Frosting

This morning I had the following conversation with Emily:

"Mommy!  The grass is all WHITE!"

"Yeah, it got really cold last night so we got some frost.  Cool, huh?  That's the closest we get to snow down here."

"Look! Jake and Julie's [our neighbors] yard has frosting, too!"

Emily's 5th birthday PARTY!

Emily had a great birthday party at My Gym.  They played all sorts of games and also got to spend some time exploring the gym and doing whatever looked like fun!  Miss Alyssa and Miss Shannon made it a fun time for everyone.

Silly Bailey

Over the past week I have had several conversations with Bailey that have really had me laughing.  Two-year-olds are a riot!!

The other day, after I put her shirt on her, I noticed that she had a string dangling down from the sleeve.  So I said, "Bailey, come into the kitchen.  You have a string on your arm and I need to cut it."

Bailey got very upset and replied, "No! I don't want you to cut my arm!" LOL!!  I guess I should have been clearer about what I was going to cut!

AND...

Bailey was playing on Emily's bike and she fell off and scratched her belly.  So that night after her bath Will and I were trying to put some Neosporin on the scratches.  She was super upset because I mentioned a band-aid (this kid HATES band-aids for some reason) so we told her we weren't going to put a band-aid, but that we needed to put some cream on her boo-boo.  Again, she got upset and said, "I don't want you to give me a boo-boo!"  And it took like ten minutes of us explaining that we weren't trying to GIVE her a boo-boo, we were trying to take care of the boo-boo she already had!  Sheesh!!  But it was still funny.

And last but not least...

Yesterday B was watching Max and Ruby, and Max pulled a worm out of a mud puddle.  So Bailey says, "Look!  Max has a noodle!"

I laughed and said, "That's not a noodle; that's a worm."

Bailey goes, "Oh, that's not a noodle.  That's a WORM!"

So I burst out laughing, which made her laugh, which made Emily and me laugh even harder.  What fun!!

Emily turns 5!

Emily had a special birthday, and we still have her party to look forward to this weekend!  At school, Ms. Christina made her a birthday crown to wear!  We brought cupcakes and her class sang to her.

After school we went to McDonald's for lunch with some friends.  It was a little bit of a letdown since the playplace was closed and that was why she wanted to go there, but she still had fun:



Then, since Mommy had a doctor's appointment that afternoon, she went over to Bella and Lydia's house and they gave her the Furry Frenzies city playset that she wanted!  She was thrilled!!

And finally, when we got home, she got to ride her brand-new big-girl bike, which was her present from Mommy and Daddy.

The funniest part was when we put her to bed, though, and she said, "Mommy, when I wake up tomorrow it will be my very real birthday!"  Sorry, kid, you only get one a year!!

It's Beginning to Feel a lot Like Christmas...

On Saturday we spent some time together decorating our Christmas tree! The girls were super excited and they did a great job. We tried a new location for the tree this year and it worked out great because we didn't have to rearrange our entire dining room to set it up!

The Florida Aquarium

While visiting Grandma and Grandpa Buddy in Tampa, we decided to go check out the Florida Aquarium.  The kids had a great time looking at the sea life and even got to touch some of the animals!  Here are some pictures from our day.

My cuties

Last week I brought a bag full of nonperishable food as well as some other items to Emily's school.  They were collecting Thanksgiving meal donations for needy families.  Emily said, "Mom, why do you have that bag?"

"It's a bag full of food for a family who doesn't have any.  It's for Thanksgiving."

She got a very concerned look on her face, and then she said, "Are the Cheetos in there?" LOL!!

and...
Yesterday I took Bailey to the mall.  As we were driving around to find a place to park, she kept pointing to the different stores and saying, "Is THAT the mall?"  It was so cute!  She also does the same thing when putting a puzzle together: "Does THAT piece go there?"

They are such cuties!!

More THAT!

This morning I gave Bailey a Vienna Finger (my favorite cookie).  She opened it and ate all of the creme filling.  Then she brought me the two cookie pieces and said, "More that!"

So I said, "More what?"

And she pointed to the place where the creme used to be and said, "More THAT!"

LOL!  I told her she had to eat the cookie before I'd give her another one.  Silly kid!

Liam's room--update

Mom went shopping and so did I--so Liam's room got a bit of an update this weekend!  Dad finished putting up the trim and got the clothes rack in the closet so I am washing clothes and getting them all ready to go!  We have a little more work to be done--the doors need to be painted and doorknobs installed, and some electrical work since the light switch needs to be moved and a ceiling fan installed.  I am thinking of getting a shelf to go over the changing table as well.  But other than that, things are done and we are ready to meet our SON!

Halloween Fun

 

 Emily and Bailey were super excited to celebrate Halloween this year.  Every day Emmy would ask me if Halloween was "the next day" because she wanted to wear her costume and get candy!  Bailey was also looking forward to it; she kept bringing me her costume and asking to wear it.  However, on the big day, she refused to wear her costume and didn't get to trick-or-treat.  Daddy is a softie, though, and he got a bag full of candy for her.  Meanie Mommy was just going to make her miss out.  She is SUCH a stinker sometimes!  Here we are in our costumes!  It was fun to dress up and see the other neighborhood kids.  We only did one block of our development and got tons of candy--maybe when the girls are bigger we'll let them do the whole 'hood. :)

Liam's room

Over the last two weeks we have completely remodeled our guest room and created a nursery for Liam.  Decorating is still underway but I wanted to share some of the progress we've made so far!


This is what our guest room looked like before



Dad cutting in the new doorway



closing up the old doorway



framing the closet



closet and doorway, and room is painted



crib and dresser are in!



still working on decorating but we've got his name up!









My Adorable Emily

Emily has really been piling on the cuteness lately!! Last night she and Bailey were dancing around the living room, which was pretty cute in and of itself, but then she walked up to Will and said, "Daddy, would you be my prince?"  :)

Then she drew this picture of me:

I love that I am smiling AND my belly is smiling. I guess Liam is happy, too.

Cheeseburger confusion

We got lunch from Wendy's today, and Emily said she wanted a cheeseburger with nothing on it but ketchup.  She's only had a cheeseburger once before, and last time I ordered one for her I forgot to say "ketchup only." So, they put pickles and mustard on it and she was deeply offended.
So I ordered a plain cheeseburger with ketchup, and she wouldn't eat it because it had "three things on it! ketchup, cheese, and sausage!"

I said, "That's not sausage; that's the hamburger!"

She was expecting a slice of cheese with ketchup on a bun, apparently.

Love that kid!!

Green beans

Last night we put Emily to bed at 7:30.  She usually goes to bed between 7:00 and 8:00, depending on how late she slept that morning and whether or not she has school the next day.  So it was a perfectly reasonable bedtime for her. Well, an hour passed and all was quiet, so I assumed she was asleep.  That is, until we heard her bedroom door opening at 8:34pm.  I went over to check it out:

"Emily, why are you still awake?"

"That means I'm still hungry.  I didn't get everything I wanted at dinner.  And I want to have some green beans."

"Green beans?  I am not making green beans at 8:30 at night!  You had plenty of dinner!  You need to go to sleep!"

"But I wanted to have green beans with dinner!"

"Well, I'll make green beans tomorrow night, okay?  It's time for bed now."

Part of me wonders if I just should have given the kid green beans.  I mean, have you ever heard of a kid who asks for GREEN BEANS for dessert?  LOL!!

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we visited a pumpkin patch at a nearby church and let the girls pick some pumpkins to decorate.  They had a great time.  Emily was super excited about the "pumpkin faces" as she called them--wooden pumpkins with cutouts for you to stick your face in:

 

They loved looking at all of the pumpkins.  Emily was amazed at the different kinds of pumpkins--smooth and bumpy; orange, white, green!; tiny, medium, and "the hugest one I never seen!" Finally, we chose some pumpkins to bring home.

Bailey's big girl room

I've been meaning to post some pictures of Bailey's room.  She got a new paint job and a princess theme now that she's a BIG GIRL!!  She loves her room and so do I!

Emily's book

Last night Emily made a book and wrote "the beginning" and drew a picture of a man.  Then she scribbled a bunch of "words" on the opposite page.  So William says, "Who is that?"

And Emmy goes, "That's God." 

So Will says, "Is that what God looks like?" 
And she replies, "Well, he doesn't look like a octopus!" And then she "read" the book to me: "In the beginning God said LET THERE BE LIGHT FOR THE PLANET and there was light!" LOL!! :) 

"I shocked!"

This is the conversation I had with Bailey this morning:


Me: "What do you want to wear today?"

B: "My Pooh shirt!"

Me, a little sarcastically, because this kid wants to wear her Pooh shirt every day--so much, in fact, that we have three identical ones to keep up with the demand: "Your Pooh shirt? I'm shocked!"

B: "I shocked, too!"

"You're making bad choices"

This morning, Emily and I had the following conversation:

"Emmy, I saw on your homework sheet that your class is getting a pet fish, and you need to think of a good name.  Got any ideas?

"Yeah.  I have a good idea: Nemo (which she pronounces "Me-moh").  Nemo is a good name for a fish, right?"

"Nemo?  Yes, that is a good fish name.  Maybe we should think of a couple ideas because your class is going to take a vote.  How about Finn?"

"Finn?  That's not a good idea."

"Bubbles?"

"Bubbles is not a good fish name, either, Mommy. You're making bad choices. I make good choices and I like Nemo."

We will let you know what the fish is named as soon as we find out!

Cheese Pickles

When I picked Emily up from school today, I asked her what she'd like for lunch.  She said, "Cheese pickles."

"Cheese pickles?? What's that?" I asked.

"They are long and straight, and they have orange salt on them.  They're cheese pickles," she replied.

"Oh, you mean cheese doodles?" I said.

"Yes.  Cheese doodles," she answered.

"Well, we'll have to pick some up next time we're at the store.  I don't have any cheese doodles at home right now."

LOL!!

The Naked Chef

Bailey is really into her kitchen, shopping cart, and play food. The other day, she set up a bunch of food on Daddy's computer tower like it was her counter and she was jabbering away. It was like the Bailey Cooking Show. I tried to get it on video but as soon as she saw the camera, she held her hand up and said, "No thank you, Mama." I was able to get these pictures, though:

I especially love the mittens she was using for oven mitts.  We don't have much use for mittens here but it was cute that she found a good use for them!

Last night I'd taken B's clothes off but hadn't gotten her pajamas on yet, and she ran into her room.  This is what I saw when I looked in there:

How cute is she??? :) 

Cute Conversations

As I was getting ready this morning, Bailey came into my bathroom, climbed up on the edge of the tub, and started rummaging through my makeup bag.  She fished out the chapstick and said, "Mama, I have some that please?"  So I said, "Sure.  You can have some when I am done brushing my teeth."  While she was waiting she took out the powder and powder brush and "applied" her makeup.  Then she took out the mascara and said, "I have some that too." LOL! :)

Also today, I had a priceless conversation with Emily:

"Mommy, where is the baby boy going to sleep?"

"In the guest room.  We won't have a guest room anymore; we're going to make that into a nursery."

"All by himSELF?"

"Yes, all by himself."

"But he will cry!  He will wake up and see that he is all alone and he will cry!"

So I said, "When he cries it will probably be because he is hungry.  But that is what Mommy and Daddy are here for.  We will take care of him.  Okay?"
"Okay, but if you don't hear him I will just come into your room and say, 'Mommy, the baby brother is crying!'"

SOOO cute! It's sweet that she already cares about her baby brother. :)

"Can I hear it sing?"

While Emily was at school this morning, I lugged out my sewing machine to get started on a birthday present for a friend.  I am not very good at sewing, nor do I like to sew, so my machine hasn't gotten much use, but I can do a straight seam and that's all that was required for the pillowcase I was making.  When Emmy got home, of course she immediately noticed the sewing machine on the kitchen table.

"Wow!" she exclaimed.  "What's THIS?"

"That's my sewing machine.  I'm making a pillowcase for Lydia."

"Can I hear it sing?"

Well, I burst out laughing at that.  "It doesn't sing, sweetie," I said.

"But it says 'SINGER'."

How can you argue with that? LOL!!

YIKES!

Well I guess I've been pretty distracted lately!  I can't believe how quickly this summer is flying by.  Here's an update on some of the things we have been doing lately.

On August 16, we had a sonogram and found out that Baby #3 is a BOY!  We are all very excited.  Emily wanted "a boy baby this time" and Bailey finally said she'd like a baby brother (instead of her usual "No, thank you" every time we'd asked her if she wanted a brother or sister), so that was wonderful.  His name will be William Kenneth McDowell V and we'll call him Liam for short.

Also on August 16, Emily started preschool!  She's attending VPK and she loves it.  She cried on the first day because she didn't want to come home--the kids who stay all day (she leaves at noon) were going to make gingerbread men in the afternoon and she wanted to do that!  So we made some of our own:

Poor Emily came home from school yesterday with a fever, and since it got pretty bad over night, I took her to the doctor this morning.  Diagnosis?  Strep throat AND scarlet fever!! She'll have to miss school until Monday.

Bailey is having a hard time with Emily going to school.  When we drop her off, she says, "I go school TOO" and I have to explain that she has to wait until she turns four.  Then when we leave, it's, "Oh, no! Lella!" like I'd just forget her somewhere!  My favorite part, though, is when we pick Emmy up from school and they greet each other:

It's hard to imagine what it'll be like when Emily goes to "real" school and is gone all day!  Right now it's only three hours!!

Bailey has also developed an interest in using the potty, which may or may not have to do with my bribe of M&Ms for using the potty.  For a while she wouldn't have anything to do with panties, but then the other day she decided she'd give them a try.  It was so cute!  She still prefers her diapers but she is very much a creature of habit and she doesn't like any sort of change to her routine.

Bailey also moved from her crib to a toddler bed, which has been a difficult transition for her.  She's been up a lot at night.  I keep hoping once she gets used to the bed we'll go back to sleeping--she used to sleep 11 1/2 to 12 hours a night and now she's up several times, sometimes for an hour or more!  It's been hard!

Well, that's all I can think of right now!  I will try to be better about updating the blog over the next few weeks.