Bribery for a bike

Yes, you read that correctly. I BRIBED my child into sleeping better to get this bike. Call it luck or the fact that she really wanted a big girl bike with training wheels, but either way she got it so you know what that means!

It's kind of funny though. We went and picked out her bike and helmet/gear today and came home to ride it and she is struggling with pedaling it. She can cruise around like a little speed of lighting with her tricycle, but there's something about this big girl bike that has her stumped. Her trike has no brakes and although she doesn't pedal backward often, she can. She can't seem to grasp the concept that backward on here puts her at a dead stop so she never gets far! It's a little frustrating, but I'm hoping she'll catch on quick.

In the meantime, she is loving her gear. After it started storming and she had to come inside, she chose to put back on her knee pads, elbow pads, and helmet to play dollhouse. You never can be too safe I guess!

The Laundry is overwhelming

You know, I can never keep up with laundry around here. No matter how hard I try there is always so much to be done. As I was putting Katelynn to bed tonight, I realized she was on her 4th outfit of the day- no wonder I have so much laundry!! It starts because Katelynn wakes up every morning and goes straight to her closet to get herself "dressed" before coming into our room to "wake" me up. I always know she is getting up, but I also think it's cute and am trying to promote her newfound independence, even if it is a bit more work for mommy in the end, so I just wait patiently for her to come into our room. She thinks it's so fun to say "Goood Morning, Mommy. Let's go downstairs."

Whatever she has dressed herself in for the day typically isn't what I can really let her stay in. It can be mismatched or completely off for the weather and sometimes it's a bit of a mix between PJ's and clothes. I always let her have her breakfast in it and sometimes play in that outfit before we get ready for the day. Today we went to playgroup and she got herself soaked playing at the water table so we had to get dressed for the third time. Finally, I attempted to have her take a nap today (of course unsuccessful) so while she was in her room and supposed to be napping, she was playing dress-up and picking out yet another outfit to wear today, which is what I finally took off of her to go to sleep tonight. I keep thinking I am going to get a childproof knob for her closet to keep her out of it, but then I never do. What fun it must be to be a kid!

Eggs are BREAK-ABLE

Jonathan took over dinner tonight since it was another crazy day for me with no break away from the kids to get a proper dinner going. This seems to be more of the routine lately- Jonathan cooking, which is so helpful. Tonight he thought he would be funny and make a joke about how he would just watch both kids and cook since I couldn't. Well, the joke was on him!! I sent Katelynn into the kitchen to "do her magic" since he was bragging while I cleaned the living room. (She was in helping me until he decided to make a joke about cooking so easily with both f them.) He had popped Justin in the bjorn and was trying to cook holding him and Katelynn was trying to help him. I grabbed the camera to snap some pictures of the commotion. Right before this picture, Katelynn had taken it upon herself to break an egg on the side of the stove (not on I might add) and try to pop the broken egg into the empty pan.

Well, after I snapped this picture of her, I turned to take a picture of Jonathan and Justin and we heard Katelynn say, "Hey Daddy!" We look over just in time to see her THROWING an egg at him. It was one of those moments that you should be scolding your child, but you can't help but burst out laughing. Daddy told her she couldn't crack the egg herself so she thought she would just toss it to him to crack himself. I kind of think it would have been funnier if she would have gotten him, but instead she got the floor.

And just for the record, I did not send her into "help" Daddy with any instructions of creating a disaster. She did this all on her own, but she did show him that cooking with two kids isn't very easy!

A Day in Justin's World

Model for a Day

Last month one of Katelynn's playgroup friends was going to be getting his picture done for a magazine advertisement in the local Charlotte "Little Ones" magazine. At the last minute, the little girl that was supposed to be in the shoot with him canceled so they called and asked us if we would let Katelynn fill in. Of course we would let her be a local superstar! :) I was told I could dress her in anything summer-ish and as it turned out, the kids had the same colors on, which I think made the pictures turn out even better. We just picked up the magazine today! Here's the full page ad and then a closer-up of Katelynn's debut in it.

One Tired Little Girl

It has seemed like one of those weeks when no matter how much sleep Katelynn gets, it's not enough because she tears up for the littlest of things.... or maybe it's just her age, but in any case this picture made me laugh. I was out there playing with the camera snapping pictures of her playing, and it started thundering. I told Katelynn we had to go inside since it was going to storm and she burst into tears, looking up at the sky all upset that a storm was coming.

All Smiles

As much as I am very guilty of repeatedly saying how much I don't want my babies to grow up, I will admit that every bit they grow brings on a fun and new excitement in my life. I loved Justin as a newborn where he would just snuggle up against my chest and lay there and cuddle with me. How sad it is that he already isn't much into that. He would much prefer have his head high and see the world around him. The past few days he has just really become a fun little guy. All I have to do is say any little thing to him and he lights up. I have to admit that's pretty rewarding when I can see those sparkling blue eyes light up with a great big smile. He and I have been having quite the conversations lately. They can last ten minutes sometimes with Justin just continuously telling me all about his little life... and of course we sneak in a few smiles and giggles. Sooo much fun!