Flying the Kite

Mother's Day weekend the city had a kite festival where all the kids were given free kites, popcorn, popsicles, and flowers to give their mom. We brought our own kite and once it was in the air, Olivia took over....

Here she is... Olivia, the master kite flyer. Look how high the kite is up in the air!

And as you can see, whatever Olivia can do- Ava can do too. She was a little more interested in the gooey geyser (baseball diamond) than kite flying but still requested her turn.

And this was the biggest kite on the field... the octopus. The girls were allowed to touch it when the owner brought it down to the ground. Liv thought that that was fantastic. Ava cried and thought it was going to "get her" and she ran away. Olivia made her feel better though by giving her a big sister hug.

Zoo Rides

One of my BFF's gave me free zoo tickets for parking, admission, and the rides. It was so wonderful to go and not to have to spend any money. Dave had scheduled the day off a month ago and the girls had been waiting patiently for this day to roll around. We woke up, ate breakfast, packed lunches and sunscreen, and headed out the door.

When we arrived, 15 school buses arrived too. Oh no. Wrong day to go to the zoo. Or so we thought... Once inside we headed to the rides while all the school kids went to see the animals. The girls rode the rides with two other families. It was perfect.


After we used all of our ride tickets we went to eat lunch. We just missed all the school kids who were headed to the rides. By the time we ate and then walked around to see the big animals the school kids had to leave.

Then we headed to the petting zoo because what fun is the zoo if you can't pet anything?

What a perfect day. Our girls ran all over the place, touched everything, giggled like school girls and had a great day. Ava had so much fun her feet hardly ever touched the ground!

What Is She Doing In There?

Ava...

I hesitate to go any farther with that statement. I can only wonder what she is up to in her room. A few moments ago I heard her voice inside her room and I figured that again she was playing in the window and horsing around before her nap. Oh she was screwing around in there... just not in the way that I imagined. She was having a light show with this fairy color-changing light display she was holding underneath the covers in her bed. Fantastic. Don't take a nap on Thursday, the last of the longest days that I am home with both of them alone. Stay awake. Make sure I can't get anything done thank you very much. Ugg.

The stay at home parenting thing sure can get old quick. It can get so frustrating just repeating myself for the millionth time, "we walk in house girls...no running" or "keep your hands off the dog's collar, that hurts her neck. We have to pet her nicely." I swear these kids were born with ears attached to their heads. Somewhere between the ever growing enormous lego collection and our half clothed doll collection our children have misplaced their ears. Here's Olivia's solution to anything lost: "Maybe we can pick up a new one at the store mommy." Yeah maybe. Maybe if we were rich. Or maybe, just maybe if we just looked around a little bit we could find our original pair.... oh there they are in fact. Right where you left them. On your head. Now use them to hear my voice and follow directions. Is it really that difficult? Apparently if you are ages two and three it is.

I checked on Miss Olivia. She's sleeping like a princess all bundled up in her blankets. This is only because Ava is still awake. See they tag team me and decide before nap who's going to stay awake so that one of them can keep me occupied and quite frankly it's exhausting. Typically when Olivia stays up during nap time she plays quietly in her room so I don't mind. We get a little break from each other and come back feeling refreshed. But when it's Ava turn to drive me nuts stay awake. . . Well let's just say she takes the cake. She pulls out all the stops and makes sure the focus remains on her. Today I had to get tough though. I told her if she didn't stop and lay down that I was taking the lovey away... her prize possession. She again tempted fate and was handed a big heaping of, "I'll take that now" and was left loveyless. Sad- so sad. Not for me though. I have a new broken in lovey to snuggle. Ahhhh. It feels so nice.

Ava screaming, "LOVEY, MY LOVEY" from inside her room.

I went back in there after a few minutes, handed Ava the lovey and reminded her that next time the lovey will be taken for a lot longer.

My house is silent now. Ava is sleeping now. Of course it's 3PM so Olivia should be waking up any minute. Happy Mother's Day right? Let's just say- "Mother's day, I hope it's not too chaotic..." and leave the happy right out of it.

The Visit

We had a visit from my BFF with her 1 year old Baby "A" yesterday. Boy is she cute. The girls both just loved her and couldn't keep their hands off of her. Olivia ran right over to her and squeezed her and held her hand to guide her into the play room. She also helped hold her bottle when it was time for Baby A to eat. This is very important to Olivia. She loves loves loves to feed the babies.

So while the girls interacted I took a bunch of snapshots of all the girls playing puzzles and some of Olivia helping feed A and printed them out for the girls' doors as well as extra copies so they could carry the pictures around downstairs. They were so happy when they woke up from their naps and saw their new photos. Making them so happy made me feel like a good mom.

Cuties on the Loose

Over the weekend we had a skate-o-rama in the living room. The girls dressed up in their fancy princess dresses and were ready to roll. With the help of their father they were moving in no time. Ava skated furiously across the carpet.

Olivia skated well on her own on the hard wood floor. Look out roller rink we're coming!

These two nuts are endless in their abilities to conquer the unknown. They jump right in and laugh ridiculously when they fall. It's amazing because if it were me I'd cry. Kids. So silly.

Baby Makin'

Today Olivia had an interesting question for me. "Mommy, how did you and daddy make me in your belly?"

Me wishing this could have happened tomorrow when her father would be home and asking him this question smiles and says, "out of love." Then I take a deep breath wondering if that is going to satisfy her needs.

Liv mulls over my answer and sweetly says, "oh..... How did the baby get in my tummy?"

"Honey, you don't have a baby in your belly."

She pauses for a second to think things over.

"Is baby L coming to my house so I can hold her like this?"

She pulls her arms into a circle as if she's rocking an invisible baby.

"Probably not today but we can see her again soon. Would you like to help mommy cook in the kitchen today?"

Ava who is always listening shouts, "I come too! I come too."

The conversation ended there but I know these questions are going to keep coming. I thought I had a few more years until Olivia would ask the techinical questions. So far so good.

Quick Update

I forgot to mention we measured the girls the other day. I was thinking that the car seat Ava rides in requires her to be under 40 pounds and I knew that at her January checkup she was around 34 pounds and 35 inches tall so I figured it was time that she stepped on the scale. In doing so we put Olivia on the scale as well and then measured them for their mark on the wall.

So here's the stats: Olivia weighs approximately 35 pounds and is 40 1/2 inches tall. Ava weighs 35 pounds and is 37 inches tall... She grew 2 inches in 3 months. This was definitely good news that one, we don't need to buy another expensive car seat anytime soon, and two Ava is growing up and not out. I was worried that she had put on a few more pounds since it's been 3 months. Whew. It appears too that the 6 inch gap in height that used to separate the girls height is coming to a close. Olivia's growth is slowing down a bit and Ava is growing like a weed. Oddly Olivia has begun to eat more lately and ask for snacks throughout the day and Ava has actually begun handing the plate back to me and saying she's done eating with food still on her plate.

Kids... just when you get a handle on what they are all about- they go and change everything. Life's never dull that's for sure:)