Backpack, backpack!

During our evening walks with Daddy, Vivienne has asked him to carry her in the Ergo on his back.  They sure make for a cute pair!

Spring 2013

I have gotten behind in posting lately.  We are very active, especially during this great weather.  Here is some of what we have been up to the past few weeks.

Being just about the most adorable thing you have ever seen.  (And, no, I didn't do anything to alter this photo at all... just beautiful green grass and a perfect contrasting purple dress.)

Picking flowers...

"Going back to sleep" in our sleeping bags from Grandma (Daddy always gets up early with us and lets Mommy "sleep in" until 7:30ish)...

Playing our first game with Daddy...

Meeting the CFA cow...

Riding in a perfectly designed shopping cart for three kids (thanks, Whole Foods!)...

Riding the train at the science museum (I think he likes it?)...

Believe it or not, Evelyn also likes the train but apparently the tunnel freaks her out a little...

Exploring museums with our friends...

Doing a pancreatic cancer walk with our friends...

Building tents in the family room...

Rolling like crazy but still no crawling...

Our first game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos...

Channeling our inner Diego and staying sane...

Drawing our first happy faces (or ghosts? - these were courtesy of Vivienne)...

Picking strawberries...

Learning about buoyancy in the post-rain sunshine...

Getting stuck under the sofa (she only crawls backwards)...

Sitting in the yard with our friends...

More rides on the trains (can you tell we like trains?)...

First face painting...

Walks with Daddy after work (about a mile every day, one of our favorite things, even better than the trains)...

Big Kid Beds

It has been a gradual (though quick) progression, but last night Miles and Vivienne both spent the night in their big kid beds.  Right now, we have the "blue" room with a twin bed and a trundle underneath and a crib in it.  Up to this point, that has been Evelyn's room and we have used the twin for a guest bed.  Miles and Vivienne have slept in their cribs in the nursery for almost 3 years.

Vivienne climbed out of her crib only once before, but then the kids just stayed in their cribs.  They very, very clearly had the capacity to climb out of them, but they just never did.  (Kids, THANK YOU SO MUCH for staying in your cribs for so long.  Mommy loves you a little more just for that.)  But a little over a week ago, Miles climbed out of his crib and came downstairs during his nap.  Then he climbed out of his pack n play.  I knew it was time to make the switch.

In the former "exercise" room, we have now put a twin bed (that used to belong to my brother when he was a little boy).  The day that Miles climbed out of all his containment devices (crib and pack n play), I tried napping him in his big boy bed.  He even spent the night in there a couple of times, but then started asking for his crib again (I think mostly because he missed being with his sister at night).

Last night, Vivienne said she wanted to sleep in her "big bed."  So we put her in the blue room on the twin bed and put Miles in the exercise room on Uncle Brian's bed.  After a few post-bedtime shuffles, we ended up with Miles on the trundle beside Vivienne on the twin bed.  I would have loved to have gotten a photo of them sleeping together in their big beds, but that room is very dark and we didn't want to risk a flash waking them up (especially after it took them an hour and a half to fall asleep).  Evelyn slept in the nursery (the room with the two cribs that the twins used to sleep in).

Right now, Vivienne and Evelyn are asleep in the blue room together for their nap and Miles is on his big boy bed in his room.  I just went around and snapped these photos with my phone.

I have so much to be thankful for this Mother's Day.

Rock Tumbler

Why is my dryer making so much noise?

Oh.  Because this was in it...

That's one clean rock.  It's about the size of a golf ball.  I wonder where that came from?

My Sweet Singing Man

I just put all the kids down for their nap.  I'm currently listening to Vivienne playing with her new fox toy (thanks, Melissa and Brad!) and her other toys.  There is always some sort of toy (usually Baby Jaguar) rescue mission under way, thanks to Diego and Dora.

When I put Miles down in his pack n play, he asked, "Sing a song, Mommy?"  I said, "Of course."  We went through our usual repertoire - Itsy Bitsy Spider followed by Jingle Bells followed by Jesus Loves Me.  When you sing Itsy Bitsy Spider, you have to do all the hand motions.  Then when you sing Jingle Bells,  you have to bend down really low (which he reminded me, because I started the song standing all the way up).  Then you jump up on the "hey!" of the "one-horse open sleigh - hey!".  And then, for some reason, you have to yell "Bible tells me SO!" at the end of Jesus Loves Me. 

As I was walking out of the room, I said, "I love you so much, Miles."  He replied, "I love you so much, Mommy."

These are the everyday (extra)ordinary moments that I will miss so much.

Great Big Sister

Vivienne is a great big sister.  She loves taking care of "the baby" in so many ways.  She will often fetch her Sophie giraffe (on her own) and come running over saying,"Here baby.  It's your Sophie giraffe!"  She loves to help change her diapers and bring her toys and hold her (though holding her usually ends quickly because Evelyn does not always love this).  Vivienne will even occasionally share her beloved Bea (her Piglet lovey) with her sister.  Now THAT is love.

Last night at dinner, Vivienne was feeding Evelyn her dinner.  She literally sat for about 10 minutes, putting spoonful after spoonful of chili, hummus and applesauce in Evelyn's mouth.  Vivienne loved playing mommy and Evelyn loved getting food, so this was definitely a win-win situation. 

I can't believe my "baby" is feeding my baby.  When did this happen?

Cousins

I have to say that I am incredibly impressed with myself for actually blogging something on the day it happened.  What can I say?  When you have really low standards, you easily impress yourself.

I'm very excited for Mary and Brian, who are in the process of moving to the San Jose area.  Brian recently took an awesome new job with Apple, so they are moving out west again.  While Brian is in California starting his new position, Mary brought Helen and Elizabeth to visit the Carolina contingent for a few days.  They are staying at Mom's house (and she is loving having all this time with her grandbabies).  It was so wonderful for us to meet sweet little Helen (who is only about 2 months old right now) for the first time, and we have had a great time getting Miles and Vivienne together with Elizabeth, who is only about a month and a half older than them.

This morning, after playing at Grandma's house for a while, we took all the kids to Bond Park.  Elizabeth rode in our car, and it was fun to see their little heads bopping along to the music in the back.

The kids really enjoyed letting out some energy on the playground.  After some climbing and sliding, we took a "hike" to see the lake. 

 This shot is a great example of Miles and Elizabeth's only gear:  high.

My little ray of sunshine was her usual, easy-going self.  She rode along in the Ergo while we explored the paths and threw pine cones in the water.

After Bond Park, we took the kids to Chick-fil-a for some refueling and more fun in the play space.  Unfortunately, Vivienne took a nose dive right into one of the steps there, so we may be taking her to the dentist tomorrow to check out a tooth trauma.

After naps, Mom, Mary and the girls came over to play.  We got out the water table and sprinkler and the kids had a blast together.  The sounds of giggles and squeals fill the air when these three are together.

We only have Mary and the girls here for another day or so, but we're so happy to see them before they start their next big adventure in California.