Let It Go

We ran to the mall today to run a quick errand.  When Kate saw this staircase, she insisted on standing on it and singing "Let It Go" from Frozen, so, naturally, I let her.

Let it gooo!

Let IT goooo!  Turn away...

...and slam the door!

The cuteness.

Walking up the stairs like Elsa.

But Mommy insisted that she stop there.
#partypooper

These are the days, folks.  This is totally what having kids is all about!

Crafty Pumpkin & MAYA ROLLS OVER!

About a week ago, we started working on a little pumpkin craft.  Kate and I glued several popsicle sticks together and Kate painted them orange.

Step 1: Glue popsicle sticks together.

Step 2: Set up children for painting.

Step 3: Paint pumpkins orange and glue a green pipe cleaner stem on.
FYI, I just accordion folded the pipe cleaner and hot glued it to the back.

While our pumpkins were drying, Maya decided that she was ready to roll and rolled from her tummy to her back several times!  So we put our pumpkins aside and applauded our littlest lady on her BIG accomplishment!

Just a few little people to inspire her rolling.

Getting her lean on!

And BOOM!  Just like that, completely rolled over!

So proud of her accomplishment!

Then, our pumpkin craft sat to the side for several days.  Each time I asked Kate if she wanted to finish it she was not interested.  At least, until today!  I hand drew a pumpkin face on each pumpkin and gave Kate some black paint to paint the face in.

Step 4: Draw pumpkin faces in.

Step 5: Set up child for paint again.

Step 6: Paint pumpkin faces black.

Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the finished product.  I could've sworn I did, but I don't, so you'll have to trust me when I say these turned out to be really cute little pumpkins.  We ended up giving one of ours to Kate's Mimi and Papaw, but you could totally add a magnet backing and plop it on a fridge or other magnetic surface.  For our purpose, we left them as we made them and just set them up against a backing.

The Zoo: Like We Own It Edition

When my Mom and Grandma came to visit us, we bit the bullet and bought a zoo membership.  We had a membership a couple of years ago, but with both of us working, we didn't go as often as we would have liked, so we opted not to renew last year.  Since I'm home with the girls now, it made a lot more sense financially to pay for a membership and Brian and I know we will get our use with it.  We calculated 2.5 visits and the membership has paid for itself.

This is visit #2 for us, so next time we visit we are already ahead!

We took a different route at the zoo today.  We normally head up to North America and Africa - those are Brian's favorites, but since he was not with us, we decided to call the shots and head to the Congo and Australia & The Islands.  We found a carousel and the coolest play area ever, so while North America and Africa have their draws - polar bears, train rides, petting zoo, feeding the giraffes, the cheetah run, camel rides, etc. - the Congo and Australia area are just as cool!

We rode the carousel, had lunch outside, played on the enormous play gym, saw some cool monkeys, got WAY lost in the Congo as we were trying to leave (I realized I was the furthest away from the exit as I could possibly be at one point), and sat on a bronze kimono dragon, and we had a blast!  Once again, the weather was just phenomenal!

We were so happy to be able to spend the day outdoors!

Penguins!

All three girls on the carousel!

Note the photo below.  This is by far the largest outdoor play gym Kate has ever tackled.  It was massive, people, and I fully anticipated having to go in their myself, with Maya bundled against me, to save my first born.  But I was completely wrong.  Kate conquered this massive play area in no time and even asked me how to get to the "green" slide.  At first, I was really confused because I didn't see a green slide and she hadn't even gone down the red slide or the caterpillar slide.  Then I noticed, way in the back, the tallest, twistiest slide there was, and it was forest green.  So, while Kate got a-climbing, I walked her through where to head next to get to the tallest slide there.  (I felt like I was in a challenge on Survivor.)

I am constantly impressed with her no fear attitude and incredible physical abilities, but she is surely keeping her Mama on her toes!  That was a TALL slide...

1/3 of the outdoor play area!  And you can semi-see the green slide
in the back to the right of the caterpillar slide...

I thought this red one was tall and huge...Green had it beat!

Checking out the HUGE tortoise!

Kate was enthralled with this bronze kimono statue.

She used it as her mode of transportation and
decided to take it for a ride...

...she tried to lift its tail...

...she patted its head...

...and even decided that sitting on its head was a must!

We are so looking forward to these lazy zoo days!  A packed lunch, a ton of cool animals, and a humongous play area is right up our alley!  Now that we've got a good feel for the layout of the entire park, it kind of feels like "our" zoo.  In a just a few more visits we'll be walking around the place like we own it.  #cuzwedo

Orchard & Co.

We tackled another fall festival this weekend at a company called Orchard & Company.  The main draw to this location as opposed to our top fall festival spot: ECO Center, was the bounce pillow.

I'll admit, I think I wanted to go to jump on that thing more than anyone!  And while Kate and I did get our fair share of jumping in, we were really disappointed with the festival itself.  First of all, it was really pricey to get in and there are NO COUPONS.  Second, the layout was just so, so.  I mean, I guess there was flow but it was evident that people didn't care what it looked like, they just wanted to make money.  There was an orchard that you could pick apples in...for another fee, I believe, but since we had already done that we didn't pick apples.  There was a barrel train that Kate and I rode, a bounce pillow, a pumpkin patch, a couple of tube slides and a large covered pavilion with overpriced food items, like, hot dogs and chips.

We never found the petting zoo area and we never found the corn bin, contrary to both of those being posted on the website, and when we asked a worker about either of them, he said he didn't know what we were talking about.

Sooo, that's false advertising.

In addition, it was "twin" day, or something along those lines, so a ton of families with twins were there and it was semi-weird to be running into two clones of every child wherever you turned.

I don't mean to be negative about this place.  We had fun and we picked yet another perfect fall day to attend and enjoy our time outside, but I don't think we'll be headed back here next fall.  I think we'll stick with our tried and true ECO Center.

Pictures were really challenging today because
the sun was too bright.  So this is the best we got
of our two little pumpkins.

Our littlest pumpkin in the pumpkin patch.

Barrel train babes!

Ready to rock!

We're in the third car from the front and it was bumpy as all get out.

Tube sliding!

Kate and I played a chase game where we each went
down separately and then ran up the hill.  I lost count of
how many times we did this.

Pillow jumping!

Well, pillow jumping and zombie walking...

Firefly Play Cafe

Kate, Maya and I met up with Kate's best friend, Libby, and her wonderful Mommy, Jenni, at a play cafe today called Firefly Play Cafe in Worthington.  (The pictures on the website just do not do this place justice.)  It was the first time we had ever been to such a place, but it was really a ton of fun!  There was a bounce house, a bunch of cubes to climb on, a wooden climbing set complete with a really fast slide, a wooden train set, some indoor bikes, lots of toys and imaginative play options, and even an infant area.  I imagine we will be going back to this place more in the future!

As usual, Kate and Libby picked up exactly where they left off.  They were leaping and bounding and laughing all over the place.  Jenni and I enjoyed our conversation while keeping an I on our girls, and Maya was just an angel, as usual, and enjoyed watching the whole thing, having a little snack, and taking a little snooze.

On the wooden seesaw...

With her bestie!

And having a blast, obvi!

Looking for "Libs".

When we got home, I took some adorable photos of my littlest love sitting on the couch.

My sweetest Maya!

And I was quickly taken back to when Kate was 2.5 months old, sitting in this same outfit, on this same couch, in this same spot:

Kate - Just a couple of weeks older than Maya is
in the photo above.

Here's the thing: when you have two babies and they are the same sex, you most likely have quite a few clothes that they each can wear.  Since Maya was born, I thought she and Kate resembled each other so much.  When I see Maya in clothes that Kate wore, I almost can't tell the difference between these two...almost!

When you put them side by side, the similarities are uncanny:

Ca-razy, right?!

This has happened to me several times already and I imagine it will continue to happen the more we re-use Kate's stock pile of clothing.  Looks like we've got another beauty on our hands!  Not that we ever doubted that, of course!

Last Day of School

While the majority of people are celebrating "first days" of school this time of year, we are celebrating our "last day" of school.

Yes, you read that right.

After much thought and deliberation, several lists of pros and cons, reviewing our budget and reviewing it again, Brian and I have decided that I will become a stay at home mom to raise our two girlies.  I am SUPER excited about this.  After all, I had wanted to stay home with Kate when she was born, but it just didn't make sense for us financially to do that.  Now that we've got the cost of TWO girls in a daycare setting, we figured out that we more or less would be paying someone else to raise our children.  Top that with the fact that I am not working my "dream job" per se, whatever that may be, and add in the fact that I actually WOULD like to raise my girls myself, and it made sense for me to stay home

This has been an incredibly difficult decision.  On the one hand, I am excited and optimistic about the things that Kate and Maya will learn and experience with me teaching them.  On the other hand, I wonder if this is the right decision.  After all, Kate has been in the daycare/school setting since she was 12 weeks old.  She's been around kids her age for all time, at least in her memory.  And it pains me to think that she will just have piddly ol' me to play with now instead of peers her own age.  But it doesn't pain me enough to not make this decision.

Telling Kate's school that we would be removing Kate from enrollment was extremely difficult.  It was a very emotional day for me.  (Hard Decision + Postpartum Hormones = Emotional Wreck).  I cried that morning, I cried having to tell the Director, I cried on the way home.  We let her school know a little over a month in advance and told them that Kate would be enrolled through the end of September.

And here we are.  Our last day of school.

The thing about this school is we really loved the opportunity we had to send Kate there.  If she couldn't be with me at home, this school was the next best thing.  We were extremely happy with the majority of the teachers in each classroom we entered and we really enjoyed seeing and learning about how much fun Kate was having via art projects, notes home, and when she got older - from her actually telling us.  Now, don't get me wrong.  We had our days when nobody wanted to go to school, but they were pretty far and few in between.  We were comfortable with this school, and I learned that if you can't be with your own child, you have to be 150% comfortable with the person/people/institution/etc. that are with your child, otherwise you will drive yourself crazy having to leave her.

It is here, at this very school, that Kate met her best friend, Libby.  It is here that she learned about sharing and caring and being kind to her mates.  At home, of course we enforce and reinforce all of these, but there's no one else to share or care or be kind to that is Kate's age, so it's different.

And since we've made the decision for me to stay home, that is something we will all have to adjust to.  It will just be yet another transition.

Like I said, I am extremely excited about this new opportunity to stay home and raise these beautiful babies of mine.  I am extremely thankful to Brian for being able to support us financially and for being open to this idea.  I am so looking forward to seeing all of Maya's firsts "first", for real, and seeing how quickly Kate picks up the things that we'll be learning.  I know she's incredibly smart, so I plan to exercise her smarts daily to keep her little mind growing.

But there's a bigger emotion that has clouded my optimism.  I am scared out of my mind with this transition.  Like, lie awake at night and think about this scared.  Like, someone please hold me scared.  Like, sh*t my pants scared.

What if we are making the wrong decision?  What if our happy go-lucky little girl becomes sullen and withdrawn?  My heart would break a million times over if I knew I was the cause of something so sad.  What if [you fill in the blank]?

At the end of the day, I keep telling myself that we have three more years before she is in Kindergarten (unless we test her in which is not totally of the docket) since Kate's birthday is at the end of October.  That means, at the minimum, if she was home with Maya and me for one year, that still leaves at least a year, probably two, that she can be enrolled in a pre-school type setting should we think being around peers her age would be beneficial.  But, within that year, if all goes well at home, perhaps she'll stay until Kinder and then Maya and I will walk her to school on her very first day.  (I'm just going to let you know in advance that I'll be crying then too.)

I don't know if we've made the right decision nor do I think it's possible to know at this point.  We just have to make our best decision with the cards we have in hand.  And, right now, that means me being home with my two little loves.

After I dropped Kate off at school today I let her old teachers know that today was her last day, just in case they wanted to say goodbye.  I had nothing but positive thoughts and reassurance that I was making the right decision from them, which was definitely hopeful.

When I picked Kate up, it was like every other normal pick-up day.  I went in, spoke to her teachers about the day, and we said goodbye.

Just like that.

We walked out with everything that we had - extra clothes, art projects that were still hanging, blankets, and a little poster from her teachers.

And tomorrow begins our new chapter at home together.  I keep reminding myself that I can do this and the feelings that I'm feeling are what being a Mom is all about.  I will never stop worrying and I will never stop wanting the best for my children.  It's just ingrained in me.  I have never felt so lucky or blessed to be who I am, be the Mom that I am, and have the two girls that I do than I do right now.  Becoming a Mom has changed me, but is has, without a doubt, been the best change of my life.

I may not know if this is the right decision, but I do know that I won't ever get this time with my girls again.  So I'm going to do my best to embrace it, to enjoy it, and to take one step (or day) at a time.

The Many Faces of Kate

Girlfriend is nothing if not animated from the time she gets up to the time she sleeps.  We've got a serious jokester on our hands...

...and we couldn't be more proud!

Here is a series of facial expressions I received over the course of a minute:

The "shusher" face.

The "trying to be mad but realizing I'm not and laughing" face.

The "lips are sealed" face.

Ok, Brian makes this expression in nearly EVERY selfie of himself...
...I can only imagine where she learned it.
Therefore, this is the "Daddy" face.

Case in point.  Also, this is Kate's "wtf" face.

The "silent scream" face.

The "you crack me up" face.

The "ahhhalalalala" face.

The "I'm not sure about that face above" face.

Second attempt of the "dadddy" face.

My attempts at a "normal smile" face are futile with our nearly three year old, so I've let go of the control and embraced the crazy.

Welcome to my world.