And there once was a vacation day

In which stress was supposed to be gone but

The car had it's service engine on

And the 4 year old's tantrums had just begun

And the mom and her mom just wanted the day to be done

But all was okay

The service engine was all for none, just a faulty gas cap that could be dealt with later on

And that 4 year old is in bed and has a lot to sleep on.

And be the time you read this we will be home and have wanted this vacation day to stay so that we still had a beach to play...

Mommy check my....

This is perhaps a more gross post but it has had our family laughing so I thought I would share.  My Mom watched both girls one night while were at the beach so that Pete and I could go out to eat.  Audrey pooped and Mom dumped it in the toilet but forgot to flush it. 

The next morning I was up with Celia and she ran into me, sort of in a panic. 

"Mommy, check my butt to see if I pooped"

"What? You don't know if you did?"

I follow her in the bathroom and determine that her butt is okay.  She then shrugs and says "Oh, that must just be from Audrey"

I can not imagine what went on in her 3 year old brain when she went to pee and well.... thought she did something else.

Celisms

When she will do many impressive things like wipe her own tushy = when she is 4

Last day = yesterday

3 min= 3 hours

No, No I just want to do one more = 1, 001 more

Mommy, when I was a little boy=  I have yet to figure that one out

Some of her additions to her impressive vocabulary

Well it really was not that exciting when asked about her day.

Interesting, respectfully, awesome, redundant (really, my 3 year old used reduntant), actually, and not a fan of

A favorite of mine.  Pete threw her in the pool a little too rough and I got her and put her on the side of the pool.  As she is rubbing her eyes she says "So, Daddy, don't you never do that to me again".
Since Audrey is feeding herself now, she spills a lot.  She had a bunch of peas gathered in her chair and Celia declared (while giggling) that she "pead herself"

9 Months

Audrey Marie, you are 9 months today.  You are also amazing.  For the first 6 to 7 months of your life you fussed and cried 80 to 90% of the time, honestly.  I admit, some of it was likely due to reflux that was hard to diagnose.  Some of it though was just you.  But know you grin so often, we hear lots of giggles, and you are just content.  Admittedly, you prefer to still be very close to me and you are alwas eager to be in someone's arms.  Latedly it does not matter who that someone is.  At your sister's school's family night, you let two teachers carry you around the room.  One of them was Celia's teacher from last year, Ms. Donna, who you have always liked.  That is amazing to me as you turned your nose up at most people for many, many months.  But now we can honestly say that you are a sweety.  You love to give hugs and to cuddle.  You have warmed up to your Grandparents and to your Mom Mom too.

So what are you up to?  You are cruising furniture and crawling everywhere.  You can also travel between furniture (coffee table to couch, etc).  You can push an walker around the room very slowly.  You like to push your leapfrog table around the room.  A couple weeks ago you pushed it from the living room to the kitchen.  You like to climb and you are able to climb stairs, so the baby gate is up!  Last week you were able to get over your aversion of picking food up and putting it in your mouth.  For awhile there you thought I was crazy when I tried to put food in your hands to feed yourself.  The texture and feel of it just was not for you!  You are able to say no with your head, you shake it back and forth and it is very cute. 

Clothes and Diapers.  Well diapers are the same.  You still can wear all of your 3 to 6 month clothes but we are able to put on some 6 to 9 month clothes now, yeah!!  I think you weigh around 17 lbs.  We will see at your doctors appointment next week.

Things you have done.  You have been swimming a few times, gone to the beach, visited a few gardens, and had some fun times with Grandma, Grandpa, and Mom Mom.

As far as food goes, I have been giving you most foods except for those on the high allergen list and of course oats and butternut squash which you are allergic to.  You loved applesauce muffins Mom Mom made and you still love green and yellow squash and cantaloupe.  You are also enjoying yogurt and love peas.  For breakfast you eat the whole milk plain yogurt with some fruit and quinoa.

So I am happy that you are enjoying life a lot more lately but I am sad because 9 months marks only 3 months left for Mommy.  I start back to work the week of Thanksgiving and it is breaking my heart little girl.

It is hard to believe

that this little one

will turn 9 months in a 3 days...   I am very excitedto share her accomplishments, especially that she is now picking up some of her own food!!

Sisters

The dollhouse playing is still a love hate relationship between Audrey and Celia.  Honestly it is that way for a lot of people....

Oldie But Goodie

reposted from January 2010 when Celia was 2.  Her personality has become even stronger!!

Yes that is right. This wasn't at home, this was at school and yes she has done this before!! I arrived to pick Celia up today and I saw her in a different shirt, I sort of knew that wasn't a good sign. So Miss. Maryanne- the college girl that takes care of Celia in the afternoon- told me that Celia put her dress in the toilet as she was pooping in the toilet/after she did it. She wasn't sure why, she knew it wasn't an accident. The note from Celia's teacher didn't indicate that it was an accident. Celia's explanation to me later indicated that she didn't like what Miss. Holli said to her. She also evidently did not want to help to clean up so they wouldn't let her eat her yogurt (they use that as a reward sometimes with her, don't worry I pack her plenty for lunch). She evidently didn't care about consequences today. That is my sweet, sweet, little girl. This one..

She isn't always perfect for us, but she sure doesn't act like that at home. I am sorry for her teacher and I do follow through at home when she has days like this. I work with students who all have behavior issues and I am trained to deal with these issues. So my daughter should be perfectly behaved at school, that is my theory. On days like this I think that I should make her a picture schedule for school, get her a reward chart, and track her progress. But... you don't do that with a normal 2 year old do you?

Look at her, she is so cute, so much easier when she didn't think that she could do everything.

So she is mine, all mine. I love her spunk. I love that when I asked her if she made good choices today, her response was "Well, probably, no". But she was still happy as could be. I let her know that we were not watching Handy Manny today because of her behavior- she already knew that. Her response was "Cause I put my dress in the toilet?" Oh and the dress, the dress. My Mom can guess which dress it was. It is a dress that I liked when I picked it out for $1 at a church sale but as Celia wanted to wear it every chance she can, I don't like it as much. So that dress might be hidden for awhile. When we came home, we practiced her cutting. She is doing amazingly at cutting, without very much practice. Her little hand was getting tired by the evening but she made Daddy some book marks. She made Miss. Donna a house and cut on the lines, almost perfectly. She loves it. Amazing. But my little arts and crafts diva will not be using her scissors tomorrow if she has another day like this...

Amazing. But she stuck her dress down the toilet- again.

Splash Fun

We went to a garden with my Mom the other day that had a very cool splash park for kids. Celia had a blast, Audrey was a bit unsure. At one point my Mom and I thought that the sprinklers were really spreading the water far away from the actual splash park. No it was the rain downpour that was arriving. Buckets came down and we were soaked. The girls were fine because we brought the BOB Duallie and it is water proof and it protects them.

Audrey saying no

Walking on Water

 It looks like she is walking on in this picture!

Sunscreens

updated: This was the first year that I did not have little bubbly hives and a red rash head to toe. The winner was the think baby sunscreen and a close second was badger. The beyond coastal, Pete liked it but I did start to get a small version of my rash with it. But for the first year Pete could not call me his little iguana ( what he called me on our honeymoon due to my head to toe rash)

I posted last year about my search for the perfect sunscreen.  I am basically allergic to sunscreen, actually the combo of sunscreen and sun.  Yes, I am a bowl full of fun.  On our honeymoon, Pete called me his little iguana because I had a head to toe rash and I was scaly. 

In anycase, this summer I decided to just spend some money and go for the good stuff. I looked at a website dedicated to outlining the least toxic sunscreens.  So far, I am impressed.  I often get a tingling/burning feeling when I wear sunscreen.  This summer that has not happened and so far I have not had the rash.  A few spots here and there but nothing compared to what I have experienced in the past.  The biggest test will be at the beach.

So here is what I have purchased.

This has a light scent of lavendar, which has been okay.  I think next time, I would prefer the unscented.  The reviews indicate that it is hard to spread out, but really I have not had major issues with this.  At least I can see where I have put it on.  The main thing I have learned is that you do have to reapply it after swimming for 30 to 40 min.  Honestly though, I think that we are supposed to do that with other sunscreens.  This is not the greatest for the face as if it gets in your eyes, it burns.  I ordered all of my sunscreen on amazon but I did find out that our local Wegmans carries this.

I purchased his for Audrey but I put it on my face and on Celia's face.  I really, really love this sunscreen but it is the most expensive.  The bonus is that it is a livestrong product so some of the proceeds go to the charity.  It is a very low toxin sunscreen that goes on very smoothly and it smells great.  Next year, I might consider just getting this our trying out their adult sunscreens.  As Audrey does not spend a huge amount of time in the water, I have not been able to see how water resistant it is.  It says it is very water resistant.

This is what I purchased, hoping that Pete would use it.  It is the cheapest and I like it.  I can not see any problems with it, I believe that it did score a 2 instead of a 1 on the low toxin level.  But I like the smell and it spreads very well.  Unfortunately, Pete went out and bought himself spray on sunscreen.  I know it is full of toxins, etc.  But he will not get a sun burn, Pete tends to cover every single little inch of his body with sunscreen, he sometimes does a second coat.  But maybe I can convince him to try this out a few times.

Back to School

I can not believe that my niece is going to start 3rd grade today!  Have a great day Katie!

The above photo is the same look I would get from my sister when I was little and I did something that was totally obnoxious.  Honestly, the same facial expression. 

Mornings at our House

We are a typical family, we get up, have breakfast, put on our goggles...

The Rain Stomper

Celia and I like the book The Rain Stomper.  I read it to her for the first time last summer and we read it again earlier this summer.  We do not own it, we get it from the Library.  I love the library, honestly.  I am not into accumulating clutter and that includes books.  So the library is perfect.  Celia often gets excited over her new books too, so it works out perfectly.

In anycase, the other day it was raining out.  It was warm and the rain was coming down very softly and Celia wanted to go out.  So I decided, why not.  She looked at me like I was crazy.  I told her, that she needed to take a shower anyway, so she might as well get wet and then we will just clean her up in the shower.  Well I guess she could not let herself go all crazy.  I was going to send her out in her clothes and barefeet or flip flops.  Nope.  She had other ideas.  We had to get on the rain boots and the rain coat.  I was amazed that her size 24 month rain coat still fit, actualy I think it is getting snug around the arm pits.  That $2 consignment sale raincoat has held up well.  The pockets are starting to tear so I am not sure it was last for Audrey.  But she had a blast.  Audrey and I did venture out with her, underneath an umbrella.  Normally I would have joined Celia but I did not think Audrey would appreciate it.

I even let her play in the parking lot a bit because that is where the best puddles were!  So maybe we will get another chance this summer to be a rain stomper.

Celia's vacation bible school show

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Haircuts at our House

 I think that Audrey is already aware of the fun of getting a pretend haircut from her sister, can you see her enthusiasm??

Yep, it involves the hammer first

 Ha ha, but this time Audrey kept taking it!

 

Trying to escape

Now the scissors/ pliers

Then the saw (Dusty is his name)

Here is the fabulous hair dresser, hmm, looks like she is in need of some help.

Bring out the hammer, nails, or whatever we have in the toolbox