The Windows Are Open

Well, they were open, for about 3 hours today!  It's February 3rd...in central Ohio!  It was AMAZING!  The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, the temperature was around 60 degrees F and I opened all of the windows in the house.  Seriously.  All of them.  The fresh air was amazing and it smelled so good!  The thermostat didn't go below 65, and even though it was a tad brisk, the fresh air smell made it all worth it.

We took this wonderful weather opportunity and enjoyed some time outside snapping some photos, running around, and picking up dog poo from the yard.  Such a glamorous life, right?!  When Kate awoke from her nap, and was playing with her dolls on the couch she said, "Mommy, I'm so chilly in this house.".  In my defense, girlfriend only had a dress on, no leggings, and I even asked if she thought I should close the windows to which she replied, "No.".  Yes!  I get to keep them open just a little bit longer!

This weather isn't going to stick around.  It's going to get a lot closer to average tomorrow but we sure enjoyed it while it was here.  Spring is right around the corner!  We can almost taste it, and I imagine we are going to be spending a lot of time outdoors!

First up on the agenda: opening a little Valentine package that
we received from GG & Grampy!

Maya loved the red paper strips that the Valentine lovies were
packaged in!

So we played with them for a little bit too!

And tasted them!

Outside for some Valentine photos and Maya was
so intrigued with the mulch and Kate was way
more interested in running around.  I took a gazillion
photos and they all look like this.

So I opted for some individual shots!

I love her!

Oooohhh, mulch!  Yum!

This is the saddest face, but for some reason it
makes me smile.  She was all tears because I
wouldn't let her eat the mulch.  #mamassomean

Two seconds later she was back to being her
happy self and was looking for the right moment to
snag another bit of mulch.

But how adorable is she in her navy and red hearts
ensemble?  I mean, seriously.  I can't even with the
cuteness.

Maya cannot take her eyes off of Kate, so this
was the best I got of her beautiful smile!

Maya couldn't take her eyes off of Kate because
she was running wild around the yard.

Windows open and loving it!

My snoozing little love.  That little striped tush
has my heart!

Spoiler Alert

There are no groundhogs at the zoo.

I was hoping that there would be some fuzzy little guys there since it is Groundhog Day, but low and behold there are none.  There were some prairie dogs which I was willing to compromise with but we didn't see any of them so it was a groundhog type of animal fail for me.  Kate and I talked about groundhogs and we sang a little groundhog song, but that was our extent of celebrating this little holiday.

Note that Punxsatawney Phil did NOT see his shadow, indicating an early spring, but Buckeye Chuck (Phil's Ohio counterpart) DID see his shadow indicating six more weeks of winter... Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful and because I am perpetually cold I'm going to have to side with Phil on this one.  Fingers crossed!

Fortunately, we were able to see a bunch of other animals and explore some other areas of the zoo we had not visited before.  There were hardly any people at the zoo today so we got to get up close and personal to all of the exhibits with animals present.  It was nice.  And, speaking of animals, we got a great glimpse of the lions and the lion cubs!  They were all outside in an area that is "closed" for the winter but a zoo employee told Kate, Maya, and I that the lions might still be out so we decided to check them out.  I was amazed at how many cubs there were!  I thought there were only three but we counted five!  We also got to hear the lions roar which was pretty cool, if I do say so myself!

Maya was just darling throughout our zoo adventure.  We bundled her up in the stroller and shortly after we started walking around she fell asleep and slept for the rest of the time we were there.

It was nice to get outside again and even better to see some animals!

Happy Groundhog Day to you and hopefully we'll see that early Spring weather sooner rather than later!

When I asked Kate what animals she wanted to
see she said, "Lions!".  Thankfully they were out!
#momwin

Three adult lions and five lion cubs!

Our bundled one!

This picture just melts me.

And 10 minutes later, after being snug as a bug in
a rug, she was snoozing!

Checking out the aquarium!

And Manatee Bay!

It was feeding time so we got to see the manatees munching on
lettuce and watch the turtles and fish swimming by!

A Stop at the Park

We went to the park on the way home from running a few errands today and Maya got to enjoy her first real outdoor swing!  We had a blast playing together and got some much needed outdoor time!

It was a wonderful day!

I'd say she liked it!

My girls intrigued at the recess whistle!

Rolling down the street...

Attempting to slide but waiting for Kate!

Kate was saying, "Heellp mmeeeee!", at this point but I
insisted on taking a picture.

She eventually got all the way up and took off
running so I couldn't take her picture.

But I zoomed in on the one below and kind of
got one of her!

She has not been interested in photos recently.

Me and my littlest and her cute, cold, little red nose!

When we got home, we got out the heart craft supplies that Mimi
dropped off and got to work making some Valentine's...since the
others didn't work out so well...

Six Months Old

Maya is six months old.  SIX MONTHS!  Time has flown by and I cannot believe she is already half of a year old.  In addition to this, Kate is six months in to being a big sister, Brian and I are six months in to being parents of two, and we are all six months in to being a family of four.

What a better way to commemorate this half birthday than a little check-in on all of us!

Maya
In honor of our birthday girl, we'll start with her first!

We had Maya's six month appointment today and learned that she weighs 15 lbs. 12 oz. (40th percentile) and is 25 1/4" tall (20th percentile).  She's a petite little one but that doesn't stop her from getting around.  Maya is mobile.  Yes, people, you read that right.  She's not crawling, yet, but she does this combination army crawl/inchworm/roll type of thing that gets her where she needs to go...and quickly.  In the next few weeks, girlfriend is going to have crawling down pat and that is SCARY!  I'm not sure if she's trying to keep up with her big sister or what but Kate started crawling around 9 months, so seeing Maya this mobile at 6 months is really shocking to me.

In addition to being so mobile, Maya has also attempted waving on command.  I think I've seen her do it a handful of times, and as a very proud Mommy of this wonderful little girl, I'm going to consider all of these times successes!  She also totally knows her name.  Every time she hears it, she looks adoringly at whoever called it!

Maya is successfully reaching for me when she wants me and reaches for me when I go to pick her up.  She is very much a Mama's girl right now, like, starts fussing when I get up to leave her sight and don't have her in tow or throws a full on screaming crying out of nowhere if I completely leave her sight for a moment, like, grabbing something from the kitchen.  I know these phases are fleeting, so I continue to soak each and every one of them up.  And, to be honest, it melts my heart a teensy bit every time she wants me.  #mamamakesitbetter  #fornow

Maya is a vocal little one but gets really high pitch loud when she's hungry or tired.  She is SO a creature of habit and loves her a schedule.  As a matter of fact, she kind of made her own schedule.  She wakes around 8-8:30 am most days.  Then takes a morning nap around 10 am for 45 min to an hour.  Then takes a 2-3 hour afternoon nap starting around 1:30 pm.  I typically start baths for Kate and Maya after dinner, shortly after 6 pm these short winter evenings, and after bath Maya wants to be fed and go to bed.  No doddling after bath for this one.  She wants to snuggle with her purple blanket, get nice and cozy, fill her tummy, and enter slumberland.  I mean, I strategically take Maya out of the bath last if Kate does bathe with Maya because once Maya is out she is ready for bed.

Over the last couple of months she has starting waking up more in the night - 2-3 times - but, again, I'm soaking up all the phases, even the middle of the night ones.  I know they won't last.

Maya tried rice cereal for the first time yesterday and sweet potatoes are next on the list.  I'm interested to see how she likes them for it seems she's been pining for food for months!  And she has two teeth now, so it won't be long before we add cheerios and other finger foods into the mix too!

She continues to be the world's easiest, happiest, and sweetest baby.  I am still amazed at how much she smiles, how easy going she is and how adorable she is.  I mean, other than me leaving her line of sight and being ready for bed immediately after bath, I rarely hear Maya cry.  Even when she wakes up, a lot of times she still just lays there in bed and looks around and cuddles with her blanket!

At six months old, Maya continues to amaze me.  She is so smart and down to earth and such a complete and total joy.  She is the perfect addition to our family!

Kate
Kate continues to amaze me as well.  She is the cutest big sis and still gets the biggest and best smiles from Maya without any prompting.  It's almost as if Maya saves those smiles for Kate only and lets them shine when they are together.  Kate continues to snuggle, cuddle, kiss, and wrestle Maya at all times, however, with Maya's recent turn of mobility, we have seen and heard a bit of, "I don't want her to touch my [fill in the blank]..." or, "She can't play with [fill in the blank]...".  We're working on this but it is but a minor bump in the grand scheme of things.

Kate is still so sweet to Maya and will fetch her lovies, toys, teethers from the freezer, etc. and will literally tell you what Maya wants/needs when she wants/needs it.  And most times I believe her.  It's like a sister telepathy these two have and I'm not going to mess with the forces.  I'm just going to go with them!

I am super proud of my big girl for being such an impressive big sister and role model and I look forward to seeing her grow and shine in her new role.

Mommy
I am six months in to being a Mommy of two and it's becoming harder and harder to remember what life was like with just one child.  I've continued to incorporate both girls into our daily activities, unless one or the other is napping, and everything is working out pretty well.  I'm adjusting to life at home with these two lovely ladies (and our crazy dog) and thanking my lucky stars for living such a blessed life.  I mean, these two little girls are all mine and I get to be their Mama.  What did I do to deserve this?  I don't know but I am extremely grateful for it.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are times that I am so curious as to what my blood pressure is, but then I will get one child satisfied with whatever she needs and move on to the next and am able to take a deep breath.  For the most part, my day is full of joy with these two and I absolutely cannot wait for warmer days and more sunshine so we can get outside more!

Daddy
Brian is six months into being a Daddy of two and I think he really enjoys it!  He gets to conversate and play with his oldest daughter (when she lets him) and snuggle and coo at his youngest daughter (when she lets him).  I asked him the other day how he thought he'd handle getting two girls ready in the morning before work and he got this distant, fearful look in his eye and said, "I have no clue...", so I'm thinking he's enjoying me staying at home too!

These girls are his pride and joy and he continues to be amazed at how intelligent, beautiful, and amazing they both are.  I know it because he tells me and I can see they way he looks at them.

So, a very, merry half birthday to you, Maya!  We can hardly believe you are six months old already!  We love you to the moon and back, Little Bear!

Wait, what?  You mean I can't put this booklet in my
mouth?  Annnnndddd why'd you give it to me?

World's happiest baby.  Seriously.

Tearing into the paper just like her big sis did
and sitting like a pro!

Seeing her destruction!

Big sis is fully supportive of said destruction!

My attempts to get both girls to smile in one picture:

First attempt: one smiling; one looking the other way...

Second attempt: one now distracted; one smiling...

Third attempt: both looking; one semi-smiling.
I chalked this one up to a success.

Heart Art

I found a cute tutorial online on how to make little heart suncatchers and I thought these would be fun to make for Kate and Maya's Grands for Valentine's Day.  I was wrong.  #youwinsome  #youlosesome

I found working with string and glue maddening.  And having to fit it to a pretty design is even more maddening.  You see, there's this perfectionist in me...and, well, that pretty much sums it up.

While I completed our annoying glue/string task, I was silently cursing to myself under my breath.  Note to self, projects that are going to take more than one day need to be seriously thought about...

These little guys turned out pretty and actually really cool but the frustration involved was not my cup of tea.  Add the fact that Kate wasn't nearly as interested as I had initially thought she would be and it was even more frustrating.  If we do make these again, I think we'll outline the design with glue and then lay the string down instead of soaking it in glue.  I'm not sure if this will work the same or not but it sounds easier than trying to manipulate a little string when your hands are sticky with glue.

The premise of this project involved printing the designs and
taping them on your table then taping a piece of wax paper on top
of them.

Then soaking a precut string in glue, squeezing
off the excess glue...

...And positioning the gluey string to your taped
template.

You then add a string for hanging later on.
This part was maddening too.  There was glue and
it was sticky and very challenging trying to make
it all look pretty.

You let this set up dry overnight and then you fill
in your areas with glue and color them with
watercolor paint.

This was the extent of Kate's interest.
[Cue steam coming from my ears now.]

You see, I don't push projects.  If Kate's not interested in doing something crafty, I don't force her to do it.  I don't want her to grow up loathing these types of things, but the fact that I had spent so much freaking time getting these strings set up and she only wanted to color two little tiny bits of one heart was challenging.  I ended up sitting down and putting the glue on, and asking Kate what color she wanted, and then I colored the rest in.

I only completed the two hearts.  If Kate wasn't interested, I didn't want to waste to much more of my own time.

We let these guys dry overnight again and then peeled them off of
the wax paper.  This project gets a 50%.  That's failing.

But they did turn out pretty against the window...and if Kate was
more interested and wanted to finish the other two hearts, I think
we would have used these for Valentines.

But she wasn't, and because her Valentines's to her Grands are going to be from her and not from me, we hung these two (three) hearts up in her playroom and called it a day.

Back to the Valentine drawing board...

Quiet January

I have found that the last quarter of the year always tends to be jammed packed with things to do.  We've just spent so much time outside for the summer so the wind down for fall involves fall activities, football, enjoying those last days of warm sunshine, and then gearing up for winter.  We also kick-off the holidays around this time with Kate's birthday and Halloween at the end of October, Thanksgiving, Christmas activities throughout the entire month of December, and then Christmas and New Years.

There's a ton going on.  (That is evident by the list of blog posts I have noted for October, November and December that I still need to complete.)  But when January comes around, it's a like a breath of [cold] fresh air.  No big holidays, no big events, not a million things to do, just a chance to breathe and regroup after such a hectic, albeit fun, time of year.

I really enjoy this quiet time.  We can go and do as we please, and recently, with the cold weather, we've chosen to not do a whole lot but spend time at home.

Busting out the beans again.

Maya LOVES this sensory exploration!

And we love making messes in our living room!

We've been working on crawling.  Seriously.  How is this possible?

And gumming our peg puzzle.

And having some daily sister shenanigans.

These two.  My heart.

We've been cooking and enjoying time in the kitchen.

If I can get one of us dressed for the day I consider
that a win right now.  Today was Maya's turn.

We've been chasing Jack around the kitchen with a
broom...  #helovesthis  #not

And we've been peeking through the slats of our crib again!

It amazes me that Maya knows to push the little bumper down to
see.  I even caught her doing this on the left side of her crib where
the gray chair is because she found me sitting there once when she
woke up.  We've got another smart cookie on our hands!

It's been a quiet January but an awesome one too.