Big Kids

Forgot to mention that Jonah is now 6 months old! So happy 1/2 a year to him way back on Valentine's Day! With that milestone we also had to make another trip to the doctor for shots and a check up. And since Leah is close to her 3rd birthday she got a physical & shots too. I was VERY curious to see where Leah landed on the growth chart since she is visibly taller than most of her friends. She weighed in at 36 lbs and 39 inches putting her above the 90th percentile for both. So yeah, she is bigger than 90% of girls her age!

Now our little man is growing just fine too. He's not topping the charts like his sister but with a weight of almost 18lbs and height of 27 inches he's average for weight and taller than 70% of baby boys his age.

So that is that. Do the stats really matter? Probably not. Just nice to know that they are growing. Not that it wasn't obvious with their pants getting shorter and shorter!

And how about photos!?!

Poor Neglected Blog

So yes, I have neglected my blog and my camera in the past two weeks. Things have been busy around here! Last week both of the kids had check ups at the doctor and we spent the weekend at Grandma Helen & Grandpa Lee's while Paul was busy with work things.

Also last week Paul made some changes in his office and we made the decision I would head to work in office one day a week. This of course led to a bit of a freak out on my part! I've done lots of work at home in the past three years, both parenting and things for Paul's business, but it's been almost three years since I had to "go to the office." Fortunately, a good friend of mine has agreed to watch the kids on Wednesday's and her kids are close to the same ages as Leah & Jonah. Yesterday was their first day and things went pretty well!

The other nice part about being at the office is that I like my boss and he takes me out to lunch! For as much as I hate leaving my kids, it will probably be good for my mental health!

So that's what's up with us. More posts to follow.

Valentine Hodpodge

I don't really have anything profound to say about Valentine's Day. We don't do a whole lot of celebrating. Paul was out of town till Saturday morning so all we wanted to do was spend time together at home. I did take the kids to a party for our playgroup and Leah and I had a fun time creating our goodies to take along. The photos tell the story better.

fudge truffle cheesecake we made for daddy

marshmallow pops for playgroup party

Stirring the homemade playdough

cutting out her playdough valentines

Jonah and the playgroup babies. All born within 3 months.

Our Guardian Angel

When I was growing up my mom occasionally reminded us of our guardian angels. The most memorable time for me was the guy who stopped with his large truck and pulled us, our minivan, & our boat up a gravel hill that we were nearly sliding backward down. That's a story for another day though.

Our guardian angel was on duty today when I had the kids out for a run. The 70 degree February weather has given me a burst of ambition and I have been trying to run again. We were about a mile from our house this morning when we had a run in with a car. What a car does to a jogging stroller isn't pretty. It's not pretty what it does to a mother's emotions when her babies are strapped into the said jogging stroller. Especially when one of them goes flying out.

Now, Leah and Jonah are fine and I've gotten a hold of my emotions about the whole ordeal. The guy that hit us rolled through a stop sign and right over the front wheel of our stroller. He was very apologetic and I think will forgive me for the choice words I shouted at him. We also had great service from the local ambulance crew and paramedics who checked out the bump on Leah's head and gave Jonah the once over. Leah was not a fan of the siren so we declined a ride to the hospital. We were thankful that one of the passerbys was our neighbor who was happy to snuggle Jonah while I calmed Leah down and went to get our car with the car seats so we could get home.

So yes, our guardian angel worked hard today. It really could have been so much. Pedestrians don't usually win in car / pedestrian accidents.

and I guess we will be getting a new stroller.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

"Let's go fly a kite Up to the highest height! Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring Up through the atmosphere Up where the air is clear Oh, let's go fly a kite!"
From Mary Poppins

Yup, perfect day for flying the kite yesterday. Doing it our own backyard probably isn't the smartest thing in the world but it sure it fun. Leah is awesome at running across the yard while I throw the kite up in the air! She is usually great at holding the string and running a bit to keep the kite up in the air too. Yesterday was a bit different though and I ended up fishing the kite out of the neighbor's tree. Of course, I thought I could do better than my two year old and let the kite fly super high. It then lost air and landed on our roof. Oops. I managed to get it off with out having to get out the ladder. All in all it was fun. Such simple pleasure on warm day in February!

That Face

So I meant to have a really nice post about going to the park today since it's pushing 70 degrees here in Missouri today. Instead this is a post about Leah's crying face. I didn't realize until recently that she does this insane open mouthed wail thing and that she has been doing it for a LONG time. It's not usually something we capture on film but here are two examples.

June 2007

Today

It drives me crazy that now she does it "on purpose." Like today. This face went along with "I don't want to go home yet". Even though what she should have been saying was "I'm too darn tired to enjoy the park right now. She crashed as soon as we got home.

And someone had a great time at the park! His first time in a big swing!

Bad Grandma

Our kids are blessed to have three Grandmas as well as a few honorary grandmas here and there. Leah calls them all by name and knows which grandma goes with which grandpa. A while back Paul's mom, Sally, christened herself "Bad Grandma". Why, you ask? Is she mean to the kids? Does she smell funny? Did she do something naughty? Although she may be guilty of that last one sometime during her 70some years, it's none of those reasons. It's because she spoils the kids! She does things like letting Leah eat ice cream pretty much whenever she wants! I guess that's what grandmas are for though!

She sent the kids a package this week with a few things we forgot there over Christmas and some new clothes for Jonah. I know she reads this blog so "Thanks Bad Grandma!" Your address label made us smile!

My Boy

I am so happy to report that Leah appears to love her baby brother very much. She is quick to shower him with hugs and kisses and informs us daily that he is "her boy." She is quite the source of entertainment for him as well. She loves the music on his exersaucer as much as he does so she pushes the button and dances for him. Her other favorite thing to do is to "push" him in his baby swing. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw her slamming the back of the swing into the couch until I realized Jonah was laughing hysterically! Something tells me that she won't always love him quite this much, like maybe when he starts crawling which will be soon based on all the rocking he is doing!

I don't like trains.

So really, she does like trains. As long as they are parked and silent. It was the train bell that prompted the "I don't like trains" comment while we were visiting the Museum of Transportation on Friday. It's quite the interesting place with old trains that you can walk through and a fabulous "Creation Station" for kids. Leah had a fun time despite the cold and Jonah saw it all from the comfort of the Ergo carrier. It would have been nice if I had a train to ride around the place on. I feel like a pack animal carrying Jonah on my front and the loaded diaper bag on my back.








Thanks to our friend Ronda for these last two pictures.