So excited to share!

Hayden, Olivia & Logan could not be more excited to share that their cousin Adelyn is a big sister!  Tisha & Aaron are overjoyed to welcome another daughter into their hearts & home.  We are so very blessed to have another niece!

Ava Shayne was born September 22, 2011 weighing 7lbs 2oz & was 19.5 inches long.  And today, September 29, 2011 she became a part of their family forever.  She is simply beautiful.  We absolutely can not wait to meet her!

Tisha & Aaron ask that you please keep the girls' birth parents in your prayers.  As Tisha says, "They have given us two of the most wonderful gifts on Earth."

Congratulations Tisha, Aaron & Addie.  You all continue to amaze us.  We love you with all our hearts!

Just a few random blurbs on my mind..

*I am SOOO glad that I got rid of Liv's pacifier when I did.  I can't imagine her having it now.  Nor can I imagine with how attached she has become to her "wuvie" that taking it away now would be anything less than a disaster!  I'm sure she would beg for it, followed by "peas."  Ugh.  So glad its long gone!

*I am addicted to Halloween candy.  Fun size MilkyWay that is!  And my kids have suddenly learned to like chocolate.  And know exactly where my Milky Way stash is!  And ask for that or fruit snacks by standing in front of specific cabinets begging "nack."  "peas!"

*We are in a eat almost nothing phase at our house.  (Besides said treats above)  Disgusts me how much food goes to waste.  Somedays I think about not even offering them food, because I know they aren't going to eat it anyways.  Besides breakfast that is.  Is that appropriate?  Just don't feed them?  Livi just prefers to tear it all up into 1000 ity bity pieces that are impossible to clean up.  Not even our old faithfuls, Mac Mac, chicken nuggets & pizza even make the cut lots of days.  Oh the ups & downs toddlerhood...

* I need a day out to get my hair done & lunch with some girl friends more than words can express.  I'm not exaggerating when I say I haven't had my hair done since January & I haven't had a friend-date (that didn't revolve around our kids) since March/April.  But in my head I just can't justify spending $$ on daycare & taking an afternoon off from the kids, so that I can look & feel good.  Mama guilt sucks!!

*Fall has invaded our household.  Meaning the snot & crap is here (allergies vs colds vs both, it is still up for debat).  We are a house full of snot, coughs, wheezing, Tylenol, Zyrtec, Albuterol & misery.  Be jealous!

*While my toddler tornadoes are cranky & full of fights & tantrums.  At least thus far I'm not having to deal with THIS! 

*With all the nose wiping, Hayden has learned to say his 2nd body part.  Nose.  Actually maybe it's his 3rd, I think he says teeth too?!  I remember a few months ago when my triplet mama friend Emily said her pediatrician said her kiddos should be doing this soon, I thought no way my kids are ready for that.  Low & behold....

*Despite my stuffy nose & minimal ability to smell.  I have fallen in love with Downy Unstoppables!  I kept walking into a post partum patient's room while working one day thinking- It smells SO good in here.  So finally I asked them what smelled so good?  Turns out it was their laundry!  The PJs the kids are in tonight I washed last week... smell like they just came out of a bath in Dreft!  I have the purple kind & I'm in LOVE!

*I have been talking about colors to the kiddos in the bath tub, while we color with tub crayons.  Hayden thinks everything is RED.  Olivia says PURPLE.  Logan could care less, he'd rather use them to try to get those darn eye teeth through!  P.S. His other bottom eye tooth is in, the left one, FINALLY!  So just 2 left to go!

*Before tonights bath, Livi peed in the potty again.  Honestly, if I just had her, I think she'd be potty trained by 2!

*And after their bath, I could have peed my pants laughing at Hayden.  His fingers were all pruney from a long soak in the tub.  And he was horrified.  He kept pointing at them saying "owie" making me kiss each one over & over & over.  He's such a tenderheart!

*Back to Livi, driving in the car with her is either funny or annoying.  She can be SUCH a horrible whiner.  Its awful annoying!  Even GG agrees her whining is bad.  Its either that or she talks constantly.  "Bus.  More bus.  Bye-bye bus.  Truck.  Bye-bye truck.  More vroom.  Bye-bye vroom.  Bus.  Two Bus.  Bye-bye Bus.  More truck.  Bye-bye truck."  And on & on & on!!

*Surprisingly, despite above said snot induced misery, Daycare School for the kids Wednesday was amazing!  A few tears from Sir Hayden mama's boy when we walked in the door.  But that was all.  I carried him into the toddler room.  Livi trotted along a little suspicously behind me & Logan, almost seemed excited to go in!  Once inside said toddler room, Logan was ready to play, Hayden & Liv still a little unsure.  Hayden decided he wanted more "mok" (milk) and asked for some.  Miss Janette said "say more milk please."  (Which made me happy to hear that they are teaching them good things)  And Hayden replied "peas"... and trotted off to the fridge.  Logan & Livi ran behind him.  Miss Janette following.  And off mama snuck.  It was GREAT to walk out the gate while not one single tear was being shed! 

On pick-up the report was good.  The kids were having snack when Jeff got there.  Hayden was excited to see dad.  And when Jeff told him, "its ok, you can finish your snack before we go".... he proceeded to shovel fists-full in his mouth before jumping up out of his chair!!!  Meanwhile Olivia sat & pulled all her crackers apart {see above about Livi's food shreading issues}  The teachers then showed Jeff that Livi knows who ALL of her friends are!  They listed off name after name after name & Livi pointed them ALL out.  She is so smart I tell you!  She still talks about Jack quite a bit at home too!  (His mama is actually the daycare director!  Thats my little brown-noser!)

*I think thats all on the random notes by Katie for now ;)  I know, you all enjoy pictures more than words... but all our snot just isn't that cute right now!

Surgery follow-up

Its been almost 6 weeks since Liv's eye surgery & we had our follow-up with Dr. Troia today.  (Thanks to Auntie Molly for watching the boys!)

How did it go?  Well his comments were something along these lines: "She's got enough attitude to go around."  & "She is definately a fiesty one."  Took us both to hold her down for him to get a good look at her retinas! 

Her eyes do still on occasion turn in.  But its infrequent.  Not constantly like before.  He didn't say much about it.  Just that he did get them to turn too.  And that they bounced right back.  I think with strabismus, there is never a 100% fix.  I know adults who had surgery or treatments as a kid say theirs still turn when they are tired, etc.  I'm just happy that she looks nice in her pictures (sorry that sounds vain) & glad that its supposed to be the best thing for preserving her depth perception down the road.  I'll take, what seems to me to be 95%.  I never expected 100%. 

She has been looking over her glasses a lot since surgery & I was curious what he'd say about that.  I didn't think they were working for her.  And we are infact changing her prescription.  So we'll see what that does for her.  Her astigmatism from before is completly gone!  Apparently the eye surgery itself & moving the muscles can change the shape of your eye.  Hence the reason her astigmatism is gone.  So thats good news.  AND we are going DOWN on her glasses prescription, just a little.  But down.  Yay!

And just because.... I ordered her a new pair of glasses.  Some color this time :)  I'll go get new lenses in her current frames too, so for once we'll have a back up pair.  (And she can be a diva with 2 different frames!)  She had fun trying on new frames.  Prancing around in them.  The gals at the glasses store got quite a little show :)  And we had to bribe her to get the pair off that we decided to go with, so that we could place the order.  Hopefully she likes them that well when they come in (in 1-2 weeks).

And we'll just go back & follow-up in 6 months!

Baby Shower

This weekend Livi & I went to my sister's baby shower.  Baby Analeigh (or Baby Lele as I try to get the kids to say) will be joining our family around October 28.

 Opening presents

 We ended up being there pretty late.  Poor Liv was tired. 

All things GO

We love things that GO in this house.  The boys, as you know, are especially obsessed.  And as of late we are awesome at differentiating & naming different "modes of transportation."  We know a truck, a bus, a choo choo (obviously), tractor, a car is a good ole "vroom" or "bum" depending on who you ask, and a "ride" is a wagon or stroller.  Not all of the words are completely easy to differentiate from other words in their vocab, but if you spent enough time with them, you'd figure it out fast.  And our newest one sounds something like "bye- pain."  Any guesses on what a "bye-pain" is??  Clue:  If you watched where the little fingers point while exclaiming "bye-pain" it wouldn't be hard to put it together. 

Here are the boys sporting some 'vroom' shirts haning at home with dad while the girls were out at a baby shower.

Our Extra Ordinary Day!

Thursday's Jeff has night class.  So he is gone ALL day.  Like 15 hours all day.  So I try to never work Thursdays & make those my... do nothing around the house just have a mommy & kids fun day, days.  Today was one of those Thursdays!  After our fun day, this evening as the kids ate supper, I texted GG to say what a big day we had because Livi learned 4 new words & the boys each 1 or 2.  Yay! 

Well, I need to message her again & retract my statement.  We had one hell of an evening & more words just kept flying out of their mouths.  I'd say they all average about a new word a day, give or take.  Livi a little more, boys a little less.  But I have to brag on today because it was simply extra ordinary.  By my count, Hayden spouted out 3 new words today.  Logan two.  And Miss Livi rattled off not 4, not 5, but 9 new words today!!  Meaning she rattled off 5 new words tonight between 6-8:30!! 

Hayden's list:  Wee (slide), ride & teeth (while pointing to my teeth)
Logan's list:  Wee (slide) & spoon
Olivia's list:  run, book, seat ("heat" when putting a baby in the stroller seat), wash (in the tub & also about the laundry when I threw her lovie in there after she dunked it in the dog's water bowl), chin (while pointing to her chin), pee & potty (though it sounded more like puppy it occured while peeing in the potty!!!), on (as in "Melmo on" when the DVD was playing), and Ryan (said ry-ryn during our playdate with our friends Nicole & Ryan this afternoon).

When they were taking their bath tonight we were talking about daddy being at school.  So I asked them if they liked their school (I'm trying to call daycare school.  Like, "Daddy went to his school.  Hayden, Livi & Logan are going to their school & daddy will pick you up later when he is all done with his school."  Which it really kinda is as they are learning good things there... like how to clean up!)  Livi's response to if she likes her school.... "Jack?!"  Yep, Jack.  How does she put that all together in that little brain of hers!!  They are learning so much they just have to be exhausted!

I am having SO much fun with this talking phase!  I love that they blow my mind with things they learn & the rate at which they can pick it up.  It just makes me so proud!  However, sometimes at the end of the day I feel a little insane.  Because I felt like I played a game of repeat or translator all day long.  They want you to repeat back to them what they said so they know that you understood.  Sometimes they get upset if you don't understand.  Would you get what was meant if you heard Livi say "Ya-ya moe wee!" ??  Plus I like to repeat things back saying them correctly. 

They are also all about singing songs & dancing.  Ok, Hayden & Livi are about the singing.  Logan is about the dancing!!  He sometimes dances til he drops a sweaty mess!  They start a song & want me to finish.  Today we sang "appy" (If you're happy & you know it), "ba ba ba ba" (Ba Ba black sheep), "row, row, row" (Row, Row, Row your boat).  Livi sometimes sings the "tra-la-la-la..." part of John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, and tonight she was singing "itsy bl sp di lo do di te ma eao sout" along with doing the Itsy Bitsy Spider fingers!!  We also like to rock out to Jock Jams!  Logan's quick feet while dancing (think football training camp) is hillarious!

But the toddler trio is not all roses & rainbows.  Tantrums, fighting & "NO!" are at an all time high.  I swear there are more tears shed on the average day than there were with 3 newborns.  Time outs are loosing their effectiveness as they just say "NO!" and refuse to sit.  So when we aren't gleaming with pride of their intelligence, we are at our wits end & pulling out our hair!  God was pretty smart when he made kids so stinkin' cute... because sometimes their attitudes can be down right ugly. 

What else did we do on our Extra Ordinary Day?  Gave Livi her first bang trim.  On days that I don't "do" her hair those bangs of hers look so long & scraggly.  Even though between her mullet, curls & cowlick, she doesn't usually have bangs per-say, we needed to do something.  So today during lunch, on a whim, I grabbed the scissors & gave them a few snips.

Before

 Check these eyes out!  Every now & again one eye turns, usually the left.  But very infrequently & it doesn't turn as far as in the past.

 After!  "Cheese!"  I wish they would stay laying down nice like this!

Today we enjoyed giving things rides & going for walks with anything in our strollers/carts.

I have no idea where she got this idea, but she wanted it on!

 The only problem... we fight over certain strollers/carts.  Everyone wants this little one for some reason!  The shopping cart is 2nd fiddle.  And the one Livi has above always is the looser, though I think its pretty cool!

On a more cheerful note:  Playing & snacking outside.

 See Liv's cowlick'd bangs now!  That right side will never stay down her whole life.  Poor girl!

The school behind our house is building an addition.  So there are always tractors outside.  They love to watch them from inside.  They think "papa" is driving every tractor or truck.  And this week the boys learned to say Grandma "mama" so apparently sometimes she is riding along with "papa" in those "tatoe"s (as Livi would say)  However, sometimes they get a little scared of their loud noises when we play outside. 

We sure had a fun little Thursday (& I even managed to do the dishes & a load of laundry!)

Boyfriend?!?!

I think (knock on wood) we are crossing the daycare trauma hump?  I think maybe we are approaching the days of tear-less-ness?  Or getting closer at least.

This morning at drop off... still tears upon getting 10 feet near the daycare front door.  BUT... there was some improvement.  There is a computer to sign the kids in & then fill out a paper about how their morning was, if they had breakfast or not, & other misc. info.  This then becomes their "report card" for the day.  I always get the kids into the actual toddler room, then go back & fill it all out because its just too much to do that with 3 toddlers clinging & yelling "bye-bye."  Usually the screaming/crying is still going on when I'm done checking in & head out the door to work (they can not see me from their room doing this, its not that mean).  But today..... the tears had ceased before I was done writing down the time daddy was planning to pick them up!  I actually walked out of that daycare door without my tail between my legs for the first time thus far! 

On pick up... some clinging & worry about being put down.  But NO tears!  Not one!  Amazed! 

And the director made a point to tell us how well today went.  Besides the few tears at drop off, Hayden shed a few one time.  Otherwise NONE!  A few times he stood by the front gate & said "daddy?" hoping he would be coming 'round the corner.  But sounds like it was a very good day.  Probably helped that they played outside with bubbles today...they LOVE bubbles.  But please, oh please let this be the start of the upward trend.  Not that its been that bad, it hasn't, but I'm excited for them to maybe, hopefully actually enjoy & be excited about their days there.  I know they do fun things.  Today they played with some cool sensory bottles with colored water, glitter, beads, star shapes & such inside of them. 

They ate well there again today.  Tomato soup & grilled cheese.  {But do you think they'll eat grilled cheese at home?  What is not to love about grilled cheese?}  They are getting so comfortable there we even had our first poop at daycare.  Sounds stupid, but I feel like my kids very rarely poop out & about.  Its like they are uncomfortable pooping anywhere but home.  Then we can spend a day at home & I can change what seems like 18 dirty diapers!  But today Hayden pooped at daycare.  Not sure why that seems like a big deal to me, but for some reason it does.  Ha.

Their "report card" says today they were friendly, happy, silly & chatty. CHATTY... I love that one!!  They even hand wrote in that they were full of smiles today :) 

The end of daycare days, (or even GG daycare at her house days when the kids have to get up at the butt crack of dawn) always is a rougher evening.  More fighting.  More crabbing.  And earlier to bed.  Makes me think of the stress on a kiddo jumping into full day Kindergarten or something.  But such is life...

So why is this post titled boyfriend??  Well Livi has her first "boyfriend" at daycare.  Boyfriend, meaning he is a boy, whose name she knows.  That counts as a boyfriend at 22 months, right? 

Her friend's name is Jack.  When they were headed out to play today she pointed to him & said "Jack."  She even showed us who Jack was when her teacher Miss Amanda asked her when we picked them up.  (P.S.  I love when I have time to go help Jeff pick them up in the afternoons!)  And she said "bye Jack" when we left.

I am very glad that she is making friends... but it just a little bit makes me laugh, because as her mama, I see it just a little bit differently.  See the weather here has been cool.  We have been putting on our jackets... or "jack" as Livi calls them, when we go outside.  She knows what a "jack" is & says it often.  Even though it was warm out one afternoon, she insisted she had to wear "Ya-ya jack" to Walmart.  {"Ya-ya" is Olivia's way of saying her own name.  The past few days she points to herself & says "Ya-ya" constantly!!!}  So... I'm guessing that Jack was wearing a "jack" or that when the teachers told them they were going outside, she was making sure everyone had their "jack" on.  {She can be a little motherly like that.}  However, whether or not that is now it started, she obviously put it together in the end that that boy was Jack... because she could show us.  So while I'm not running out to plan "ya-ya" & Jack's wedding, I'm glad to see they are interacting with other kids while we are away!

PS.. how is September 2/3 over??  Time is FLYING by lately.  Absoutely flying!  I still feel like it should be July!  And this time of year goes SOO fast because its so busy.  My birthday, Halloween, the kids' 2nd Birthday, Jeff's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years... and then 2012 is here!  Throw in there the fact that my sister is going to be 35 weeks pregnant on Friday & all the excitement that a new niece brings to life.  And I think the next 3 months are going to go by in a blink & it makes me sad!

Sheets.

Since last week I swore we'd be ankles deep in toddler beds by now, I had gotten some stuff for the transition.  However since the kiddos have remained with both feet in for over a week now, I'm back on the hold off as long as possible bandwagon.  I cherish my sleeper-inners!

One of the things I needed for toddler beds was some top sheets.  Thus far the kiddos haven't really slept with top blankets per-say.  They always have a blankie or lovie or what have you.  (Along with a whole host of other things they insist on dragging into bed on various nights)  We just have always run a space heater in their room & kept it plenty warm so they wouldn't need them.  Its never been an issue.   But if they are going to be free in their room... that just will not do.  3 toddlers playing with a space heater = no bueno!  So I decided we'd just start working on sleeping with top sheets & blankets & pillows.  So when the time does come (in the hopefully distant future) we'll be a little more prepared.  Maybe this will help them not toss & turn & sleep every which way in bed?  Right now they would so fall out of a toddler bed 1000 times a night.  I've tried pillows with them before, pillow pets I guess, and although they like them to be in their beds, they usually opt not to use them as pillows.  However, this time I found them the 3 flattest old pillows in our house I could find... and I think they are just the perfect fluff height for them.

That all sounds great, right?

Problem!!:  You can not buy top sheets for cribs.  This would remain a problem if we were in toddler type beds right now too.  Because our cribs covert to a daybed type toddler bed, so thats what we will be doing when the time comes.  So again no top sheets to be found on those Walmart shelves.  I refuse to go out & buy some spendy toddler bedding set.  (Those exist right?)  Because I am not re-doing their room in this house.  (Some day we'll move right?)  And our crib sheets are in just fine condition.  And someday when we do move, I intend on getting 3 twin size beds for their new rooms anyways.  And hopefully seperating them to boy & girl rooms.  Then they can pick out their bedding & all that cutsie jazz. 

So whats a mom to do?

Solution:  A twin sheets cut in half widthwise & hemmed = 2 perfect size crib/toddler bed top sheets!!  So our bottom sheets & top sheets don't match.  So every other top sheet has a wider hem down one side (that is supposed to be at the top of a normal bed).  So I used white thread when the rest of the thread in the sheet was either green or pink.  Who cares?  I have 3 toddlers, our house is organized chaos from top to bottom.  Sheets schmeets.  And while I don't claim to be a craft-tastic mom.  Or in any way shape or form talented with a sewing machine.  I'm pretty proud of my creations, simple as they are.

Had my sewing machine needle not broken mid the first sheet, sewing them would have been a complete breeze.  Yes sewing machine needle broke.  How does that even happen??  I've sewn like 5 things since I got it last Christmas.  I'm apparently a rough-sewer?  Oh well.  At least I learned how to change a sewing machine needle!!

We slipped some cases on those pillows.  Threw some quilts over the sheets for a little extra warmth, and though they are not really big enough like a comforter, they will do just fine.  And we have ourselves a some nice little toddler cribs!

Tonight when they hit the hay in their new sheet'd, quilt'd & pillow'd beds, they really hit.the.hay.  I heard not a peep & I swear they didn't move an inch.  Must feel nice being all snug-as-a-bug?!  Or maybe its the old mommy & daddy smelling pillows they adore?  Or the awesome quilts made for us from my mommy's bestie? 

Hayden (look at how much of his crib rail he chewed up!!)

 Olivia (yes she likes to sleep with her "wuvies" over her face)

 Logan (ok so he squirmed a little)

Just realized

That I forgot to put this picture on the last blog with the park pictures.  And since its like one of my favorites from that afternoon, I had to put it up.  Is it not just too cute?? 

And since I'm on again today, I just figured I'd add a few from this morning too.

Livi having a "rye" in the wash basket. 

We were cleaning out their closet.  Packing up too small & too summery things.  Trying misc. things on & Livi ended up wearing this for the day.  1980's??  But somehow I think its cute?!

They boys watching races on TV (no we are definately not a Nascar family... but to keep my boys happy on rainy days I'm glad it exists!)  They are wearing too big hand-me-down racing t-shirts even!

Hayden giving his cars a bottle.  How funny?!?!  I asked him if his cars were babies & he replied "wa wa wa."  As of today him & Logan know what a baby says "wa wa wa."  I tell you we are on vocabulary fire!

Pig tails & bangs!  Trying out some new dos.  With her curls & cow-lick the bangs last about 3 minutes.  But they are cute while they last!  I just LOVE this picture!

Whats new...

Fall is here.  And while its nice that the heat index is no loner 110, its been down right COLD!  I've done a little shopping for fall gear, but I need to spend a day hitting up the Bigwheels 2 Butterflies to stock up on some cheap goods!

One piece of good news this week:  Liv's last eye tooth is in!  I think its been in for a while, I just now noticed.  2 kids down, 1 (with 3 eye teeth left) to go!!  Oh wait, isn't there some 2 year molars we'll probably be seeing soon too?? 

Best news of the week:  since Monday, no one has crawled out of a crib!  Haven't done anything special, they just haven't.  Not asking why... just going with it.  So for now, we are still a 3 crib household.  I bought a few things in preparation for toddler bed transition, just to ward off evil spirits!  Speaking of bed...its becoming more obvious that Livi & Logan's love their lovies or "night-night" or "wuvies" as they would call them. Hayden prefers a blanket!  And for some reason this week they think they can take them everywhere?!

The kiddos keep talkin', talkin', talkin'.  Livi is combining 2-3 words almost always.  And when she's not, she is talkin' 100mph in a language we don't understand.  Jeff said tonight she sounds like Kid Rock "ba, wid the ba, da bang, da bang, digity..."  Just mumbo jumbo constantly!  And she seems to repeat a lot of what comes out of our mouths.  Hayden had his first 2 word phrase today "moe peas" (more please).  More chips that is, chips from our chips & taco dip for the Husker game.  Yum!  And anymore I really don't worry that Logan's speech is behind.  Him & Hayden are a pretty even keel with what they actually know.  Hayden is just so much louder.  Logan started saying please today.  And Hayden & Liv can now say milk "mok" as opposed to calling everything juice.  And as of today both boys say grandma "mama."  Which is almost always followed by pointing to me & saying "mom"... apparently they feel like they have to differentiate. 

And its becoming more & more obvious that their comprehension skills are improving too.  The newest thing this week that amazed the pants off of me:  If you ask Logan "where are the boys?"  He will point to himself & Hayden.  And when asked "where is the girl?" he points to Livi.  How does he know that??  We did it over & over & over, because it seemed like it was just coincidence.  But he has done it time & time again.  When I asked Hayden where the girl was, he just replied "Lil la" (Olivia).  {P.S.  I think Olivia is saying her own name sometimes too.}  They answer you "yeah" & "no" when you ask them questions.  Though they prefer to answer "no" to everything!  Although, they seem to have forgotten exactly what NO means. 

Although we can point out who is a boy & who is a girl... our house still often looks like this ;)  They boys like to wear pretties too.  Why should "the girl" get all the fun?!  Can you picture our household if it really had been 3 girls??  I can't imagine life without all the "boy-ness" in it!

 Trying to put it on himself....

They would make pretty girls though :)

We are in full swing toddlerhood.  They have a HARD time listening.  And everything has to be a battle.  Oh toddlerhood!  The little things like brushing teeth before bed just wears me out!  We are having a HARD time sharing.  Our house is loud, loud, LOUD!  Fighting or crying goes on a lot!  But thats because they are getting better about actually playing WITH toys the right way & get upset when they don't have what they want.  And they are forming favorite objects.  Hayden's newest fave thing is parking cars behind the doors on the Little People Farm.  Driving them in & out.  Opening & closing the doors.  Logan loads up as many cars as he can find, puts them in a bigger car/truck & drives them around.  Why put people in there when you have cars?!?  And he throws an absolute fit if he doesn't have at least 3 Lightning McQueen's at all times.  Livi likes giving Elmo rides on cars.  Or sit in a laundry basket & say "rye" over & over like she is riding something.  (We need some more girly stuff!!  Birthday soon!)  And they seriously never.hold.still! 

We like to suck the toothpaste off... but don't you DARE help us brush!  I think "they" recommend a dentist visit starting at age 2.... I can't imagine that will go over well. 

Seriously... they.can.be.down.right.exhausting!!!!!  {And yes, he is really asleep.}

We had day #3 of daycare.  (We have only been scheduled for 1 day a week to start)  Drop off is rough.  Tears & screaming from Hayden & Livi.  Logan does fine.  And this week I actually think Liv would have been fine at drop off had Hayden not thrown a huge fit.  And they are tearful when they leave.  All those emotions just come back when daddy shows up!  They said this week outside of drop off & pick-up, there were only tears 1 other time.  They went for a wagon ride & when they got back to the toddler room, they cried.  Otherwise doing well.  They eat most of their food there.  Food they would NOT eat at home.  Fish sticks & green beans for example.  The girls just laughed & said thats what all the parent's say.  Something about being around their "friends" they all just eat, because the other kid is.  I wish I could watch them on video during the day.  See how they interact.

A few shots from bath night.  While I'm not excited for summer to leave us, fall coming, meaning not applying sunscreen every day outside... meaning less bath nights, is kind of appealing. 

Livi, with bubbles on her face.

 Hayden

 Logan wasn't in the bath mood that night.  He was quick in & out & back to his cars!

 So Hayd & Liv had plenty of room to 'swim.'

We had another go at Play-Doh.  Went a little better.  If nothing else, mom & dad enjoyed it!

Livi actually was getting the hang of rolling her hand to make a snake.

 Logan just wanted us to make him balls so he could collect them in his cup.  He is such a hoarder!!  Bad!

 He, he!

And some pictures of us playing at the park one cool afternoon.  Yes I took them by myself.  I was pretty proud of myself.  Its a quiet place & this play equipment is VERY toddler friendly.  No places for them to fall out of from up high!  We pulled up & Livi looked out the window, saw where we were & started yelling "wee wee wee!!"  Her word for slide.  She went down 1000 times I swear & repeated "moe wee" probably that many times too.

Livi wanted to play without shoes!

The boys went down the slide too, but mostly they prefered to run.

RUN!!

And we climbed...

Hayden refused to wear a hat.  I finally bribed him to wear it when we had a snack.  Hence the grouchy face.  When his snacks were gone, he immediately took the hat off.  They are getting such little minds of their own!