Goodbye, Noah

A couple months ago, we had to have our gentle giant, Noah, put to sleep.  He was truly one of the world's best cats.  The kids could ride him like a horse, pull his tail or sit on his head and he wouldn't bat an eyelash.  He had all of his claws but never used them (except for one unfortunate event when my brother was sleeping on our couch in California and Noah raced across his face, playing chase with Chloe in the middle of the night). 

For years, Noah was frequently seen lying on his back, spread eagle (showing all his glory, or lack thereof) and soaking up the sun through the windows.  In more recent days, Miles could often be heard chasing Noah up the stairs and screaming at the top of his lungs, "I love you, cat!  I love you!" (More like "I wuv yew!")  Though I'm sure the kids were annoying to him at times, I think he realized that they were a part of his family and that he needed to be gentle with them.

Noah was a great companion for our children, and I am sad that he will not be here for many more years of unwanted snuggles from our kids. 

We planted a Japanese andromeda (pieris) over his grave in the back yard so that we always have something to remember him by.

Goodbye, old friend.  We miss you.

Twin Napping Breakthrough

For the past month or so, Miles and Vivienne's nap times have been a bit of a nightmare (pun intended).  Even though I know they are exhausted after a morning at the museum or the playground, they would sit up in their cribs together, passing toys back and forth.  Sometimes this would eventually lead to arguing (usually Miles pulling away one of Vivienne's blankets or something).  So, I started separating their cribs by a few feet so that they couldn't mess with each other.  Well, this only helped a little.  After coming to my wit's end last week, I finally started putting Miles in a pack n play in a separate room (formerly our exercise room).  All I can say is, "Wow!  What a difference!"  Sometimes one of them will still have a harder time falling asleep, but this is usually just an hour or so of singing (Vivienne) or talking to themselves (Miles).  Overall, this is leading to a much, much more peaceful nap time for all of us.  And, believe me, Mommy needs that time to get a little break.  Now, I have about an hour of overlapping nap time with all three kids asleep together.  It's wonderful.

First Tooth!

Evelyn's first tooth has finally broken through the gum line.  I saw it for the first time yesterday.  There aren't any photos yet, because it's not nearly big enough to capture with a camera.  But soon I will be missing her beautiful gummy smile.

Dahhhling...

Oh, dahhhling... you just look fabulous.

Grandma's house is virtually a toddler spa for Vivienne.

Bond Park

On the weekends, we love to go "hiking" (usually a relatively short walk in the woods, maybe just a mile or so) with the kids.  A couple weeks ago, we were having lovely weather and decided to enjoy the day at Bond Park.  There is a playground that the kids love, and we got to see the lake during sunset.

We also discovered a fallen tree in the forest where the kids could practice their balancing skills with Daddy's help.

And, of course, I enjoyed time with my brown-eyed snuggle bug.

Fingerpaints

We love our fingerpaints around here.

Mohawk

I ♥ this mohawk.