Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Yummy

BITER BISCUIT = LOVE




CLEAN FACE = DEATH!!! 




NO, SERIOUSLY....





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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Feeding Giraffes and Such...

I love the Zoo and there is a really nice one here.  The last several times we have taken the kids to the Zoo they have had a blast.  As parents, there are things we want our kids to do because secretly we really want to do them too.  One of those things, for me, was feeding the giraffes at the Zoo.

I LOVE giraffes.  They are probably my favorite zoo type animal.  Unfortunately, every time we have gone to the Zoo we have missed feeding time for one thing or another.  However, we went a few weeks ago and I was adamant that we would make feeding time and we did.

Honestly, I hadn't put much thought into whether or not walking up to a huge giraffe and holding out a piece of lettuce for them to take out of your hand would scare Lukas & Maddox.  I mean they are big to me, so for Lukas & Maddox they are ENORMOUS. Luckily for me, my kids have no fear and thought this was just about the coolest thing ever!  Here are the pictures from that day!

Waiting patiently to feed the giraffe.

The lady getting us our giraffe food

Maddox feeding the giraffe (yes that is his tongue)

No Fear :)

Lukas feeding the giraffe

So Brave :)


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Monday, October 22, 2012

1 down 2 to go....

In the busyness of everyday life, I forgot to write about an AMAZING happening  in our household.  Maddox is potty trained <------- yes that is past tense as in we are mostly DONE!


From the beginning, I did not want to start potty training at all until the kids were ready.  We had just brought Ridley home and I just didn't want to tackle that task until there were definite signs of readiness.

I was shocked when one day the teachers at school asked if I would start putting Maddox in pull-ups because she was very interested in going potty.  We immediately bought pull-ups and got vamped to start the process (potty seats, treats, etc.).  Around June, we started full force and Maddox was all into getting rewarded.  We never went into hardcore training (taking her every 10 minutes, really pushing her to go), because I just wanted her to take it at her pace and frankly, I have two other kids to take care of so making this a huge burden wasn't something I wanted to take on at this point.


Maddox started regressing in July and August and really not wanting to use the potty at all and then went through a phase where she only wanted to use the potty as a way to dictate what she wanted to do.  Example:  It's time for bath...."I need to go potty"...It's time for bed...."I need to go potty".  During this time I got really frustrated.  I had to keep reminding myself that she is only 2 1/2 and that she started this process and would eventually take further interest in it.

As a way to get her back on track, I made a sticker chart and we went and picked out panties together (blue being her favorite color).  We started on the weekend and put her in panties everyday.  She would get a sticker for number 1 and an M&M for number 2.  We spoke with the school and they were all about helping us, so after two weeks of panties on at home we started sending her to school in panties. We had only 2 number 1 accidents at school (1 during nap & 1 out on the playground without enough time to get inside)



At around the middle of September, Maddox just started going.  We only had 1 or 2 accidents.  Even when we leave the house and are out and about she always tells us when she needs to go.  We still have her in pull-ups at night time and nap, but a large majority of the time she wakes up dry and immediately goes to the potty.

I'm so proud of her.


Now we are waiting for Lukas to get ready.  He's definitely showing interest and has had success once or twice, but still hasn't really decided that he wants to be apart of this whole heatedly. (I have heard boys are harder than girls) So we are 1 down and 2 to go in our house..WOO HOO :)


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Friday, October 19, 2012

Resemblances

We always love to hear who people feel that the kids look like.  It's hard when we see them on a daily basis to really decide who they favor.  We also know mannerisms and personality which adds to our opinion of whom are kids favor.

Right now, we hear "Ridley looks just like Lukas" or "Ridley is a perfect combination of Lukas and Maddox".  I thought I would show you a few pictures of the twins around the same time to show you the similarities she shares with her siblings.






It's too hard for me to tell.  One thing is for sure...I think she looks A LOT like her daddy!!!  What do you think?


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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

7 Months


First off...Oh My Goodness..look at the little ball of love (above).  I think she is just too stinkin' adorable for words.  Okay, now that I got that out of my system, how is my BABY 7 months old?  I read a quote about children growing up the other day that sums it up, "The days are long, but the years are short".  That is too true.  I mean some days (particularly hard ones) seem to drag on and I can't wait until the 8 o'clock bedtime, but then I look down and realize my toddlers look more like actual big kids and my baby is nearing a toddler.  It makes me happily sad...or sadly happy.


Ridley is, as ever, one of the happiest babies I have ever been around.  I hope that her personality now is indicative to her behavior as an adolescent, if so, I got this.  Ridley has such a sweet demeanor and it generally always happy.  She isn't always a great napper, but even when she misses her naps I can't get frustrated because she is still such a happy camper. 


Ridley is definitely considering crawling.  She definitely gets from Point A to Point B...by either rolling...inch worming...or stretching.  She gets up on all fours easily, but hasn't really figured out the entire process.  Maddox gets on the floor beside her and tries to show her how, even tries to move her arms for her.  It is funny to watch how patient she is while teaching her baby sister. 



When I took her to the Pediatrician recently she weighed 17lbs 3oz and is a pretty healthy girl.  She is still doing really well eating solids.  Her favorite is definitely this Mango/Spinach mixture I have made her.  She thinks it is pretty awesome.


Really, we feel totally blessed to have such a joy of a baby.  We love the cuddles and loves that she gives.  She adds a wonderful dynamic to our family.  The twins definitely think she is pretty awesome too.  They call her "REE REE", which is precious to hear them say it.  They are so sweet to her (even when she accidentally pulls their hair etc.).


Ho Hum...are we done with the photo session yet?



Happy 7 months baby!  You are truly wonderful to be around!
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