Carnivals and Birthday Parties and Mother's Day, Oh My!

I'm a few days late, but I wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to our amazing moms! We love you both so much, and are thankful for all you have taught us!

I am now so blessed to be able to celebrate Mother's Day with my own girls. Norah and Maddie (and Dan) did a wonderful job of spoiling me on Mother's Day... no diapers and no dishes for me all day - just good family time! Norah and Maddie made me some beautiful presents - a necklace from Norah and flower holders from both girls - and got me a few other things for the garden. Norah was able to keep secrets about all my gifts this year (which probably made her want to burst all week!), though she did have me open the necklace when she first woke up Sunday morning. I am grateful (most) every minute of (almost) every day that God entrusted me with his precious gifts of Norah and Maddie.

Besides Mother's Day, we had plenty of activities to keep us busy last weekend. Norah's school had their carnival Friday night. The biggest hit of the evening... bounce houses! I think Norah spent the entire evening (other than the ten minutes in which she was forced to eat her hot dog/chip/cookie dinner) either in the bounce house or in line for her next turn in the bounce house. Oh, and she played musical chairs just long enough to win a popsicle, which she then ate while she was in line at the bounce house.

Bounce house!

Waiting for the bounce house (and repeat until they literally started deflating them)

On Saturday, Norah was invited to two birthday parties... one with a princess theme and one with a pirate theme. She had lots of fun and lots of cake, and Dan and I got a chance to meet some of the other parents from her class. By the time she got to dinner at my parents that night, she was a little overextended (she walked in and said, "Hi... as you know, I did not have a nap today" - sometimes, she talks like a miniature 40-year-old), but all in all, she had a great day. It did, however, take until about Tuesday for her to catch up on her rest.

Maddie got in on the pirate action

Since we've been having some crazy hot weather, the pool has actually warmed up enough for all of us to want to get in. Maddie loved the water. You can't see it in the picture below, but she spent her whole time in the water giggling at her sister and furiously kicking her little legs underneath the ring. Norah is starting to practice the swimming skills she learned last year as she gets ready to take lessons again this summer.

And finally, as I was looking for the Mother's Day pictures above, I came across the below picture of Maggie and I as little kids.

Fast forward about 30 years, take away a mustache, and you have...

Projects, the Pool, and a Tooth

Since Norah has been working on her letters this year at school, we decided to put together an alphabet book using Maddie's and Norah's hand prints. We actually started this as a wintertime project back in January, but it has taken me awhile to get everything put together (you can click on the pictures to see them a little bigger). Meanwhile, Norah's class made their way through the entire alphabet - one letter a week - with "A" back in September and "Z" just a couple of weeks ago. Now she's pretty good at identifying all the letters and sounds, and she can even write most of them. We're so proud of her, and she's excited to be learning all these new things. She only has about a month of school left before summer vacation - hard to believe she's almost a four-year-old!

Speaking of summer vacation, the pool has been calling Norah's name for several weeks now. She finally convinced Dan to blow up a raft for her and then she hopped right into the water... but quickly decided it was still a little cold and got right back out. (Maddie only needed to put one foot in to decide it was too cold for her, but Daddy had to get all the way in to retrieve the pool toys Norah had thrown to the bottom.) Lest they give up on the idea of water play altogether, they decided to play in the sprinklers instead. Maddie was still a little unsure, but curious enough to give it a try. By this weekend, Norah will be ready for the pool again, though a week's worth a weather in the 70's (plus cool nights) certainly didn't make the water any warmer.

She likes to stick her tongue out :)

Maddie turned nine months on May 2. She thinks she's Little Miss Independent at home, crawling all over the house, pulling herself up on anything she can find, and generally getting into anything she shouldn't have (especially sissy's toys). Away from home, she wants to stick a little closer to the familiar, as stranger danger has definitely set in. She (finally) got her first tooth on May 1. Of course, this is the same day she was scheduled to take her nine-month pictures - so the sore gums plus the aforementioned stranger danger meant no smiles for the photographer. We were, however, able to get the stars to align at home, and caught both Norah and Maddie looking at the camera AND smiling in one picture.

Now that Maddie is starting to develop some more distinctive features, I thought I would share some pictures of Norah, Dan, and me at (about) the same age. I see resemblances to all of us in various faces that she makes and mannerisms that she has, but she's definitely growing into her own little person. It's so fun to watch!

Norah - nine months

Kristin

Dan

Love to all!

Off She Goes

We took this video of Maddie crawling about a week ago... she's even faster now!

And just for giggles...

Adventures

I have one addition to the last post - a video from Norah's Easter party at school that I was having trouble uploading earlier. They've been working on one letter each week for most of the school year, so that week, they were working on "V," and were singing a cute (and catchy) song to help them remember some "V" words. (Norah is on the far side of the third row, in the white shirt.)

We had a very fun and blessed Easter weekend, starting with a 90th birthday celebration for my Grandma Nell. We were honored to be able to mark this milestone with her, and enjoyed getting together with my extended family - including Laura who came in for a quick 48-hour (or less) visit. Norah got to spend some time with her cousins Liam and Owen - she was quick to ditch Dan and I in favor of hanging out with people who are way more fun! The party was great fun, and I am so thankful for the 32 years (so far) of fun memories with my grandma.

We spent Easter at the beach, where we enjoyed church, an Easter egg hunt, and more cousin time.

We attempted to take some Easter pictures of the girls, but as you can see, Maddie was more interested in pulling her sister's pigtails than looking at the camera.

Norah was very relieved that the Easter bunny was able to find her at the beach - she came away from the egg hunt with a basket full of candy, including some of Maddie's eggs, since "Maddie doesn't have any teeth, so she can't have any candy." Norah enjoyed having some egg-hunting buddies this year, and I know she'll be good at teaching Maddie how to look for eggs next year.

While Maddie may not have any teeth yet, she flew through a handful of other developmental milestones last week. By the weekend, she was reminding me of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, always hungry for more... adventures, that is!

On Monday, she started pulling herself up on everything in sight - tables, chairs, walls, windows, and any other vertical surface she could reach. She had been doing this with help for a couple of weeks, but all of a sudden, she got it on her own... and she wanted to practice it constantly.

On Tuesday, she started crawling on her hands and knees instead of scooting on her belly. Again, she had been close for several weeks, but last week, she really got it! And we thought she was fast before! Now we put her down for a few seconds, and she's across the room.

On Wednesday, she realized that her new pulling up skill could also be used in her crib. Actually, this discovery made her more mad than anything, since she marooned herself in the standing position in the middle of the night. This has not, however, prevented her from utilizing this skill over and over again since then. Mommy and Daddy are very tired of it, and all of us are tired in general, since we're averaging about three wake-ups/stand-ups a night. Hopefully she'll either a) get tired of pulling herself up as soon as she wakes up, or b) figure out how to get herself back down on her own. Either way, something must happen soon!

On Thursday, Maddie figured out that once she was in the standing position, she could do a bit of cruising... taking a few careful steps while holding on to the table/wall/couch, usually in order to get something just out of reach. This adds a new vertical element to her mobility, and means that not only is the floor Maddie's playground, but also many of the lower surfaces as well... and that it's time for my decorations to get put away for awhile.

On Friday, Maddie learned how to feed herself a Cheerio. (Actually, make that three to four Cheerios at a time, since that is what she can get in her fist, and then she just puts her whole fist into her mouth and licks them off her hand. She gags herself not infrequently.) It is at times like this that I want a dog, since we have Cheerios everywhere. While Dan and I are very excited for all that Maddie is discovering, we're getting more and more nervous for the possibility of trouble to come! She's so cute when she figures out something new - so proud of herself that she usually laughs out loud - but there is also something about the way she looks at us as she crawls to the trash can and empties it contents or races to grab one of Norah's toys when she thinks no one is looking that says, "I am going to challenge you later!"

Speaking of trouble to come, Dan is making good progress on our new edible garden - with the help of a jackhammer he just happened to be able to borrow from one of his co-workers. (I call his pickaxe a divining rod, since it's pretty good at finding the location of and cracking buried sprinkler lines - and a pickaxe is nothing compared to a jackhammer!) To Dan's credit, he didn't hit any sprinkler lines, gas pipes, or electrical conduit, but he did make me very nervous since all of those things were mere inches from the demolition site. Next step - leveling the ground and then paver installation (good news - that means another opportunity to use a big power tool). I just hope my plants produce enough food to do justice to all of Dan's work building raised beds and a new paver walkway!

More pictures (and video of Maddie crawling) to come!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Norah is on Easter break now, so she had her Easter party at school last week. They started with an Easter parade, followed by an egg hunt and a visit from the Easter bunny. She invited Dan and I (and Maddie) to come watch the festivities.

Norah was so proud to be able to show us what she's been doing at school. They've been working on learning their letters all year (A through V are now complete, so just a few more to go after break), but now they're also working on their writing skills. She's turning into such a big girl!

I also subjected the girls to our usual silly holiday picture (plus a few others from our pre-Easter activities)... I know that sometime soon they won't be so willing, so I'm going to get in as much cuteness as I can early!

Dying Easter Eggs

Relaxing in the Garden

Speaking of being less than willing - Maddie is no longer willing to stay put in her bouncer. When Norah was a baby, all she wanted to do was practice her walking while holding onto someone's hands. I guess Maddie decided early on that as the youngest, she wasn't going to get the undivided attention necessary to make that her primary mode of transportation. Thus, she has been much more interested in developing her crawling/climbing/diving skills. I'm not sure if I should be glad that she's adaptable, or scared of what's to come. Either way, the bouncer has now been put away.

Happy Easter to all!

Spring!

Happy (almost) spring! We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful springtime flowers blooming in our yard, so we headed outside for some cute (and silly) pictures of the girls.

Maddie has been practicing her new moves as she becomes quite a proficient (read quick) crawler. She's doing this yoga/headstand thing lately (see pics below), which she also uses to get herself from her belly back to the sitting position. Norah and I found her gleefully sitting up in her crib after her nap the other day... so proud of herself and so close to pulling herself up and right over the edge. (Her mattress is now lower.) We've resisted putting the baby gates back up, but I'm not sure we have much longer.

This past Saturday, March 16, would have been Phil's 60th birthday. We miss him so much, and though we wish he could have met Maddie and seen her and Norah grow up, we know he's watching over them every day. Happy birthday Phil, with all our love.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a little St. Patrick's Day fun today... silly headwear and pictures, followed by corned beef for dinner!