Lexi's 18 month appointment

This kid is getting so big too fast. First, stats:

Weight: 26 lbs 14 oz, 83rd percentile
Height: 34.75", off the charts
Head: 18.5", 63rd percentile

We knew she was getting taller and kept saying to each other "wow, look what she can reach!" But man! She grew just over 5" in six months!

She got two regularly scheduled vaccines and the flu shot and will get a few more at her two year check-up. Everything else looked good and the doctor had no concerns. I started counting her words on the way to the appointment, but kept thinking of more and losing count after 20, but over 20 words is great, so I didn't need to list all of them.

I'm happy she's healthy and happy and growing well. Next up: Stasa's flu shot and then eventual four year check-up.

The cat's out of the bag

We had a sonogram to date the pregnancy yesterday and it looks like baby is due May 3. The little peanut has a healthy heart rate of 170 BPM. The best thing any expecting parent can hope to see. Look at the little rice baby:


We're so excited and can't wait for this next adventure. And you know I'll be keeping everything updated around here with how things are going. So, here we go again!

Family pictures

I finally got a wireless remote for my camera and was excited to try it out with family pictures. We woke up and at the spur of the moment decided to get dressed for pictures. Stasa did not want to cooperate at all and my remote refused to work. So we ended up setting the camera timer and I ran into the frame every time. Ex.haust.ing. But at least we ended up with a few good shots. AND we even got a couple of just me and Tom, which is really rare. I'm going to attempt it again in a couple of weeks for Christmas card pictures.

Please stay, gorgeous weather

I love this weather. Chilly in the morning, requiring pants and light layers. Warm in the afternoon and early evening, allowing short sleeves and dresses. We've been taking advantage of this weather while it lasts: open windows round the clock, afternoons and evenings spent at the park, riding bikes, or chalking pictures in the cul-de-sac. Nearly every day Stasa asks for same two things when we get home: 1. "Can I see if my friends can play?" and 2. "Can I ride my bike?"

My answer to both is almost always yes. She loves her new bike and loves that she's just like the big kids now. And Lexi is content to just push her little car around or collect acorns. Well, and try to eat said acorns. My kid thinks she's a squirrel preparing for a long winter.






Oh! And I got a wireless remote for my camera, so this weekend I'm going to attempt taking some family pictures WITH ME IN THEM. They keep asking for a family picture at school for both girls and the most recent one I have of all four of us is from Christmas. And it's not even that great. Hopefully I'll be able to capture at least one or two good ones of the four of us. Fingers crossed.

Surprise, surprise. I got crafty.

Before our drive out to Chicago, I made a list of things to keep the girls entertained in the car. I was THISCLOSE to making a quiet book for each girl, but after pinning a million and one ideas and only have a week left before our trip, I scraped that idea and came up with another one: magnetic face board.

I'm sure I'm not the first one to come up with this, but I figured it was something I could make in a couple of days and that it wouldn't cost all that much. In fact, all I needed was magnetic paper from Michael's and a cheap small dry erase board from Target. Then I just googled some funny eyes, noses, and mouths and got to work. 

I sketched each piece out with a pencil until I was happy with the shape, outlined it with colored Sharpies, then filled each piece in with crayons. Then cut each piece out.

After I finished making all of the eyes, noses, and mouths, I drew an oval on the dry erase board for the face. Then packed everything up for our trip. Stasa was excited about her new toy and enjoyed making different faces on the drive.

Catching up

I've been MIA for a bit and really have no reason other than life at home and work being busy. I'm still in a bit of shock that summer is already over, though it doesn't quite feel like it when we walk outside since the air is still hot and thick and muggy.

A few weeks ago we drove out to Chicago to visit with our friends and family and baptize my handsome godson, who, by the way, didn't cry once during the ceremony. And he was pretty proud of himself, too. The girls were both pretty great during the drive there and back. We left around dinner on a Thursday night and drove until about 1:00 am - we made it over halfway there and stayed the night at a hotel, which was so nice because we all got a decent night of sleep. The next day we finished up the drive and stayed with our friends, Anne and Sean and their kids. Our first few days were busy with activities, but we had a lot of down time with everyone to hang out, too. After that we spent a couple of nights with Tom's brother's family and then headed home early on another Thursday morning. This time we drove straight through and since we took a few longer pit stops we didn't get home until after 10:00 pm.

Since our trip we've just been laying low and hanging out around the house. We got Stasa a big girl bike (FINALLY!) and she's been doing great on it and asks to ride it all of the time. Our neighbors recently moved back from Germany and now they have five kids and the youngest three are perfect playmates for Stasa and Lexi. In fact, Stasa's already had mini-playdates with them and they run over to each others houses to play outside almost every afternoon.

Tomorrow Stasa starts up dance class again. This one isn't just ballet and will have tap and tumbling as part of the curriculum, too. And yes, there will be another recital! We had asked Stasa during the Olympics if she wanted to dance, do gymnastics (because she was enthralled with the gymnasts), or play soccer this year. She immediately answered "DANCE!" So dance it is. I hope some of the other girls from her class last year are in this one. I think I remember the instructors saying that this age group class doesn't allow parents to be in the room during class. Perfect for me! I swear the kids would have been better behaved if the parents weren't in the room last year. Unfortunately I won't be able to take her to the first class, so Tom will fill in. I'm headed to a local Moms of Multiples consignment sale tomorrow morning and am already behind in making my list of what we need. I'm pretty sure our 4T wardrobe is more than complete and I should probably focus on 5T and size 6 clothes and shoes. And I'm always on the look out for Disney movies since they can be both pricey and hard to get.

Hotel morning routine



Sisters, checking each other out


Whispering sweet nothings






First day of school for the cousins


Wagon rides with daddy