Weekend fun

 

We actually got a night to enjoy with just the 4 of us! We went to Prairie Meadows to watch the horse races. We love doing this, it is SO kid friendly, they love the horses, there is room for them to run around and we can enjoy the weather!

Piper was old enough this year that she really enjoyed it! She loved seeing the horses (but got scared when people yelled and cheered on their horse during the actual race!). She walked around like she wanted to be friends with everyone. People love this child! She would get on a bench and go sit RIGHT next to the other person on the bench, even if she had two feet of room to herself. If there were kids standing near the fence watching, she would stand RIGHT next to them.....most kids don't enjoy this and find it a little weird and move away. There were two kids doing somersaults and cartwheels in the grassy area, she just followed them around. They kept moving away from her and she just kept following them! Hopefully the 'stranger danger' idea will come into her head and thought process eventually!

 

They were up late, so they didn't get up Saturday morning until after 8:30 (I love kids that will sleep in!) We did some playing, cleaning (Presley's room like looks like a teenagers room with clothes and crap everywhere!) Piper took an nap and Presley enjoyed some time in the sprinkler with her friend Layla. Steve did some cooking, I did some cleaning and then we headed over to our friend Brent and Shannons house to hang out for a couple hours!

Such a small world b/c I used to work with Brent at Dillards when I was in college and then both Steve and I worked with him at Von Maur! Presley and their boy Aiden got along SO good! Again, it is just nice to see her open up and PLAY with other kids! They wrestled and talked and just had a good time. Overall the night was a success. Piper was a little whiny, which is not normal for her but the food was good and it was nice to be able to catch up with them!

 

I try so hard to NOT be in bed by 10 on the weekends, but my goodness, it just sounds so good right now!

Decisions

It is SO hard being a parent. Trying to determine if you are making the right decision with everything they do....everything.
It's AMAZING watching Presley make friends, talk to people, come out of her shell and find her voice (as her teachers say!). And it is SO hard to call her inside for the night when she is playing good with the neighbors! You want her to have fun and bond with the other kids (and she does) and you hate to break that up just b/c it is bedtime! :)

Sports, we want her involved in something...anything. She enjoyed gymnastics when she did that but that was a year ago...since then we have done soccer and cheer....both were NOT successful and I know she was only 4, most kids are still too young at 4 years old to really get into a 'sport'. So currently we are not doing anything. She will start swim lessons in a couple weeks and I'm already nervous about that....other than that, we are going to wait until she starts school and she what her friends are doing, in hopes that helps her be more comfortable in participating.

I'm hoping her attitude dimishes very quickly. I'm almost afraid she is going to be that 'mean girl' in school. The drama that comes out of this girl is RI-DIC-ULOUS! Stories and conversations I can't even type out b/c of the unbelievable things that come out of her mouth.

Piper, oh my goodness Piper. You are SO funny and so sweet, I just can't believe how ornery you are too. She is finally started to say words. She will actually call me 'mama' now! On the way home today she saw her pacifier in the diaper bag next to the car seat, we don't normally give this to her when she is awake but she pointed and said 'Mama, mama! Peese!' I HAD to give it to her! She asked so nicely! :)

Long weekend

I would like to say the weekend was relaxing, but I don't feel well-rested at all! The girls were up late every night this weekend but did do a good job sleeping in for us in the mornings!

Friday I worked from 7:30-6pm and was just exhausted by 10 that night! Presley and Steve were out with the neighbors and I just curled up in bed!

Saturday morning we decided to get up and go to the zoo! We always seems to have plans on the weekends but nothing with just the 4 of us. The girls slept in but we still got to the zoo about 10, the weather was perfect, it wasn't too busy and the girls were good (90% of the time)!

Piper was NOT impressed with the carousel!

We got home, Piper had a nap, Steve went to the store, Presley and I hung out and relaxed! My mom had volunteered to watch the girls for a couple hours (with Presley spending the night over there!) So Steve and I had dinner at Sonny's on the patio, swung by the marina for a beer since Sam and Scott were there and then headed out to the campground to meet up with some friends for a couple hours. It was so nice outside and it was so nice not having to worry about a little person (or people) for a couple hours! Thanks mom!

 

Sunday.....I'm not even sure what we did! Presley went with me to get a new cell phone and we hit up Target, then we had a party to go to in Indianola, so we headed down there about 4. It's always a good time when we go down there and always lots of kids! Presley met her 'new best friend' (as she told us) Charlie, a 5 year old girl from Hiawatha. It was so cute seeing her play and make friends with a kid that she had never met! Piper made herself at home as always, gave high fives, tried to get random mothers to fill her milk cup for her, she just likes to be involved with everyone!

 

Monday, we did more around the house, cleaned, hung out, played outside and got ready for some friends to come over. Steve smoked a brisket, which turned out GREAT! Piper took a great nap, which gave us time to just enjoy the weather and have some good play time with just Presley.

Brock and Jackie came over with their girls Ava and Chloe. Ava and P play pretty good together and Piper was intrigued by baby Chloe (really she just wanted her pacifier). We also had neighbor Todd come over with his son Carson. The weather was perfect, the food was fantastic and the company was great, as always! Another successful, great night!

 

Now onto another week and we are just TIRED! All 4 of us!

 

Random

- Well the update on Cindys' twins...after a scary couple days, they are currently stable again and even got to finally sleep next to each other! The CUTEST picture ever, the reuniting of newborn twins after being apart for over a week. Love it!
- Presley got to bring her preschool book. It has copies of pictures from the year, pictures we have never seen, her progress in learning over the last 9 months, comments from her teacher. I'm so excited to have this book from them, it's perfect!
- Miss Coleen told Steve that she has seen Presley actually speak up and be bossy with some other kids! She is getting comfortable in her surroundings and the 'real' Presley is coming out! I think it's funny! Good timing since Kindergarten will start in 3 months and she'll become uncomfortable again, hopefully! HA!
- I looked at my calendar today for the next two months....the only weekend we have NOTHING planned is not until August 2nd. Isn't that sad?
- Piper is finally starting to talk more! She says 'bye' to everyone, only she sounds like she has a southern accent, it's adorable. She also signs quite a few things too, which I love! So I'm hoping we can teach her some more! She knows milk, more, please, thank-you, bath, and all done.

Another week gone by.....

Sooooo last Saturday, like over a week ago, my BFF Cindy from college had her twin baby girls at 33 weeks! Alicia (5.4 lbs) and Zoe (3.1 lbs) are doing great! Lots of TLC in the NICU and many more weeks at the hospital but overall they appear to be doing very good for 33 weeks!

Last Monday I worked a little late and then mom and I went to see them. Crazy how teeny tiny they are! Even for having small babies myself, you just forget! And Zoe's little diaper is even smaller than the premie ones, they look like little maxi pads!

I was in training at work for 3 days and still trying to NOT get behind on my normal work stuff, it was exhausting. I worked some OT and by Thursday I could feel the sore throat starting on...Friday, felt the head and grogginess take control. My weekend was TOO busy, there was no time to be sick!

 

Some nonsense from last week...Piper riding Presley like a pony.

or not.

She refuses to wear hats, even though she looks freakin adorable!

 

Friday night I went to bed early. We had to be up for the Cystic Fibrosis walk in the morning. I felt like crap, so Steve got up, got the girls ready and headed out!  I wasn't going to go, but I hate missing it, everyone was going to be there and Steve made a kids picnic table for the auction and I wanted to see how much it went for ($175! He was happy with that!). So I took some meds, ate some toast and met them there...making sure to keep my distance from Miss CF'er Andrea, so I wasn't passing any of my germs on to her!

 

Piper walked around with one hand in her pocket (now I'm thinking about Alanis Morrisette!)

We played on the playground (my strawberry blond hair, hazel eyed baby!)

Steve took PIper home for her nap and Presley and I hung out for a while longer. We got home about 1, regrouped, got ready and then headed out about 2:30 for Sadie's birthday party at The Little Gym. Piper is really too young to participate and now Presley doesn't want to, unless Piper does. So they sat and watched. Fun. (I had to straighten P's hair, can you tell?)

The only thing they did the entire time.

Piper found her boyfriend, Charlie

and then he found her. And hugged her up against the door?!

Then we left there and went to Ankeny for Jerry's birthday party! They grilled out, there were lots of kiddos. The kids were good, it was a lot fun hanging out and talking with everyone! We were there too late and we didn't get the kids home and in bed until almost 10!

They did sleep in for Steve on Sunday morning, this mama was up and at work by 7! Get in some overtime! Then I did our grocery shopping and got home about 1, we hung out, played outside (Presley was able to play with Bryn down the street, then her friend Allie came over and then Layla came over!)

We had been talking about getting ice cream at Van Dee's all weekend so we left about 3:30 to get some ice cream before we headed to Andreas graduation party! Her party was great! Andrea really is like a little sister to all of us, we love her and are so proud of EVERYTHING she had accomplished!

We all went in together and got her skydiving (yes, we got the ok from her mom!) and she was beyond shocked and excited!

 

Overall a busy but successful weekend! Now I just need to get back to 100% and get some stuff crossed off my to-do list that is growing by the minute....at least I got a blog in tonight! I do have more to say at a later time, I'll write that on my to-do list too! :)

Preschool Graduation

I actually have some things to blog about but for now this will be a preschool graduation post only!

 Tonight was the big night! Generation Next does a great job with this 'milestone'! All 3 centers teach their kids songs to sing, tell them exactly what to do, they had pictures taken last week, they encourage all family members to come, they get robes and caps! THE CUTEST THING EVER!

We were nervous about her, whether she would be willing to participate, if she would fight us in getting the robe on....but the teachers all take care of the students, the parents have nothing to do with it...so we knew that would work in our favor!

 

Nervous look, walking down the aisle to the stage

I couldn't fit all the kids in...there were almost 200 of them (and the 'ceremony' only lasted 1 hour!)

She even gave me a smile!

Singing! (she was happy she was able to stand next to her friend Allie!)

 

Walking across stage to get her 'diploma'..so nervous!

 

I think she was  little overwhelmed with everything when it was all over. All the people there, very crowded, so this was the best picture I could get with her. (Thanks for Grandma, Grandpa, Holly, Sam, Scott and Boston for coming too!)

Lily, Presley and Allie (she was willing to smile with them!)

Grandma and Grandpa brought her a flower!

 

In the mean time, Piper was overall pretty good. Holly ended up taking her into the hallway right before it was over but she did pretty good for having to sit still for an hour. However, when everyone was in the process of leaving and people were EVERYWHERE.....she was not afraid to run in and out of all the people and even gave a random little boy a hug. Then she ran right in front of a lady with a stroller and she just pushed the stroller out of her way!

I'm pretty sure most people around us were thinking that we had no control of this child...and they are right! HA!

Presley participated and followed direction and listened during the whole thing! I know it is only preschool graduation but we are still really proud of her! (and thankful that she is better behaved at school than she is at home!)

Weekend Update

I'm getting into a bad habit of only posting on Sunday nights! and I don't even have a good excuse! The kids are going to bed a little later but really it's just me being lazy. We didn't do much this week, I had to work late on Wednesday night, Thursday we decided to go out to dinner at El Mariachi b/c I've been craving Mexican food and margaritas! We are always hesitant to take Piper anywhere b/c you just never know how she is going to be and she was pretty good there! Then Friday it was nice out and we decided to go to Old Chicago for dinner...crazy us! Eating out two nights in a row! We ate on the patio so Piper had some room to run around and it went pretty good there too! Go Piper!

 

Little Miss can't be trusted. 

Saturday we got alot done around the house. Steve got our front landscaping done (18 months after we moved in) it was a lot of work, but it looks good! I did a lot of laundry, did some cleaning...I think I was trying to get stuff done on Saturday so that I wouldn't have to do anything on Sunday, Mothers Day! The weather was pretty nice so we did some playing and hanging out outside....chasing Piper around the neighborhood. It was a good day at home!

 

Today was Mother's Day! We had originally planned to do brunch at El Bait Shop and then head to the Cubs game but since it was raining we decided to go bowling instead! Lunch was good, the kids were good, the place was not busy so that helped!

Thought of Grandma when we saw this sign!

Then we headed bowling. Presley REFUSES to wear the shoes. REFUSES. We figured since she was just pushing the ball down the slide we didn't have to worry about her shoes on the floor there, so we caved and let her bowl anyway. Piper was less than cooperative, which we were prepared for. She wanted to run around the bowling alley and really wanted to get up and bowl! It was past nap time so we knew it was going to be work to get thru the bowling game with her, but she did good and we were tired from chasing her! HA!

We got home about 3 and put Piper down for a quick nap. All of us laid down to nap, except Presley, she watched part of a movie and then about 4:30 we knew we HAD to wake Piper up or she would never go to bed tonight! And finally the weather had turned around and it was actually nice and warm outside!  The 3 of them went on a walk, we got out the water table, we tried to make Piper smile for ONE mothers day picture with my girlies!

 

I am one lucky mommy around to have these two funny, smart and beautiful little girls in my life! Every day they challenge me but I wouldn't have it any other way (except right now when I want them to be sleeping!!!!) Love you Presley and Piper!

Where did the last week go?

I'm behind on posting pictures. You probably can't tell but there were two ladybugs that the girls were SO intrigued with....one was dead.

She just climbs up and makes herself comfortable while waiting for dinner to be served.

This is one way to eat blueberries?!

Gotta love that smile!

 

Really I'm not sure where the last week went. The weather was rainy and gloomy, making me less than energetic to do anything.

Finally by Friday the weather was turning around! By Saturday we were able to spend most of the day outside! Piper took a nap, Steve was busy in the garage and Presley played, I think she really enjoys the time she has to play by herself without Piper around!

 

Saturday night Presley was able to join Boston for a sleepover at Grandmas house. They went to see Rio 2, went to dinner and had a good time! The 3 of us went to Holly and Jerrys to see the pictures of their honeymoon and hang out. It was kind of weird to only have one kid for the night but she was really good! Piper did not sleep well that night so she didn't get up until 8:30!

 

Today Presley had a playdate with a girl from her preschool that actually lives 2 block away. Now of course we were slightly worried after the last horrible playdate she had....but she has been asking to have Allie over for a playdate for months and they play together at school, so we were hoping this would be a better experience! It was! They played GREAT together! They played barbies, jumped on the trampoline, rode their bikes, and played in the back of Steve's work truck (P's new favorite place to play!)

I got them in the middle of singing Let it Go from Frozen, I swear, every 5 year old girl knows this whole movie and every word to every song! I love it!

 

Holly and Jerry got them real hula skirts from Hawaii! They were SO freaking cute in them!

I love this pic. This is truly how this relationship works, Miss Piper looks up to Presley all the time (not just literally!), she always wants to do EVERYTHING P does. I love this sister relationship!