Acorn Castle

We've been visiting Gramma and Poppie for a few days. The Girl is out of school this week for conferences and J is out of state again for work so I packed the Girls up on Sunday afternoon and we headed over. One of our favorite things to do when we visit Gramma and Poppie is to feed the ducks, geese and swans and visit the acorn castle. All of which reside in the cemetery across the street from my parent's

house. Weird, you may say. But truth be told, I grew up playing in the cemetery. It was close, there were swans to feed, great hills to roll down (not the ones with gravestones mind you) and I learned to ride a bike there. If it creeps you out, just think of it as a memorial park. Anyhow, today we headed back home but first we took advantage of the glorious weather - sunny and in the mid-70's - with a morning

outing. When I was a kid, there were just two resident swans and a few migrating ducks. But these days the population of

permanent residents has soared and they'll come pretty close in order to snatch a crumb of bread. After our entire loaf was gone we headed

off for the acorn castle. Named as such by the Girl because of the proliferation of acorns scattered on the ground within it's walls, a generous gift from the tree nearby and it's overhanging branches. This is the Girl's special place. She discovered it a few years back while on a walk with Poppie and has since collected dozens upon dozens of acorns and their cute little caps. She can never resist bringing some

home with her. This morning was no different. Once the acorn castle came into view, she was off and running, followed by Little Sister. Upon entering they immediately set about collecting acorns, cracking them open, peeling the nut from the shell and lining the nuts up on the stone wall until there were enough for acorn soup. Which they then served to us in acorn shells - delish! And while we were there I

couldn't help but think about where we were four months ago and my heart was filled with gratitude. Thankful to be there, making new

memories with my Dad and my Girls. God is good!

Just a Little Pinch

Guess who got her ears pierced today?

For the past couple of months, Little Sister has been admiring the Girl's earrings and would occasionally comment that she wanted earrings but it never went any further than that...until yesterday. Yesterday evening Litttle Sister started proclaiming that she wanted earrings (maybe it was the hot pink, rhinestone-encrusted hoops that the Girl picked out to give to Aunt B for her birthday) and despite my warnings that it would "pinch" like it does when she has to get shots (which she hates), she was undettered. The requests continued this morning and throughout the afternoon. I finally called Claire's to see if they had two qualified employees working (I made the mistake with the Girl of letting her get it done with only one employee working, almost left the store with only one ear pierced. It took 30 minutes and a bit of trickery to get the other ear done. Never again!) and upon hearing that they did, we piled into the car and were on our way. Upon arriving, Little Sister eagerly picked out tiny, turquoise-jeweled flowers and I signed the necessary waivers. Then the time had come and when Little Sister refused to sit in the chair I thought for sure that it was game over and we'd be headed out just the way we'd come in - earringless. But she was ok with sitting on my lap and so we both climbed into the tall chair. Then, with Gramma and the Girl looking on, the employees did their countdown and pulled their triggers. Nothing. While I waited for the delayed wail that was sure to come, I looked at my Mom and she just shrugged her shoulders and the employees wore a look of surprise on their faces. After a quick look in the mirror, I lowered Little Sister to the floor and climbed out of the chair myself. Little Sister walked off to look at earrings with the Girl and I was left standing in utter shock and amazement. Apparently, I was the only one who was anxious. As for Little Sister, she was like, Whatever, no big deal. She was however, very excited to show off her new earrings to Poppie when we got back home.

A First

This evening I walked into Little Sister's darkened room to wake her up from a late afternoon nap. Imagine my surprise when I pulled her blanket back and saw a naked little body lying underneath. No dress. And no diaper. Completely bare. Then I glanced down at the floor and there they were - dress and diaper. Funny. This never happened with the Girl.

Pretty in Pink?

Mother Nature {aka: GOD} gifted us with another sunshine-y, warmish day and so we went for another walk. On our way back we stopped to chat with our neighbors three houses down. They have girls close in age to the Girl and Lil Sister. The Girl ended up staying to play while I took Lil Sister home for a desperately-needed nap. An hour later, J went to retrieve the Girl and she came home all dolled up with pink eyeshadow, pink blush and pink lipstick. {It was so much brighter than this picture shows.} Yikes! Not sure what it is about make-up but she is obsessed with it. Maybe because we really don't have any here. If you were to look in my make-up bag right now you would find liquid foundation, one pot of shimmery white eye shadow, an eyeliner pencil, a tube of mascara and a Burts Bees chapstick.

That's it. At any rate, I much prefer this fresh-faced look.

In other news, today I caught the Girl handing Baby Miss a tiny stretchy frog and intercepted Baby Miss's hand just before the frog reached her mouth. I then explained to her two older sisters that they should never give Baby Miss anything that is small enough to fit inside a toilet paper tube. Afterwards I promptly ascended the stairs and grabbed a bag of baby toys that had been stored at the top of

Lil Sis's closet. When I brought them downstairs and spread them out on the blanket it was as if the Girl and Lil Sis had never seen a toy before. They were so excited and immediately began fighting over who got what. Really?! A playroom full of discarded toys and they were fighting over baby rattles and all Baby Miss could do was watch.

Swing Sisters

Hello Sunshine! Hello 60 degree temps! Good-bye boring afternoon spent in the house fighting over miniature Disney

princess dolls! This afternoon we donned hats and sunglasses and headed out in search of a few items on the Girl's scavenger hunt list - cnvrduo (convertibles), pincons (pinecones), fune booshis (funny bushes) and bloomen trees (blooming trees). {I love that she spells things the way they sound phonetically!} Then as we found each item she requested a picture. Here she is holding a pincon in front

of a fune boosh! We never did find any cnvrduos. We did however, find ourselves at a small park that we've driven by a thousand times with the Girl nearly always commenting, "We should go to that park sometime." It is small, only a handful of swings and a climbing structure. But it was perfect. Right now I'm finding that small is better for us. Easier for me to keep an eye on both of my mobile

Girls while keeping my non-mobile one within arm's reach. They tend to gravitate to and prefer the swings any way. Today was no different. They spent the bulk of our time at the park pumping their legs (the Girl), sqealing with delight as the resultant wind whipped their hair back off their faces, tipping their head back to see the blue sky (Lil Sis) and taking turns pushing one another.

After a while, they would be lured to the climbing structure by it's vibrant green and blue poles and web of black rope.

But inevitably, they'd be called back to the swings, time and again. It is where we began our park date and it is where we ended our
park date. Baby Miss even took a swing at it (pun absolutely intended!)!Love how her head barely even clears the top of the seat! I daresay she

would've fallen asleep had we stayed a few minutes longer. What with the way she snuck her thumb into her mouth and the little lids

that drooped lower with each gentle push given by the Girl. Lil Sister was tired for sure as she grabbed a blankie and climbed onto the

park bench while Baby Miss was swinging. A sure sign that it was time to leave before an impending meltdown.

On our way home we ran into Daddy (no pun intended!) who was out for a jog after returning home from work. Thank-you Sunshine for a wonderful afternoon!!!!!

4-Month Stats & Comparisons

Yesterday Baby Miss had her 4-month check up. Here are her stats:

Length: 25 1/4 inches (75%)

Weight: 12 lbs 14 ozs (20%)

Head Circumference: 16 inches (50%)

Lil Sis at 4-months:

Length: 24 1/2 inches (50%)

Weight: 11 lbs 2 ozs (7%)

Head Circumference: 16 1/2 inches (75%)
The Girl at 4 months:

Length: 25 inches (75%)

Weight: 11 lbs 10 ozs (10%)

Head Circumference: 16 1/2 inches (75%)

Aw!

Nothin' better than seeing my Girls lovin' on one another! Tonight at bedtime, Baby Miss snuck in a little snuggle time with Big Sis.

Then the Girl wanted to do a crazy face picture.
And this is purely coincidental, I swear. I just came across these pictures when I was looking for a comparison photo for my next

post. This was back at the end of January 2009 when Lil Sis was also 4 months old and the Girl was cuddling with her in her new big girl bed. Love how our life with three is so closely paralleling our life with two!

Progress

At 2 1/2 Little Sister is quick to tell us when she has pooped or peed in her diaper but has shown zero interest in potty-training. She always politely responds to our requests for her to sit on the potty with, "No ganks!" But on Friday morning, at the mention of 'Big Girl' underwear she got all kinds of excited and so I went with it. I continuously reminded her that if she had to poop or pee that she needed to sit on the potty. When she finally told me that she wanted to use the potty we rushed to the bathroom and sat. And sat. And sat. We'd been sitting patiently for close to 15 minutes when I realized that I hadn't yet brushed my teeth and that it would be time to leave and pick up the Girl from school soon. So I left Lil Sis to continue sitting while I went to brush my teeth. In the 3 minutes that I was gone this is what she was up to and nothing else. Ha, ha. Maybe next time.

Happy St Paddy's Day!

Today I baked green mint chocolate cookies and the Girl drew 'Lucky Leprechaun' pictures. Then we played some ding-dong-ditch which the Girl thought was hilarious. We dropped our festive little packages at four houses and got caught only once and that was by the neighbor who lives across the street, she saw us coming and was at the door ready for us. It didn't phase the Girl though, she still took off running.

4 Months

This Lil Peanut is 4 {!} months today! Sheesh, where does the time go?! At four months she is still in a size 2 diaper but fills out 3-6 month clothes nicely. She still strongly dislikes tummy-time and a week and a half ago (on the 4th) she rolled over for the first time while doing tummy-time. She was so mad that her feet and legs were up off the ground as were her arms which were above her head. She raised her head up and wailed her displeasure and then rotated a shoulder and flip, just like that she was on her back. Of course she hasn't done it again since...maybe because I haven't put her back on her tummy! She has also discovered her hands and is fascinated with them. She continues to be a cheerful little thing, rarely fussing except if she is hungry or tired and the smiles she flashes in the morning upon waking up...to die for! Seriously. There is no better way to start my day than with a greeting like that. She loves to jibber-jabber and has become an expert at buzzing her lips and blowing little spit bubbles.
Oh we do love her so...all of us, big sisters included. And wouldn't you just love to see this sweet, little, rosy-cheeked, cherub-faced, gnome sitting in your garden?!

Makes Me Smile!

Enough said!

{Dress and booties compliments of Gramma.}

Kitchen Helper

I had a little helper in the kitchen today. Actually, when I saw this pic I was thinking she looked quite big. Toddlerhood will soon be a thing of the past.

And eating yogurt (not to be confused with the tub of Cool Whip which was beside her in the previous picture) is much more fun when one gets to do it while sitting on the counter.

As for what we were making - chocolate chip cookies...

with a surprise inside! Seriously yummy!

You can find the recipe here.

Riders

This afternoon we went with some friends to a horse rescue facility that offers pony rides in return for a very small donation. It was a bit chilly and definitely soggy but the rain stopped just long enough that we all stayed dry. Here is Lil Sis and her gal pal, Miss A. In the background is Becky the pony.

TheGirl enjoyed some time with her friend, Miss A while the ponies were being groomed and saddled.

The Girl is ready for her first trip around the arena atop sweet Becky.

Lil Sis anxiously awaiting her turn.

Heck with the pony ride, I would've made a donation just to see her in this riding hat! Too incredibly cute!!! It's a wonder Gymboree

hasn't picked up on selling these beauties for every day wear. I bet they'd be a sell-out item. Wasn't sure she'd actually do it but after watching her friend and the Girl go she was eager for her chance. Though she wasn't letting go of my friend's hand for anything! Gentle Blackie was the best!

Love this little hint of a smile!

Here is the whole crew...minus my friend's son, who for obvious reasons, did not want to be photographed with 7 girls.