March Madness

Before I get to our Spring Break fun, I never posted these pics from my Dad's birthday back in February. I have not been taking many photos lately (with either my camera or phone) so I better post what I have. Poor Jace is definitely suffering from second child syndrome - no photos, no blogging, no fuss. We love you though, buddy!

Jace and Daddy...

Rylee was wearing a cute dress, but she had started playing with her dress up clothes by the time I got around to photos and Jace appears more interested in Papa's phone - but it's the best I have to offer right now!

Actually, the ballet leotard Rylee is wearing reminds me of something.  I brought Jace over to my Mom and Dad's for dinner one night and he promptly spilled his entire cup of water on his clothes.  My mom threw his clothes in the dryer, but their wasn't a backup set in the diaper bag.  We ended up letting him wear Rylee's leotard!  Even he knew it was embarrassing, because he wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get photographic evidence with my cell phone.

The rest of March is a blur of going back to work and everyone being sick... until Spring Break.  The kids and I made the most of our week off together.  Here's a quick recap of all our fun....

Fri - dinner and playtime with Norah and Caleb
Sat - Kenzi's birthday party
Sun - Disney on Ice with Kenzie and her family (second row seats were amazing!)
Mon - playdate with Devri and Brighton
Tues - playtime with Gaga and Papa
Wed - playdate with James (Jace went crazy for all his train toys!)
Thurs - watched "The Nut Job" at the cheap theater with Devri and Brighton
Fri - shopping with Gaga (thanks for babysitting Papa)
Sat - Game Works arcade fun and lunch with Norah and Caleb (and baby Blake)
Sun - Oliver's birthday party

Whew!  What a week.  We had a blast, but I need to go back to work to give myself (and my pocketbook) a rest.  :)

Jace @ 21 months

So these stats are about a month old, but still worth recording.  :)

Height: 37 inches  (100+)

For the first time ever, Jace is off the charts in height.  The doctor said he's the height of the average 33 month old now.  

Weight: 29 lbs 12 oz (79th percentile)

My guess is that he's lost a little weight since that visit.  

The poor dude got really sick at the beginning of March.  Just in time for me to go back to work and Jon to leave on a week's business trip to Cali.  Luckily, Gaga and Papa were here to babysit, shuttle the kids back and forth from their appts (Rylee was sick too), and take care of me - yep, I got sick too.  I even missed a day of work my first week back!  Thanks Mom and Dad - we would not have survived without you!

We're all healthy right now (knock on wood).  It's been a brutal couple months what with the strep and then this round of crud.  I'm hoping we can at least manage to stay healthy for spring break next week.  :)

Look Who's Talking (sort of):

Jace, my little owl, isn't much of a talker, but he can make the o sounds. Some of his favorite words are: no, go, uh oh, one more (not much of an r sound at the end so it's more like one mo - he usually uses this plea for one more book before bed), coo coo (cookie), whoo whoo (train whistle), moo etc.  

He can say Mom (usually drawn out like Maw...m), Dada, Gaga, Papa, hi, bye, he says something for Rylee and Rio too, but I can't remember what it is right now.  I'll have to get back to you on those.  And he still says "tada!" for all his big accomplishments.  So adorable!

He tries to say truck, but it comes out fruck.  Thank goodness from the r sound in there!

He loves to sing.  He knows Taylor Swift's song 21 (if that's even the name).  We call it the "ah ah" song because Jace loves to sing the "ah ahs."  Today he learned he can sing all the "go"-es in "Let it Go" from Frozen (Rylee's current favorite song).  He is too sweet.

Well, chaos has just erupted in my house so I better get back to actual parenting... :) 

February Fun

I've tried to blog a few times in the last week or so, but I kept having technical difficulties.  Unfortunately, I lost the post I wrote to accompany these photos and now I'm too lazy to go back and rewrite it.  So this is what remains...

February flew by!  My aunt, Kathleen, and cousin, Lilly, were in town for the last two weekends visiting. Lilly stayed over night a couple times with us.  The kids loved having her around.  Rylee even decided to brave the frigid pool temps.

Jace stuck to the splash table - his new favorite activity.

Blogger also put the photos out of order so this should have gone with the Kathleen and Lilly bit.  :)

Anyway, it was lovely to see them and much was had.  Let's hope this one post will motivate me to come back and start writing the huge list of other things I want to share.  We'll see....

Spa-tacular Part 2

I missed this cute picture of Rylee getting her manicure yesterday (I think!).




So after the girls got beautified, they got "princessified" and walked the runway in a fashion show. They all wore white tanks with pink tutus, fairy wings and wands.

Rylee was the first girl out on the catwalk. She loved every minute of it. I only took video, but it was very cute. While she strutted and posed, they said: "Rylee's favorite color is pink. She loves to do arts and crafts. And she wants to be a princess when she grows up!" Only slightly better than the girls who said they wanted to be mermaids or butterflies. Do you think she'll be too old to marry Prince William's son? :)

Here's a picture after the runway show of some of the girls blowing kisses to their adoring fans.




After they changed back into their own clothes, they ate cupcakes, did the limbo, and then it was time to head home. :(

Here's the little princess in the car before she promptly fell asleep. Getting pampered can really wear a girl out!




She topped off her day by swimming in the pool with my cousin Lilly (brrrr!), but first she modeled her new swimsuit from Justice (her new favorite store).




Fun times!

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Spa-tacular!

Rylee attended a spa themed birthday party today. It was awesome!

First, she donned her robe and sipped on pink "champagne" with the birthday girl and friends.




Then she got a pedicure...




a massage and facial...




a manicure...




her hair braided and glittered...




and finally her makeup applied (eye shadow and lip gloss).

And that was only the beginning! I think I can only post five pics from my phone at a time so you'll have to see the rest of the pics in another post. :)

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Rylee's Valentine?

Last week was Rylee's first school Valentine's Day party. Of course, she had a spectacular time! One of the volunteers sent me these two pictures of Rylee and some of her friends.








She was a little heartbroken that her crush, Brendan, moved the week before. But with him out of the way, another boy has been courting her. She received this love letter in the class mailbox.




According to Ronnie, it says "I love my girlfriend." And when I picked Rylee up from school, he not only hugged her goodbye, but kissed her as well! Luckily he's shorter than she is, so it was mostly a cheek kiss. :)

Rylee says Ronnie is nice, but she's going to love Brendan forever. We'll see...

The next day all the kids were at a classmate's birthday party. When I took a photo of Rylee with the birthday girl, Ronnie came over and asked if he could "smile" with Rylee too. Adorable!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Grandpa Chip Visit - Day 2

The next day we went to another park where manatees naturally congregate in shallow, warm waters. There

must have been 50 or 60.  They are interesting looking creatures!

  

There was also a playground that was a hit with the kids.  Jace really loves to climb and slide!

We stopped at a Dairy Queen for lunch on our way to Sanibel Island.  The kids can eat their Starkiss popsicle.  We got a video of Jace trying to grasp the concept of licking the popsicle.  It was hilarious!  His little tongue was going back and forth, but he wasn't actually licking anything.  I wish I knew an easy way to upload videos.  I guess someday I'll have to breakdown and create a YouTube account.  Anywhoo...

The kids enjoyed shelling on Sanibel.  At least Rylee enjoyed finding shells, Jace was more interested in running around and throwing them.  :)

The best part was a small group of dolphins had collected in the shallows.  They must have been eating because they swam back and forth in the same area for over a half hour.  It was entertaining to watch, but hard to capture with a camera.  

We had a very relaxing night.  We ordered in Chinese, put the kids to bed early after their long day of fresh air, and watched one of the playoff games on TV.  In the morning, we had a quick breakfast and then got back on the road.  

Overall, it was a great trip.  We still had to haul some gear for the kids, but every year it's getting easier. Looking forward to the time when we can just pack a couple of bags and go (no booster seats or pack n plays required!).