busy week! 5/28/09

I am a sucker for these kinds of pictures. I love it! Kara bought roller skates with her easter money. Here we are getting her all safe to practice in the kitchen.

She did okay for a first-time skater, but all it took was 2 falls for her to decide she was done practicing that day. Ben took her outside to try the next day, and he said she wouldn't even let go of his hand. I didn't get to watch her because I was busy staining the fence in the backyard. My sister Jackie called the same day to let us know that she is expecting another baby! Exciting!

Here are the 2 cutest little chefs!

We went to NW trek on sunday. We knew it would be busy for the holiday weekend, but it was crazy! I've never seen a line to get in, and that day, the line was clear out past the parking lot. Luckily for us, the members line was only about 10 people long. So that was nice for us! It was a good day for seeing some of the animals that aren't always out and about. Here are a couple of lazy wolves.

Ben and Karalee at the trek.

Me and Kiersten baby.

We had pizza for dinner, and this silly girl kept putting it on her head. She thought it was hilarious for us to call it a hat when she did it.

Kara's ballet class had a visitors day on tuesday. Here she is with Kiersten getting ready to go. She was excited for Kiersten to get to watch her dance. Kiersten didn't really care about watching the dance. she was just upset that I wouldn't put her down to join the girls.

Here they are pouting because I wouldn't let them in the backyard before class. Kara kept promising not to get dirty, but I was mean and made them stay inside. I got some cute video of Kara's dance class. I will probably post some of it in the next few days.

Wednesday I took the girls up the hill for a play date with Kara's friend Jonas. Kiersten liked trying to play with his 4 month old sister, Hazel. I was pretty busy keeping her out of that poor baby's face. Kara was pretty good, but did fight a little with Jonas over toys, but they worked it out well for their ages.

Today I got up and went to the gym early so I could get home and shower and feed the girls lunch before my visiting teachers showed up. (They said 12 was the latest they could come.) anyway, they didn't show up or call until an hour later. So that was a bit of wasted time, which always annoys me. But o well, I guess I'll just have to get over it. they did ask if they could still come over, and I said no. I felt a little bad about it, but I have other things to do, ya know? Okay, now I'm just gonna let it go, and not be mad.

Do you miss us Daddy?

Today Kara asked me if I was her fairy godmother. I said, "sure, I guess so." Then she asked if I would make her wish come true. I said I probably would and asked what her wish was. She thought about it for a minute, and then said her wish was to have a picnic. We are probably going to have one tomorrow, but I didn't think it would hurt to have a preview today in the backyard. The girls eating their lunch. kiersten thought she was so big to be eating with us instead of sitting in her highchair.

If you look closely at the top of Kiersten's head, you can see that her hair is starting to grow. I probably wont have a bald baby by the end of the year. :(

As soon as I took the close-up of Kiersten, Kara got excited and started saying, "my turn! my turn!"

A bubble-blowing action shot.

Kiersten getting all excited to throw the ball.

I guess it was anti-climactic from the look on her face.

Kara is a nice big sister to let Kiersten ride her bike. Kiersten pushed Kara on it later. It was easier for Kiersten to push because Kara was pedalling too.

Kara showing off for the camera.

This is the beginning of a race. They love running races against each other.

Of course Kara always wins, but Kiersten never gives up until she reaches the finish.

Kara jumping through the air. I also have to mention that there was a small bug on the stairs. When she saw it, she said she was gonna kill it. I told her that's not very nice and not to kill the bug. She said okay, but then stomped on it anyway! I asked her why she would do that when I told her not to. She said, "I didn't kill him mom. I just destroyed him instead."

King and Queen

I just love these pictures I took yesterday morning of the girls dressed up like a king and queen. Kara is lucky to have a little sister who will just go along with whatever she wants most of the time. Later in the day, Kara walked all over the house with her purse and Kiersten's keys, and a baby doll. She said they went grocery shopping, to the dry cleaner, and to the gym to work out. After she came out of the "gym" (really the laundry room), she kept saying, "ooh, I so tired. I worked out a lot, mom. I need to eat, I so hungry." I had to laugh because I guess that's how I sound in the car on the way home from the gym. haha. Then last night Ben had asked her to get something, and she said, "just a minute, I working out. when I'm done exercising then I will, okay?" He thought that was too funny. I guess I've created a little exercise monster. But I also have to say it's worth it to have reached my goal of getting under a certain weight! I have lost 30 lbs since january, and hopefully I still have a few more I can get rid of in the next few months. Now that Ben has time to work out, I'm sure he'll zip right past me with a ton of weight loss, but I can still be proud of my own.

5/14/09

We all know who the princess is around here. This is just a silly picture of both of the princesses. hehehe.

On saturday, we took the girls to see Monsters vs. Aliens. We stopped at Mcdonalds on the way there, and I thought this picture of Kara was funny.

After the movie, we took the girls to the park to fly Kara's kite.

I love this one of Kiersten pointing up at the kite. She thought it was so cool flying way up there.

I made them take a cute family picture at the park.

I was trying to take a picture of our old couch for a craigslist listing, and Kara insisted on having her picture taken too. Of course Kiersten joined her. I was surprised as I snapped the shot, that Kara grabbed Kiersten and smooched her.

Kiersten was so tired last night, that she fell asleep during dinner.

Kara has been asking and asking to make cookies. I talked her into making lemon bars instead on sunday, and that just wasn't good enough for her. She really wanted to make cookies that she could "color". So I finally let her make some sugar cookies last night.

5/8/09

this is a journal entry I wrote earlier in the week. I thought it would be a good one to share for mother's day coming up. Don't worry, I pared it down a lot and tried to fix it up as much as possible, so it wouldn't sound like a rambling journal entry.

Today was a cleaning day. I spent hours getting the house clean. 20-30 minutes of it was spent cleaning the playroom. I also needed to clean the kitchen floor, so I sent the girls into the playroom to get them out of the way. (and keep Kiersten out of the garbage pile.) I didn't expect them to sit in there and not play with their toys, but I also didn't expect to walk back in after less than 10 minutes and see every shelf, bin, and basket completely empty and toys everywhere. I'm not joking when I say EVERY toy was on the floor. I didn't want to blow my top, so I closed my eyes and counted to 3. I made myself calm down. (Kiersten helped by looking at me with a sweet and innocent smile.) I put Kara on book picking-up duty, while I started clearing a path.
I couldn't help but think back to my pre-kid days. Those days were so simple, so easy, and so taken for granted. I was free to do what I wanted, sleep when I was tired, and be selfish if I wanted to. After a moment, I realized that even though back then I had no diapers to change, no puke to clean, and a lot less whining to listen to, I had no Kiersten baby to rock to sleep at night. I had no mornings of waking up to see Karalee's smiling face hovering over me, and hearing her say, "good morning sleepy-head!" I didn't have little feet to follow me everywhere, or a chubby little hand to hold every time I went down stairs. I did have more alone time with Ben, but what I didn't have were lazy sunday afternoons spent playing with our kids together. I didn't get to experience the look on his face when he looks at our girls. And I didn't get to see those happy little eyes and the way they both look back at him.
So I stopped feeling so sorry for myself and told Kara she had helped clean up enough and could go play. She excitedly ran into the livingroom to arrange a running race with her little sister. Then I started to think about how fast they are growing up. They have both changed so much since last year. I wondered how different they'll be next year. I was kinda sad to think of myself when they're all grown up and on their own. I'm sure it will be nice to have personal space and alone time. I think I'll be able to appreciate being kid-free again. Ben and I will be able to do whatever we want without stepping on toys, or listening to 2 kids screaming at once. But I wont be getting Kiersten's slobbery kisses at bed time. I wont be able to listen to Kara's crazy stories and silly versions of songs. So when I have a clean and quiet house, I'm gonna miss these little girls. I'll probably sit around looking at pictures and remembering cute things they once did. I'm gonna miss hugging them every day and being the person they always come to for everything. I'll probably be spending a few mother's days without them. I'll have memories and pictures, and even the teddy bear they gave me for this mother's day, but it will still be a little sad. Of course I'll be hoping for a phone call. I'll be overjoyed if I get it and a little devastated if I don't. I'll wonder what they're doing every day, and if they had something healthy for lunch. I'll probably pry into their lives more than I should, and call them more than they'd like. I'll know it, but I'll do it anyway because I always want to know they're okay.
So I was thinking about the old me, who didn't get to know what "mother's love" feels like, and the future me, who is gonna have to watch those girls grow up and leave someday, and it made me feel pretty happy to have someone to clean up after today. Especially 2 girls as cute as mine. So I shut the door to the playroom and let Kara pick out a game, and spent the rest of the "cleaning time" playing sesame street chutes and ladders with my little girlies.



see how cute they are?

Kiersten's first words

Kiersten baby is talking more and more. While most of it is still sounding like jibberish, there are some words that she is now using on a daily basis. I thought it would be fun to blog about them.
mommy/mama- her first word. she uses it mostly when she wants something, or needs to tattle on someone.
daddy/dada- her second word. we usually hear this the moment Ben comes home from work, or when she is sweet and cuddly, and sometimes when she walks into the guest room she'll say it.
hi- obviously when she sees or notices someone or a toy.
bye bye- she almost always waves as she says it.
uh-oh- usually meaning she has dropped something, but she will also say it if she has thrown something on purpose.
Kara- she actually says it more like "Ka-uh" but it's really cute. I have only heard her use it when she is happy, and not yet when she's been mad at her sister.
ya- this is the answer to most questions we ask her. Usually we ask if she needs a bum change, or that type of thing.
no- she does say no occasionally, and is starting to use it more and more. She just said it this morning when I asked if she was ready to get out of the bath tub.
hey- this is usually what she says if someone takes something away from her. Also, she says it sometimes if I put her down when she wants to be held.
me- she knows to say this when we ask, "who wants breakfast?" (or lunch, or dinner, or a snack)
that- she says this when she is pointing to somthing she wants.
baa- this is her word for her cup.
bee- this is her word for her binky.
I'm certain there are more of them, but these are the ones I can think of right now, and they are definitely the most common. I'd say we hear all of these at least once a day.