Tuesday, September 22

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Dear Noelle,

One of the things I really hope to instill in you is a love for reading and I think we are on the right track. You get super excited when we go to the library and have a blast bringing back the old books and picking out new ones. You are always trying to get us to read "one more please" or keep reading for "just two more minutes".

We have read and re-read your collection of books so many times that you have a few of them memorized. I happened to sneak up on you and Ty in the hallway today and you were reading him Brown Bear, Brown Bear:




All was going well until you said " gorange oldfish" and I started laughing. You caught me with the camera and got camera shy shortly after, but these impromptu reading sessions with Ty are happening more and more and I think it's the cutest thing! You're such a good reader AND a good big sister!

I love you little girl,
Mommy

Monday, September 21

Melting My Heart

Dear Ty,

You are
without a doubt
the cutest,
sweetest,
most adorable little boy
I have ever seen.
I love you!
Mommy

Wednesday, September 9

Dark in here!

Dear Noelle,

Had to share the conversation we just had:

You: "Mom, I dropped my nigh-nigh"

Me: "Okay, you can get out of bed and get it."

***you rummage around for a good minute***

You: "Ummmm, mom....it's pretty dark in here." (with the tone of voice that was really saying, DUH, how the heck am I supposed to find anything in the pitch black, can you get off your butt and help me out in here or what.

I love you,
Mommy

Why would you do that?

Dear Noelle,

Tonight we had a great dinner: homemade Italian beef, cucumbers fresh from our garden and french fries. You accidentally knocked your spoon on the floor and as I went to go grab it, you threw a hunk of meat at me. What the heck would possess you to do that? Needless to say, you landed in time out. When I asked you why you would do that, you said, "Cause it's funny!"

Of course.

We then headed out for a bike ride and you can now FLY on your little bike. At one point I was running with Ty to catch up to you, and as you kept going faster and faster, I couldn't help but think of how much your bike riding parallels your growing independence. You are getting to be such a big girl and are a wonderful help (when you're not pelting me with food). I love how your personality is so unique and even when you are testing the limits, I never forget how lucky I am to be your mommy.

When we got home, we started to fill up the tub for bath time. You came up to me, hugged my neck and said, "Mom, I love you. You're my friend."

You're my friend too, baby girl, and I love you infinity!!
Love,
Mommy

Tuesday, September 8

Vacation Part 1

Well, we did it. We survived a week long vacation with two little-littles. Despite our best attempts to get out of the house early, we ended up not getting on the road until about 7:30 am. We were aiming for about 5:00 am so the kids could sleep a little on the way up, stop for breakfast, drive, nap, get there. Well you know how it goes: there's always one last thing to pack, gotta do this, do that, check this, check that, next thing you know we're out the door at 7:30. Did I mention we had everything packed and the car loaded the night before?

Yeah, the best laid plans....

Either way, it worked out just fine. Mapquest put us there in 6 hours, and we made it up in about 8.5. The kids did awesome and the stars aligned for us so that we only had to stop a few times and got everything done at each stop (diaper changes, potty breaks, nursing, lunch, gas)... unlike the dreaded 3 hour-turned-6 hour- trip to St. Louis down to Stacy and Hari's where we lucky enough to make individual stops for the above mentioned needs.


We had fun playing flash cards, drawing and singing in the car and stretching our legs with some quick runs when needed. We got to the house, checked out the place, the beach, the boat and headed to the grocery store to stock up for the week. We decided to do most meals at home, and got lots of yummy stuff to BBQ...although I'll admit by the time we got home, we ended up throwing in a pizza and calling it a night. We were all pretty tired from the car ride and wanted to get a good night's sleep for the next day's adventures.


Sunday, August 2nd

We all slept in until about 9:30, which was AWESOME. You just never know how kids will adjust to sleeping in a new place and we really lucked out. Little did we know this was going to become a common theme for our trip, and I was not complaining at all. We cooked a huge breakfast and headed out to the beach to soak up some sun before naptime. Our beach was perfect as could be for a family with an energetic and exploratory toddler. The water was super warm, shallow, clear, in other words: SAFE. Just what a mother with a slight OCD needed. Daddy and Noelle played ball and expored while Ty and myself hung out in the sand.












**I realize it's totally ridiculous that it has taken me a month to get some vaca pictures up, and there are tons more to come!! Things are just TOO BUSY! Plus, Ty's 7 month update is coming too!