Here is Bailey!

THE NURSERY is done!

I am so excited, after may weeks (and a few months) the nursery is done. It is so cute. Ben did an amazing job with the painting of the walls and moldings. This was very challenging considering there were about 100 layers of paint including some lead paint :( But, its done and he did a great job. I also got to dust off my sewing machine and make curtains, tie backs, changing table cover and other little odds and ends. My girls each made hand print heart paintings for the baby's room. Believe it or not but this is the first actual nursery we have put together for one of our girls. Apartment living did not create much space for a nursery, but now that we have our own house we are able to create a one. We are so excited about it. Due to room layout and room size, there is no good way to get a picture that captures the whole room. So, here are many pictures of all the little odds and ends in the room. Enjoy!



View from the hallway


The changing pad cover I made
My first curtains and tie backs!
closeup of the tie back bow. I love the fancy button.
I love the little hands
more adorable little hands.


Rug that we splurged on.

Water + backyard = lots of fun!

Moving up in the world!

Receiving her diploma
The graduation party
I am a bit sad but also very excited that Em has graduated from preschool. She is no longer a 4 year old but a 5 year old who will be heading off to kindergarten in the very near future. I am so excited for her and all that she will experience. But, she is my first to head out the door and jump on the big yellow school bus. Knowing her she will not even turn back. I guess this is a good thing considering there may be a few tears rolling down my cheek.


We recently attended Erin's end of year party at preschool. She is no longer in the 2s class but on her way to the 3s. She is getting so big and if I blink I know I will miss many precious moments. So here is to not blinking and enjoying all of the little celebrations of her life.

MUD

Today was so nice that we (me and my girls) spent several hours outside. It was glorious and felt so good to soak in the sunshine. I think I got more vitamin D today than I did all winter. The girls spent most of the time "investigating". This means that they played in the mud. Then I added water to the situation. Not sure what I was thinking but they sure did have a great time. I can remember back to when I was a little girl, I love the mud so much. Mud pies were such a joy to create. I remember fondly sitting in my backyard scooping up the mud and making pies that I later would serve to the rest of the family. I am sure they savored every morsel. I guess deep down inside I still love the mud. Today I got to live vicariously through my girls. I had such fun watching as they filled buckets with mud and dipped there arms into the squishy concoction. I hope you enjoy the pictures almost as much as my girls had while they were taken.

What an amazing day!

Today was such an amazing day. The sun was out in full force. Thank you Lord for the blessing of today. Here are some pictures from my yard.

I love waking up to the sounds of birds right outside my window. Thanks to God for granting up this amazing house!

Easter Shells

Last night I decided that it would be fun to have a little family time and do a project together. I was recently reading an old Martha Stewart Kids that I had from a few years ago. In the magazine it had pictures of kids making Easter candy. So, there was my great project idea. We would make Easter candy! I purchased white, milk and colored chocolate and clean paint brushes so the girls could paint the Easter chocolate molds all different colors. All I needed was the Easter egg/ bunny molds. I looked high and low for the elusive molds. I went to many different stores just to find that I was to late. I just assumed that I would be able to find them. So..... What do you do when all the stores are out of Easter molds? You make Easter Shells! Yep, shells like you find on the beach. The interesting thing was trying to convince my girls that shells are somehow Easter related. Over all we had a great time making Easter shells. The only thing I wonder is: should Easter shells become a tradition or should I go out next year (a bit earlier) and purchase Easter egg molds?

Whats new?

It has been such a long time since I have given thought to updating my blog. So here is the skinny on whats going on.


- Emma turned 5! Yes, she is five and I am prepping for kindergarten.
- I am 9 weeks from having another baby. Another girl! We love PINK.
- Working like crazy on the house. Mostly the nursery and then hopefully Em and Erin's room, bathroom, master bedroom and soooo much more. I love our house!
-We made it through the holidays and many months of viruses and ear infections...


In a nut shell that is where we are at. I will try to update more often.

She's getting big

The other day we (Em, Erin, Ben and I ) we in the backyard of our new house. Ben and I were doing yard work and the girls were playing in the sand box. Emma noticed that the girl next door was out on her swing set. Em just stopped and watched her for a bit. Eventually Abby (the girl next door) came to the fence. She is about three years older than Em. They chatted through the fence and eventually Abby asked Em to come over to her yard and play. Em came running over very excited and said "mommy can I play in that girls yard". Of course they played for hours. I sat on the steps of our deck for quite a bit watching Em play with Abby. There were a few times where I felt choked up, as if I were going to cry. This was the first time Em was asked by another kid to play, with out my involvement. No, my kid is not a loser without friends. But, if I really think about it I schedule her life. I set up play dates for her, usually with moms that are good friends of mine. She often plays with her cousin and sister or people we know from church. She is starting to meet other kids in our neighborhood and I don't have to help her. I don't think I am ready for this.

Camp

Soooo, we (Ben and I) thought that it would be a great idea to take our girls to camp. Let me start off by saying that Erin is 23mo and Emma is 41/2. We had a great time! Emma loved being a camper. She was able to go fishing, play games, archery, canoing, and so much more. I think that she had the time of her life. Erin also love it. She spent most of her time with Ben in the hiking pack traversing the woods.
Everything went so well that I had very high hopes for the day we had to leave. Little did I know that extraction from camp and the next 24hours would be very hard for a 4 year old. There is nothing like leaving camp with a precious little girl screaming her head off as you drive off down the dirt path. I had my head down the whole way down the road. As if people might forget that the silver Honda that was parked in front of camp the whole time belonged to me. I suddenly became invisible. Well, we made it home alive.
So, on to the next day. A sleep deprived over stimulated 4 year old does not make for a fabulous day. The day was filled will yelling, crying and tantrums (I am sure my tantrums were far worse than Em's). I now know that we have transition issues :)
Sometimes I wish kids came with labels. This way we could all be very prepared. For example Em's might say: "Warning this child does not transition well. Transition at your own risk". Mine would say: "warning this mother does not function with out chocolate. Must feed chocolate once every 24 hours for best results". Think of all the ingenious label that there could be. Another example, a child with allergies: "Warning this child will explode if given milk. Stand at least 10 feet away if lactose was consumed." I feel as if this would make child rearing a bit easier.
So what have a I learned from all this???? I am not sure but I will be looking into ways to transition better. Any suggestions?

Why blog?

I have recently been reading some of my friends blogs. While reading them I have often thought: should I blog? I am not great with words and am not a computer wiz. So why bother? Well.... I am the mom of two girls Emma 41/2 and Erin 23mo. I feel like my girls have taught me a lot that I can offer to other moms and its a great way for me to express myself. Lets face it, being a mom is amazing but hard. I love to chat about those amazing time with Em and Erin. But, its those hard time who shape me and make me the mom I am. I hope that this blog is a place where I can share those things and other moms will feel somehow relieved. Relieved that they are not the only one on the planet going through difficult situations. I also hope to share a bit of Em and Erin humor as well. Enjoy!