Lil'Cowboy and Lil'Cowgirl

This past weekend we went to Sofie's 2nd Birthday party at the Latta Equestrian Center. It was so much fun! Sofie's mom, Jenn, went over the top with decorations and little touches. She had bandanas and sheriff badges for the kids, along with lots and lots of yummy food.

The highlight of the party was pony rides on Lucy the pony. Most of the kids were scared to ride Lucy at first, but not Olivia. She grabbed her helmet and headed straight for her. Neither one has ever ridden a horse before, but somehow Olivia knew just what to do. She had so much fun and was a natural. I walked beside her while she went for a ride in the open field. Then it was Luke's turn. He was a natural as well and had such a good time. He kept saying "I rode the BIG horse." So cute!!!

Of course, what is a party without Luke and Olivia's favorite thing: cupcakes? Olivia ate all of the frosting off and gave the rest to Daddy. Luke ate most of his cupcake and ate all of the frosting.

At the end of the party, there was a wagon ride down to the water and back. It was a nice way for the kiddos to relax a bit before heading home for nap time. We all had a great time and it was a fun idea for a birthday. We'll definitely have to take L and O back to see Lucy the pony!


Here are some pictures from the party of Luke, Olivia and some of their friends:

Happy St. Patty's Day

What a fun, busy day! Like last year, we went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade in uptown Charlotte. This year we were joined by lots of friends from our neighborhood and other good friends as well. We got great seats in the shade and were able to get front row seats to see all of the parade action pass us by. L and O did awesome and were enthralled by the new things that kept coming. Princesses in cars, clowns riding bikes, pink and red firetrucks, groups of dogs...they just couldn't get enough! They sat on our laps for almost an hour and Olivia talked the entire time about what she saw. Luke was quieter and seemed to be just taking it all in. I love to see the world through their eyes, to see the details and little things that they see makes life all the better.

Afterwards, a few of us headed to Fuel Pizza before heading home for naps. I had a photo shoot in the afternoon, so daddy made dinner for everyone, which was so nice! We had a fun but exhausting day and we look forward to making this a yearly tradition.

So long pacis!

Well, we took the plunge. We ditched the pacis. Yikes!!! Luke has had a rash around his mouth from drooling with the paci in his mouth while he naps, so we decided we needed to get rid of them sooner rather than later. We should have done it earlier, but life happens and better late than never.

Dan and I have been talking with them all week about getting rid of them. We decided to do it Friday night since he would be here for the weekend in case naps didn't happen. Well, I was talking with Luke and Olivia before naptime on Friday about getting rid of the pacis and Luke seemed ready to do it. So I thought, let's just do it at naptime and see how it goes. Olivia got a little whiny at the talk of it, but once we agreed to put them in a bag and give them to baby Milo, she was ok with it.

Well, the beginning of naps went better than expected. I got out an old frog/bug teether that they had as babies to replace the pacies. I told them if they got sad they just needed to hug the teethers. Luke and Olivia both went to bed with no argument (surprise of all surprises!). Luke did wake up about 45 min into naptime and didn't really want to go back to sleep. He has had restless naps ever since and wakes up crying, but we have overcome the biggest hurdle and I think they will be back to napping champs soon. Olivia has transitioned wonderfully and I'm so proud of how they have both taken this "big kid" step. We are beyond lucky to have such resilent, wonderful little toddlers!

Happy (Surprise) Birthday PauPaw!

PauPaw's 80 years old! All of the siblings decided to throw a little surprise party this past weekend. I've never really pulled off a "true" surprise party, but I think for the most part he was surprised.

About 40 people, mainly family, were able to attend. We had barbeque catered and I made a cake in the number 80. We also had cupcakes, too, which Luke and Olivia were most excited about.

It was great to see everyone visit and catch up. Happy Birthday, PauPaw...we love you!

27 Months Old

Wow! Luke and Olivia are 2 and 1/4 years old. I vividly remember when they turned 3 months, 15 months and now 27 months old. Oh, how much they have changed!!!

Here are a few things they are up to now. Luke still won't watch anything on TV for longer than 5-10 minutes and would much rather be in the kitchen "helping mommy." Olivia still sits mesmerized and doesn't move for the entire 30 minutes. I swear, one day we are going to take her heart rate as if definitely slows down!

They are both REALLY into puzzles right now, which we think is totally cool because we both loved working them as kids ourselves. They have a few 25 piece wooden puzzles (Thomas the Train and Mickey) and they have learned to match the colors and faces. They have actually gotten pretty good at them and we work the same puzzles time and time again.

They each also have a step stool they stand on at the island in the kitchen. They spend lots of time here working their puzzles, cooking, helping to prepare meals and just watching us.

They are talking up a storm now and it's pretty awesome to conversations with them. During dinner we talk about our day and they tell Daddy what they did. It's always interesting to us to hear what they remember as important from the day. We may have been to storytime and played at the park (big things) but they will say they had goldfish for a snack. It's all in the details, right?

They play together really well for the most part, but inevitably there are times when they want the same toy at the same time. However, they are getting better at sharing and are pretty good at sharing with their friends, too.

Luke is still a daddy's boy for the most part although he doesn't cry anymore when daddy leaves for work in the morning. I think that Dan no longer traveling has helped Luke understand that daddy comes home at the end of the day and he will get to see him every night. The consistency has been especially good for him. Olivia is VERY much a mommy's girl, and prefers that "mommy does it". I suspect she will be a daddy's girl as she gets older, so I'm enjoying it while I can :)

They can take off their shoes, socks, pants and jackets all by themselves. They still need a little help getting their shirts off, but their independence grows more everyday. They help make choices about what they eat (grapes or oranges, etc) and pick the color of their plate, cup, etc. We are working on them drinking from a cup with no lid, mainly with just water for now!

They wake up around 7am and stay in their beds until about 7:30am. They nap from about 2:30pm-4:30pm and go bed around 8pm each night. During the day we stay busy with story time at the local library every Wednesday, play dates, visiting with family, singing, dancing, coloring, reading and various other activities. They LOVE to be outside and we try to go outside for at least a little time each day. They are getting pretty proficient at riding their tricycles and little 4-wheelers. We also feed the deer in the backyard and give Heidi kitty treats.

Recently, they have really gotten into singing songs. It's truly amazing what repetition will do! Their current favorites are: Take me out to the ballgame, Hickory Dickory Doc, Tick Tick I'm a Cuckoo Clock, and Old MacDonald had a farm. Sometimes I feel like I sing these songs a million times a day, but their smiles and laughs never get old. At the end of a song, they will say "sing it again, mommy." Now, who can say no to those sweet faces?

They will randomly start counting objects, and can almost count to 20. They will also bust out a rendition of A,B,C,D,F,G,M and Z, too :) Who needs the rest of the letters, anyway? They can recognize lots of letters and associate words with them.

We have recently been attending a church, and it's the first time they have been left for an hour without us and with non-family on a consistent basis. They usually get a little upset when we leave, but it passes quickly (less than a minute) and they are happy to play with their new friends. This will also be good preparation for when they start play school in the fall.

Luke and Olivia are stubbornly independent at times (Olivia moreso!) but they still look to us for their utmost security. They still love to be tucked into bed at night after their hugs and kisses, and it's one of our most favorite times of day. Times like that remind me that even though they are growing everyday, they are still and forever will be our babies.

Love.These.Two. Faces

Enough said!

Reset

We have changed up "time out" in our house just a little bit. We have started calling it "reset", and don't ask us why, but it seems to work better. We also set a timer, and after 2 minutes (1 minute per age), they can come out. Olivia thinks it's great to sit and "listen bell" (listen for the bell) and goes "ding ding" when time is done. She has grasped the concept pretty well, except for the fact she sometimes likes to put herself in reset just so she can hear the bell and go "ding ding". Luke doesn't do quite as well yet, but he also has to go a lot less often :) Boy, that fact alone certainly sums up their personalities!

Daddy daughter date night

Recently Chick Fil A had daddy/daughter date night. We are lucky because the CFA near us does family nights on Tuesday, and they are always doing great things. We go there a lot and it has a great atmosphere for families.

Dan had to make a reservation for them (so cute!) and I got Olivia all dressed up for her "date" with daddy. Daddy was meeting us after work, so he was already all dressed up, too. Unfortunately, Olivia woke up from her nap not feeling great and she was a little cranky, so the evening didn't go quite as planned. I was hoping to get a picture of them together, but O was having none of that!

I took Luke next door to McDonald's for our own special little date night, where Luke got is very own happy meal for the first time. It was pretty cool to have dinner with just him. Meanwhile, daddy and Olivia were next door having their own candlelight dinner. Apparently she really wanted mommy, so they didn't end up staying as long as they would have liked. But it was fun and I think we'll definitely do it again.

Here is a picture our friend took of Dan and Olivia:

Playroom

Here is a pic of what our playroom looks like after playtime. We keep saying we are going to take the gate down, but then we realize it helps with containment. The toys, not the kids :)

Puzzle Time

Recently, Luke and Olivia have really taken to putting puzzles together. Luke, especially, has the patience it takes to put one together completely. Then, Olivia loves to come along, take it apart and start over again.

They have learned to match the faces and their current favorite is an oversized Thomas puzzle. Here is a pic of what they were able to accomplish all on their own.

And, yes, Olivia is wearing her Easter hat from last year. She saw it in her closet and wore it all day. She also had in her turkey hairbow from Thanksgiving. I can't wait to see what they choose to wear to school one day!

A mini van? Really?

I couldn't believe it when Dan mentioned to me several months ago that he thought it might be time to consider getting a mini van. We have always thought we could get by with the Rav-4, but after our last trip to Atlanta it was very apparent that we could use more room!

Between 2 pack n plays, 2 high chairs, luggage for 4, toys, etc, there was barely room for us to sit. It's also impossible for Luke and Olivia to eventually have a friend in the car with them, which makes carpooling once school starts a non-option. We could certainly get by with our current car, but a van would make life easier, and considerably more comfortable! We also considered getting a larger SUV, but for a variety of reasons, that just didn't make sense for our family.

We have been looking for awhile and a couple of weeks ago we test drove the 2 vans we had narrowed it down to: a Toyota Sienna and a Honda Odyssey. It seems as if that is what 90% of mini van owners buy now. I can see why. They are super nice on the inside (and outside, too), ride smoothly and have an abundance of safety features. And oh, my...the space inside is a dream!

After much discussion, we decided to get a charcoal gray/gray interior Honda Odyssey, which is now parked in our garage. Dan was off of work for President's Day, so we decided to take the leap and make the purchase before we changed our minds! Dan will take over my Rav-4, we sold his Xterra, and I will drive our new van. I know we will love the extra space, and we look forward to our next road trip! Now, I just have to figure out what all of the buttons are for.....

We're in!

When we got home from a play date this morning, I was excited to hear a message from Kelly at Cooks Methodist Playschool letting us know she had 2 spots for the fall session. Whew! If all goes well, they will be at Cook's on Tuesday/Thursday from 9:30am-1:00pm. We already know at least 3 of the other kids that will be in their class of 10 kids total.

We are also going to enroll Luke and Olivia in a 3 week, 2 days a week, summer program so they can see the school, classroom, playground, etc and start to get used to their new surroundings. I know they will have fun as Cooks plans lots of great activities and they will definitely learn a lot. But I will still miss them!