I am really behind this time on posting the stats from the kids' yearly check-ups. Here is how everyone is stacking up:
Miles
Height: 38.5 (76%)
Weight: 36.8 (90%)
BP: 86/54 (They do blood pressure now!?! My kids are growing up.)
Vivienne
Height: 35.95 (25%)
Weight: 29.6 (39%)
BP: 78/47
Evelyn
Height: 30.25 (78%)
Weight: 21 lb 1 oz (66%)
HC: 18 in (68%)
Monday, September 2, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Fox Family Visit
In late July, Grandma and Grandpa Fox came to visit with Jason's brother, Scott, and his three kids, Gabe, Andrew and Amber. It was great to see them, and we really appreciate that they all made the long trek from Indiana to spend the weekend with us.
While they were here, we went to the Museum of Natural Science in downtown. Both the little and big kids had a good time. We also took Miles and Vivienne on their first paddle boat ride at Bond Park. They seemed to enjoy it, though I think they were getting a little antsy toward the end.
We all loved spending time with family and relaxing together. Gabe and Andrew were great with the little kids, playing with Lincoln Logs.
Amber and Vivienne made some beautiful art together.
It was just a great weekend with family. Thanks for coming to visit us!
While they were here, we went to the Museum of Natural Science in downtown. Both the little and big kids had a good time. We also took Miles and Vivienne on their first paddle boat ride at Bond Park. They seemed to enjoy it, though I think they were getting a little antsy toward the end.
We all loved spending time with family and relaxing together. Gabe and Andrew were great with the little kids, playing with Lincoln Logs.
Amber and Vivienne made some beautiful art together.
It was just a great weekend with family. Thanks for coming to visit us!
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Preschool Co-op
Miles and Vivienne are at an age where a lot of their friends are just starting preschool. I wanted to give the kids a preschool experience, but I don't want to spend a lot of money (of course, we have to multiply preschool tuition by two) and I want to spend a lot of time with the kids. After speaking with a few friends, I realized they shared some of the same thoughts, so we decided to try a preschool co-op.
There are 4 moms in the co-op and 5 preschoolers (and a few babies who will be aging in eventually). We rotate each other's houses and each week 2 moms are "on" and 2 moms are "off". We did a trial month, and it went very well. The kids love it, and it is fun for the moms, too, once we got the hang of managing a larger group of children.
Our schedule is similar to what the kids would do at a "real" preschool. It includes time for outdoor play, books, music, snack, craft and lunch time. We usually choose a theme for each week (trains, farms, how plants grow, nature, etc).
Our train theme day went like this: The kids had free play, and then we went on the porch to play with the bubble machine for a while. We pulled out some cardboard boxes and made them into a train. When the kids started to get antsy, we gave them sets of markers to color our cardboard box train. After some impromptu singing and dancing (which may or may not have included the songs "Wagon Wheel" and "Call Me Maybe" - Miles' and Vivienne's favorite songs, respectively), we had our train snacks (which were egg cartons cut in half that were our "trains" that the kids could fill with grapes, raisins, sunflower seeds, cheerios, etc). After that we went inside for a train craft (gluing shapes of different colors to pages, creating a train picture). Next we went upstairs to read some train books, followed by some train songs and and our musical train (the kids holding instruments, marching around my friend's home andbanging playing their instruments). That was followed up by lunch and a little more time for free play.
We have also decided to add in a "fun day" each week where we also take the kids on a sort of field trip, like visiting a museum or apple or blueberry picking or the zoo. I am really looking forward to those adventures.
So far the kids are really, really enjoying it, and I look forward to the weeks that I'm teaching and the weeks that I have off. It's neat to see the kids in a more structured learning environment, and it's fun to see the kids building relationships with their friends. It also gives me the opportunity to build stronger relationships with my friends.
It's fun to be Preschool Dropouts.
There are 4 moms in the co-op and 5 preschoolers (and a few babies who will be aging in eventually). We rotate each other's houses and each week 2 moms are "on" and 2 moms are "off". We did a trial month, and it went very well. The kids love it, and it is fun for the moms, too, once we got the hang of managing a larger group of children.
Our schedule is similar to what the kids would do at a "real" preschool. It includes time for outdoor play, books, music, snack, craft and lunch time. We usually choose a theme for each week (trains, farms, how plants grow, nature, etc).
Our train theme day went like this: The kids had free play, and then we went on the porch to play with the bubble machine for a while. We pulled out some cardboard boxes and made them into a train. When the kids started to get antsy, we gave them sets of markers to color our cardboard box train. After some impromptu singing and dancing (which may or may not have included the songs "Wagon Wheel" and "Call Me Maybe" - Miles' and Vivienne's favorite songs, respectively), we had our train snacks (which were egg cartons cut in half that were our "trains" that the kids could fill with grapes, raisins, sunflower seeds, cheerios, etc). After that we went inside for a train craft (gluing shapes of different colors to pages, creating a train picture). Next we went upstairs to read some train books, followed by some train songs and and our musical train (the kids holding instruments, marching around my friend's home and
We have also decided to add in a "fun day" each week where we also take the kids on a sort of field trip, like visiting a museum or apple or blueberry picking or the zoo. I am really looking forward to those adventures.
So far the kids are really, really enjoying it, and I look forward to the weeks that I'm teaching and the weeks that I have off. It's neat to see the kids in a more structured learning environment, and it's fun to see the kids building relationships with their friends. It also gives me the opportunity to build stronger relationships with my friends.
It's fun to be Preschool Dropouts.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Praying for Dora
Last week, we were riding in the van, and the kids and I prayed for one of our friends who has had a particularly bad week. After praying for Melissa, Vivienne said, "Wait! Let's pray for Mommy!" Of course, I fully supported this plan. "Dear God, please be with Mommy this week and help her to be loving." "Wait! Let's pray for Mommy and Daddy and Evelyn and Vivienne and Miles." "Ok... dear God, please be with Mommy and Daddy and Evelyn and Vivienne and Miles and help us to love one another well this week."
After staring at the backpack in her lap (which has Dora on it) for a few seconds, Vivienne requested, "Mommy, can we pray for Dora and Boots?"
"Dear God, please be with Dora and Boots this week and help them feel loved."
(And, God, please help Dora and Boots find the Gumdrop Forest quickly and protect them from Swiper.)
After staring at the backpack in her lap (which has Dora on it) for a few seconds, Vivienne requested, "Mommy, can we pray for Dora and Boots?"
"Dear God, please be with Dora and Boots this week and help them feel loved."
(And, God, please help Dora and Boots find the Gumdrop Forest quickly and protect them from Swiper.)
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Potty Training Vivienne
Well, I think it's safe to say that Vivienne is potty trained now. She wears a diaper for her nap and at night, but other than that, she is almost completely accident-free. For what felt like a long, long time, I thought she had the ability to do it, but she would always say that she didn't want to wear her big girl underwear or use the potty. One day, that just changed and she decided that using the potty was the way to go. The problem is that Miles shows very little interest in using the potty. I keep explaining to him that if he uses the potty, he won't have to have his diaper changed anymore (which he hates). Maybe someday it will catch on.
It is nice to have fewer cloth diapers to wash, but I am looking forward to the day when I only have one child in cloth diapers. I have never had only one child to change, so that will be a bit of a luxury. And to think that someday I will have no diapers to change... seems like a distant dream...
It is nice to have fewer cloth diapers to wash, but I am looking forward to the day when I only have one child in cloth diapers. I have never had only one child to change, so that will be a bit of a luxury. And to think that someday I will have no diapers to change... seems like a distant dream...
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Evelyn's First Birthday
Our baby is growing up. Our sweet girl has turned one already. She enjoyed her special day, complete with a fun new dress from Grandma. After church, she had a crawling session with her sister.
Miss Evelyn is full of spunk and smiles and cuddles. She often crawls a few feet away and then looks back with this devilish grin that says, "You're going to chase me, aren't you, Mom?" And she crawls faster and faster, giggling all the way, as I chase her down on all fours.
She only pulls up occasionally, but it is a rare sight. She doesn't show any interest in walking yet. I'm hoping she just crawls forever because it's pretty darn adorable.
Miles and Vivienne were more than happy to "help" Evelyn open her gift from Grandma. Of course, Evelyn didn't get to even touch the wrapping paper. But at least she got quick access to the fun toy inside.
And at least Miles and Viv let her open her very first card on her own.
After dinner, we let her dig into her smash cake. I made her a double layer chocolate cake with pink buttercream icing. I thought the roses were appropriate for our sweet Evelyn Rose.
And the rest of us got to devour some cupcakes. On a side note, piping icing turns out to be pretty easy and I really enjoy it. If only icing were good for you...
Evelyn loved her cake. She started licking the icing off of her hands first, and then, with a little assistance, she dug into the cake itself.
She really got into the whole "smash" part of the smash cake. She probably smashed it more than she ate it, but she thoroughly enjoyed herself.
You know the smash cake was a success when you're washing it off the walls.
The aftermath.
It's hard to believe that I have two 3-year-olds and a 1-year-old now. It's definitely true the the days go by slowly but the years go by quickly.
Miss Evelyn is full of spunk and smiles and cuddles. She often crawls a few feet away and then looks back with this devilish grin that says, "You're going to chase me, aren't you, Mom?" And she crawls faster and faster, giggling all the way, as I chase her down on all fours.
She only pulls up occasionally, but it is a rare sight. She doesn't show any interest in walking yet. I'm hoping she just crawls forever because it's pretty darn adorable.
Miles and Vivienne were more than happy to "help" Evelyn open her gift from Grandma. Of course, Evelyn didn't get to even touch the wrapping paper. But at least she got quick access to the fun toy inside.
And at least Miles and Viv let her open her very first card on her own.
After dinner, we let her dig into her smash cake. I made her a double layer chocolate cake with pink buttercream icing. I thought the roses were appropriate for our sweet Evelyn Rose.
And the rest of us got to devour some cupcakes. On a side note, piping icing turns out to be pretty easy and I really enjoy it. If only icing were good for you...
Evelyn loved her cake. She started licking the icing off of her hands first, and then, with a little assistance, she dug into the cake itself.
She really got into the whole "smash" part of the smash cake. She probably smashed it more than she ate it, but she thoroughly enjoyed herself.
You know the smash cake was a success when you're washing it off the walls.
The aftermath.
It's hard to believe that I have two 3-year-olds and a 1-year-old now. It's definitely true the the days go by slowly but the years go by quickly.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Miles and Vivienne Turn 3!
It's hard to believe that these sweet little babies...
... have now turned three years old.
We had a fun-filled day, starting out with Grandma and biscuits (two of their favorite things). Then we headed for Marbles, a kids' museum in downtown Raleigh. We had not visited since they updated the first floor play area, and Miles and Vivienne had a blast exploring. Miles could have spent all day at the train table. Seriously, that thing is toddler heaven.
When we started running out of gas, we came back home for lunch and naps, and then Grandma came back again with a huge bunch of balloons for Miles and Viv. After Daddy came home, they dove into their presents and were overwhelmed with excitement at their new goodies.
Last year at this time, I was very pregnant and very sick (the worst illness I can remember ever having). I was unable to do anything special for their birthday, but luckily my mom and dad picked up the slack and bought them beautiful cakes and gave them a wonderful birthday. This year, I stayed up entirely too late baking them each their own cake - a chocolate cake for Miles and a cookie cake for Vivienne. They have been talking about these cakes for a few weeks now, so it was fun to make them a reality.
After dinner, I brought out their cakes. The lack of sleep was definitely worth the look on their faces. I made Miles' cake into a construction cake (thank you, Lynn, for blogging your beautiful cakes and letting me steal your idea). Vivienne's cake was pink and sparkly and happy, just like Viv.
After singing to each of them separately, we dug into those cakes. It was a fun, fun day celebrating our sweet, beautiful children. Now I can no longer say that I have three children under three. *sigh* (or should that be "Whoohoo!!!! We survived!!!"?)
... have now turned three years old.
We had a fun-filled day, starting out with Grandma and biscuits (two of their favorite things). Then we headed for Marbles, a kids' museum in downtown Raleigh. We had not visited since they updated the first floor play area, and Miles and Vivienne had a blast exploring. Miles could have spent all day at the train table. Seriously, that thing is toddler heaven.
When we started running out of gas, we came back home for lunch and naps, and then Grandma came back again with a huge bunch of balloons for Miles and Viv. After Daddy came home, they dove into their presents and were overwhelmed with excitement at their new goodies.
Last year at this time, I was very pregnant and very sick (the worst illness I can remember ever having). I was unable to do anything special for their birthday, but luckily my mom and dad picked up the slack and bought them beautiful cakes and gave them a wonderful birthday. This year, I stayed up entirely too late baking them each their own cake - a chocolate cake for Miles and a cookie cake for Vivienne. They have been talking about these cakes for a few weeks now, so it was fun to make them a reality.
After dinner, I brought out their cakes. The lack of sleep was definitely worth the look on their faces. I made Miles' cake into a construction cake (thank you, Lynn, for blogging your beautiful cakes and letting me steal your idea). Vivienne's cake was pink and sparkly and happy, just like Viv.
After singing to each of them separately, we dug into those cakes. It was a fun, fun day celebrating our sweet, beautiful children. Now I can no longer say that I have three children under three. *sigh* (or should that be "Whoohoo!!!! We survived!!!"?)
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