites 3

Today I'm linking up with Katie to share a few of my recent favorites.

The warm summer weather we've been having!  Our winter and spring weather was not very nice this year, but the past couple weeks have been beautiful.  Yay for seeing the sunshine again!  We were even able to host a BBQ with 5 of my coworkers and their families last weekend, and be outside the whole night!

The Longest Shortest Time Podcast.  Heather got me started on podcasts awhile back, and I recently found this one through This American Life (another favorite).  The Longest Shortest Time is about challenges in early parenthood, and I've listened to almost all of the previous episodes over the past few weeks.  The stories are real and honest, and it's a good reminder of what's about to come when baby arrives later this summer.  I also think it's fun that new episodes post at 3am :)

Archer Farms Salsa Caliente from Target.  I like salsa that is not chunky, so this is perfect for me!  It's spicy, but not too spicy.  I like it best with chips and tacos, but I also think it's pretty tasty on carrots.

Baby hiccups.  One thing that really surprised me when I was pregnant with Miss A is that I could feel her little baby hiccups throughout my pregnancy.  It's really one of my favorite things.  I love feeling most baby movements, but baby hiccups always make me smile, and giggle a little.

Puddle Jumpers.  One of my friends introduced me to Puddle Jumpers last summer, and I don't know what I'd do without them now.  With both girls using Puddle Jumpers, I feel comfortable taking them to the pool myself, which I imagine will come in really handy this summer, as I'll be looking for any way to beat the heat.

Summer Fun List

Our summer officially starts today!  We had such a fun summer of 2013, and I'm hoping for an even better summer of 2014!  The past two summers I've made summer fun lists to help keep us busy, and below is what I've come up with for us to do this summer.  I can't wait to get started!

• 3 New to Us Parks
• 2 Nature Centers
• 1 New to Us Library
• Minnesota Children's Museum
• Como Zoo and Carousel
• Como Pool
• Wild Rumpus Bookstore
• Camping
• Fishing
• Horse Races
• Baseball Game
• Lake Elmo Park Reserve
• Minnehaha Falls
• Teddy Bear Park
• Puppet Wagon
• Splash Pad
• Outdoor Movie Night
• Pick Strawberries

June Photo Challenge: Week 1

So far I am loving my June photo challenge!  This week was the craziest of our June weeks.  My students finished up classes on Thursday (meaning I taught my last class for over a year... wow!) and I had a lot of school work to wrap up.  Even with the craziness, I managed to get some cute pictures of my sweet little girls!  It takes a minute for me to remember to grab my big girl camera rather than my iPhone, but it is well worth it.  (Full disclosure, Friday got a little crazy, and I didn't get any pictures, but I'm okay with that.  I have more than enough from the rest of the week to make up for it.)

 On June 1st I took my camera with while Miss A and I walked to church to snap a few photos of her.  I love that our church is only half a mile from our house, and we've been having beautiful weather so we can walk.

 My little monkeys climbing around on the deck.

 Such a big girl!

Miss A and our neighbor Miss L.  On Wednesday afternoon I sat on our deck doing some school work, Miss L's mom sat on her deck doing her work and the two girls ran back and forth having so much fun being "sister fairies."

Bath time!  Much needed after a day of playing in the dirt.  I think Little J brings a pound of sand home from day care every day.

 Backyard campfire and s'mores!

 Little J helping me make pancakes for breakfast on Sunday morning.

I think these might be two of my favorites of Little J right now.  E found a caterpillar crawling on his shirt, so he gave it to Little J to hold (if you look closely, you can see the little guy crawling on her).  She LOVED it!  She smiled and laughed the whole time the caterpillar crawled up and down her arms.  Miss A held the caterpillar too, but she wasn't quite as excited as the little one.

Little J is 2.5!

Ah, my sweet Little J.  Right now you are our wild child.  You're a bundle of energy, and go back and forth between, "Carry me!" and "I do it myself!"  

On Saturday, Miss A had a birthday party, so Daddy and I took you on a special trip to the zoo.  You were so excited to see the kitties, monkeys and the Sparky show.  It was so fun to spend a couple of hours with just our sweet 2.5 year old.

Anything Miss A does, you want to do too.  We recently moved the two of you into the same room, with bunk beds.  The first night, you couldn't quite figure out the ladder to Miss A's bed.  During nap time the next day Miss A came running out of her room to tell me you were in her bed (the first of many times).  You really are our little monkey!

You're talking more and more all the time.  I love it!  One of my favorites is when you tell me, "it's amazing!"  You have such great expression.  You've also started saying, "Yesss," while holding up a clenched fist when you're happy about something.  So funny (and such a big kid move!).  A common (and funny) response when we ask you why you're doing something is, "It's my life."  For example, "Little J, why are you dumping the blocks out?" "It's my life."

You love to be outside.  Your favorite is the big swing in our backyard.  You will stay on that thing for hours if we keep pushing you.  Some of your favorite things to do are to play pretend (you like to pretend to be Mommy), look at books yourself and play with Miss A's Frozen dolls (Well, really you love all things Frozen.  I love listening to you sing along with the soundtrack in the car.  So cute!). You love Sofia the First, mac and cheese, kitties and purple.

We love you Little J!

Baby #3: Week 31

 

Due date: August 2nd.  Less than 2 months to my due date!

What I'm loving:  Feeling baby moving around.  There are far fewer kicks now, but there's a lot of movement that I can feel and see.  It's kind of crazy to watch something move across my belly from inside.

What I'm looking forward to:  School being done!  Just a few more days left with students, then a few make up days and I'll be done.  I can't wait to be home with the girls all day.  I'm hoping we can fit in a lot of summer fun before baby arrives!

What I'm missing: Not feeling like a giant and being able to move around like my normal self.  Miss A lost a marker cap under the couch earlier today, and normally I could get it out pretty quickly.  Now, not so much.  I've found myself bumping in to things with my belly more frequently too, as I don't always remember how big my belly has gotten (and I still have 2 months to go!).

How I'm feeling: Most of the time I'm feeling good, but for sure more tired.  I'm sleeping okay most nights, but if I don't get enough sleep I am really dragging the next day.  The move to bunk beds for the girls also means it's harder to get naps in during rest time because they are very chatty.

Exercise:  I stopped running a couple of weeks ago, partially because I'm feeling big, and partially because our weather is crazy.  It feels like we skipped any consistent spring weather and went straight to summer.  This week has been in the 80s, and that's too warm for me to be running right now.  We've been doing almost nightly family walks around the lake, which is about a 2.5 mile loop.

Cravings/Aversions:  I want to eat all the fruit.  And all the sugar.  I've been indulging in lots of desserts lately, especially ice cream.  I also loved ice cream when I was pregnant with Miss A, so I'm guessing that will stick around this summer.

Diet:  No major aversions right now, so I've been eating pretty well, except wanting sugar all the time.

Differences between pregnancies:  I feel bigger this third time around and carrying the weight more all over than just in the belly, which I'm guessing is not uncommon.  It's also different to be so big when it's so warm out.  We may be spending a lot of time at the pool this summer!

Other Thoughts: A few of my sweet friends from work threw a little shower for me and Baby #3 last week.  I loved that I got to have lunch with my friends (a rare occurrence), eat pizza and an amazing ice cream dessert and got a few new things for Baby #3 to use when he/she gets here.  I was glad to be able to celebrate Baby #3, and I will really miss those ladies next year.

We also got to go visit my brother's new little one, Baby JR last weekend.  It was so fun to snuggle a newborn!  Miss A agreed.  She couldn't get enough of holding the baby, helping with the baby and generally following my SIL around.  She's been talking about Baby JR a lot too, which is sweet, and makes me cautiously optimistic that she'll be a good helper when our baby arrives.  Little J also enjoyed meeting and watching Baby JR.  She was getting really tired and wild before we left, but when Uncle B let her hold Baby JR she was nothing but smiles.

Hello June!

I love my iPhone camera.  I love how easy it is to grab my phone and snap a shot of whatever cute or silly thing my girls are doing.  My phone is light and easy to carry around.  And I'm a little bit addicted to Instagram.  But I love the pictures I get with my DSLR even more.  I did a 366 project back in 2012, so I had my DSLR out every day.  I have many great photos of the girls from that time.  Since wrapping up the project (over a year ago!) my DSLR hasn't gotten nearly as much use, and I'd like that to change.

So, I'm giving myself a June challenge to take a photo every day.  30 days of taking pictures of our everyday life and little adventures.  I figure if I post about the challenge here, it will hold me at least a little more accountable.  I'll share my favorites along the way.  Anyone else want to join in?

For now, here are a few shots of my girls "helping" me weed in front of our house.  Both insisted on wearing butterfly wings while they worked.