Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Play Date

A couple of weeks ago we met Jill, Ella and Kipton and Jamie, Alden and Caleb for a play date.  It was good to see them and the kids of course had lots of fun.  It's so nice now with Gibs and Layla both being old enough to play nicely on their own (pretty much).  Last summer I didn't quite trust Gibson on play ground equipment and with having a baby to watch as well, it's nice that he can go off and play (while keeping an eye on him still, obviously).  I had never been to this play area at Christ Memorial before.  It was great for toddlers--we'd definitely go back! 

Kipton and Gibson both with funny looks...
 Ella and Layla...
 Layla, Gibs, Ella and Alden...

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Life This Week...

This week so far has been much cleaner.  After the milk spill issue last week (which seems to be taken care of, yay! We don't need new padding put in!) the day after getting our carpet cleaned I bumped a bottle of hot pink nail polish off the top shelf in our bathroom cabinet which therefore resulted in glass and pink polish all over our tile, rug, carpet, jeans and my foot!  And of coure it happened about 2 minutes before someone arrived to take care of our mice issue we've been having in the garage.  I then answered the door with my hands and foot covered in hot pink.  I got it out of everything except my jeans:(.  Anyway, then on Friday, I had just started to feed Greta when Layla accidentally knocked my coffee over on to our carpet.  Had that just happened two days earlier, the carpet cleaning guys could have taken care of it!  So annoying, but thankfully our little Bissell got that out. 

I thought this was funny, apparently she was sleepy:)... 
 Layla LOVES dressing up in dresses and sometimes Gibs joins in...
 If only Greta had a little Minnie dress on:)...
 "Auntie" Mandi and the kids came over for a bit this afternoon...
 And Gigi watched Gibs and Layla this morning while Greta and I went to get some groceries.  I thought Gigi and Greta should have a pic together since they were wearing the same colors:).  And then of course Layla wanted to join the picture:).

Well, time for bed.  Greta slept 11 1/2 hours last night and a little over 12 the night before, so here's hoping she does as well tonight (otherwise her max sleeping time was 11 hours)!  Only 2 days until she is 3 months already!!  My baby girl is growing so fast!

Oh, and can also say how much I love Pinterest?!  It has been so great for recipes (among other ideas).  I've always been one to like new recipes and probably typically tried at least 3 new recipes a week, but Pinterest has made it even easier and I don't find that I search as long for good recipes anymore.  I saw something on it the other day about how once upon a time I thought Facebook was the easiest way to waste time, but then I found Pinterest.  Totally true! :)  Although normally my "computer time" is while pumping or feeding Greta, so at least I'm multi-tasking:).


Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day

We went to MOMs (Meeting of Moms--like MOPS basically) in the morning yesterday and then went to Em's for the afternoon and stayed for dinner.  Unfortunately, when we got home our house smelled TERRIBLE!  I wasn't sure first what the smell was, but then we realized it was from Gibs spilling milk on our floor the day before!  When I wasn't in the room he had gotten the milk out of the fridge and I think was trying to maybe pour it in a cup, but had completely missed and dumped the entire thing (a gallon jug that had maybe 1/4 of the milk left in it) all over our carpet.  I cleaned it up as best as I could and figured we'd get someone to clean our carpet in our living room soon not realizing how awful the smell would get before then!  We had it cleaned this morning, so hopefully that takes care of it and we don't need new padding under our carpet!  Oh, Gibs, there is never a dull moment with him!  At least our carpet is nice and clean now as I'm sure there have been other spills from the kids over the years!

Had Greta not had this pink and red outfit, she would have worn the same shirt has Harper.  Layla happened to have this same one that Harper had on yesterday.  Had I known that, they could have been twins:).
 Greta, Layla, Gibs, Harper and Gavin...

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Another Sunday Post

Seems like lately when I post things, it's on a Sunday. I guess the extra pair of hands helping allows for a bit of extra time:).  Layla started gymnastics on Saturday and really liked it. Joe's parents offered to watch Greta and Gibson which worked great so that Joe and I could enjoy breakfast alone (we realized we hadn't even had a date since before Greta was born!) and watch the end of Layla's class plus it was nice not having to have all of us ready to go by 8:30 in the morning:).  Layla said she liked doing summersaults, hanging from the bar and going through the tunnel.  When we got there, they were starting the obstacle course at the end which was always my favorite part too.  They didn't play "California Girls" by the Beachboys though like they always did when I was little:).  Although it still is the same teacher that teaches it!
She wore a leotard, but apparently didn't need it b/c she just kept her shorts and sweatshirt on...
 We had a nice relaxing Sunday today.  Both littlest kids napped over 2 1/2 hours at the same time, so that was nice.  And Greta has been sleeping good the past couple of nights.  She has her "dinner" bottle around 6 or 7 (depending on the day) and then likes a "snack" bottle (like 2 oz--normally she drinks 4 1/2-5 oz) around 8:30, seems a little weird as I'm not normally into giving her "snack" bottles, but that's what seems to work for her.  She then is in bed by 9 and the past couple of mornings has gotten up a little after 7:30.  So nice to have her sleeping 10 1/2 hours!  When she goes to bed too late, she tends to wake up earlier, so for now, this is her schedule.  Tonight her last bottle was at 7:30 so she didn't get her "snack" bottle,  so here's hoping she sleeps good again tonight! 
The kids were having fun playing with stickers tonight:)...

 Greta just LOVES this chair!  I'm so glad we have it. She just sits contently watching her big bro and big sis.  Sometimes I feel like she looks so bored, but she seems to like it and is a pretty content baby now that she likes to sit there and see what's going on.
 Again in the chair with toys big sis gave her...
 
 Layla wanted to take a pic of me with Greta and I thought it was cute that Greta smiled:)...
I'm getting rid of all my boy clothes and have already sold a bunch to a few different people, however, there are a few things I've had a hard time parting with, this little Mickey sleeper was one of those things.  Greta looks like a boy wearing it, but I wanted it to get one more use before we say good-bye to it:).

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Matching Nemos

I had gotten these matching Nemo jammies for Layla and Gibs, but Gibs was in his way before Layla ever fit in it. But now Greta and Gibs can match in them.  Layla of course wanted in on the pic too and was sad she didn't have any to match:).

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

2 Years!

Gibson turned 2 December 30!  He's getting to be such a big boy and is still so full of personality!  He makes constantly makes us laugh with the silly things he does, faces he makes and things he says.  He still doesn't say a ton.  He says lots of single words and sometimes puts a couple of words together, but rarely three words together.  But he definitely seems to understand more than he says. I'm pretty sure when he doesn't do what I tell him, it's not because he doesn't know what I'm saying, he just doesn't want to listen:). He is fully of energy, yet also loves cuddling when he's in the right mood (typically mornings and evenings).  I've figured out recently that if he gets up before I'm ready to get up, he'll lay in bed with me and sometimes fall back asleep next to me.  That works great since he likes to get up sometimes at 7:30-8ish and Layla gets up at 9ish and Greta now (after feeding around 6) gets up around 8:30/9.  It's nice to have that little time alone with him, even if I am sleeping:).  He is learning more and more how to push Layla's buttons and fighting back more.  If we're going to watch tv, Layla is used to watching what she wants, but now Gibs has an opinion too (and almost always chooses Mickey) which is good for Layla to get used to.  He LOVES to do everything that Layla does and loves copying every move she makes.  They are the best of friends but can definitely fight too!  And just recently I've seen Gibson throw a little tantrem on the ground which is so weird to see.  He's always been whiny at times (like a normal kid), but to see him scream like that seems so out of character--terrible twos I guess!  Thankfully he's done with it after a minute.  At this point, he is definitely our kid that is the highest maintenance while going out.  I know some people thing I'm crazy for taking them with me grocery shopping or to stores or whatever, but really, Greta's at such an easy age where she just sleeps in her carrier and Layla is fine to take out, so really it's not much different than having just Layla and Gibs--I just now have to lug a carseat along as well.  Gibs does well out at places as long as I keep him in the stroller or cart, but if he gets out he does not always listen when I tell him to stay by me.  He is definitely getting better, so hopefully by the time Greta outgrows her carseat, he will be good about staying  by me and NOT touching things in stores (since then Greta will be at a trickier age when you can't just set her down in her carrier).  Layla has just been very different than him, she has always listened much better, so it'll be interesting to see what Greta is like as she gets older.  Layla couldn't see me for a second the other day in Bed Bath and Beyond and looked so worried and like she was going to cry--totally reminds me of me when I was little.  I feared losing my mom in stores!  Gibs apparently doesn't care:). 
He had his 2 year check up a little late, but he's doing well.  Even though he's a little slow with his words, the doctor says he's in the normal range, so nothing to be concerned with.  We are happy he is a healthy happy little guy!  Here are his stats:
Weight: 29 lbs 11 oz (50-75th %)
Height: 35 1/2" (50-75th %)
Head: 49.2 cm (50-75th %)
So apparently he is very proportioned!

I chose the theme for his birthday party about a year ago:), but really, if he understood picking themes, I'm sure he'd have chosen Mickey too!  He really loves Minnie and Mickey.  I also decided a year ago that it'd be fun to do a brunch for his party.  I love brunch food and thought with it being winter, it's not so bad to "waste" people's Saturday mornings.  Plus it worked out that it was a holiday weekend--we had it on NYE morning.

Muffin pops that Auntie Heidi made...
Bread that I just bought and then used a Mickey cookie cutter to shape like Mickey...
Fruit cups made by Auntie Em...





The "kid table"...

Enjoying his birthday brunch meal...(too busy eating to look at the camera--the kid LOVES to eat, especially fruits and veggies)

Gavin, Layla, Gibson...
Kassia with Greta...
Opening presents...
Layla with Auntie Em and Uncle Mike (all in their Mickey apparel)...

A scooter from Grandpa, Grandma and Auntie Rachael to match Layla's that she got for Christmas...
Handy Manny set!
Some trains from the Lubbers...
Gifts from Grampy and Gigi...
A train table for all his new trains! (he got some Chuggington sets for Christmas)
Yummy Mickey cake...
I look like I can hardly hold him:)...
Playing with his new Mickey train (from Grandpa and Grandma) with Grandpa...

Greta in her Minnie shirt:)...
Playing still with the train set with Grampy.  Gibs LOVES his Mickey choo choo!
Greta and Harper...

Best family pic we could get...