Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Another engineer in the family?

Yesterday Caroline dragged the box of blocks all way from the family room to the foyer hallway and started to work. I couldn't imagine what she was doing. I guess building blocks with Bowen in close proximity and creating a sturdy base on a soft area rug in the family room just wasn't working to her advantage.

She must of had an "ah ha" moment. What a clever little girl I have!

Easter 2011

It was a very happy Easter for the entire family this year. We woke up Easter morning at Mimi and Papa's house in Tampa. Bowen and Caroline quickly dug in to their baskets and had Peeps for breakfast. Nice! Davis watched all of the excitement and agreed to please his mommy by being stuffed in to his own basket for a photo opportunity.

You'll notice that Bowen is the only one NOT smiling in our family photo. He did not want to leave all of his new toys to go to church. our church service was followed by a backyard Easter Egg hunt and a very large lunch with Great Papa, Uncle Matt and Aunt Barbie. One of the photos below shows Caroline with her Great Papa. I think it is so special that the kids still have a great grandparent. We celebrated Easter at his church on Sunday.

Happy Easter to all!















Easter Cookie Decorating



Spring Soccer 2011

Three times is a charm. Bowen is running the field, kicking the ball, and spends a lot less time on the sidelines looking for mommy and his Gatoraide. We are thrilled with how far he's come. He's #2!

Bowen's biggest fan

Oh...something to play with AND it matches my dress

Now we know what was distracting the boys! Ha!

Go Bo go!

Daddy playing assistant coach last Saturday

Such a big girl

Caroline has moved to her big girl bed. She sleeps through the night in her bed. Nap time I just baby gate her room and she's been napping on the floor next to the door. Hey...it's sleep:) Getting to sleep at night is a challenge. Our routine is to read a few books, say prayers, I turn out the light and lay with her for 10 minutes. Bowen has caught on to our act and wants in on the action. Last night he convinced us that he could sleep in Caroline's bed, too. They giggled, and giggled, AND GIGGLE for an entire hour. We finally had to separate them and they passed out in their own bedrooms. I just love watching their relationship grow as Caroline becomes more verbal and expressive.


Easter Playdate 2011





Ahhh the joys of swim lessons

Bowen and Caroline started their swim lessons last week. Bowen was a fish and I was so proud of how confident he was by day 2 in the water. He finished his survival swim in a week and is with a stroke instructor this week. I can't believe how much he has remembered from his infant training.

Caroline's survival training will take a few weeks longer. She is being introduced to floating, swimming to the edge, kicking, etc. She cries, but follows every instruction that the teacher delivers. She asks to see Ms. Penny(her instructor) each day and pretends to be a swim instructor at home. She lays her baby dolls on the floor and says, "1,2,3" and pushes them across the floor. She also gets down on her belly with them and tells them, "kick,kick,kick". Funny girl!

Spring Fling at Bowen's Preschool

Stroller bound but still happy

Daddy's girl eating her popcorn and people watching

Caroline and Bowen racing cars

Davis, Davis, Davis....

That's all you have to say in a very deep toned voice to get this little guy to giggle. Davis loves his floor time and time spent in his exersaucer. He rolls from his tummy to his back but not the other way around. It might be that his brother or sister are constantly in his face entertaining him while he's on his back. Hey...why roll over?


Pigtail Preview

Okay, so there is not much to little Caroline's pigtails, but I had to try. She loved them. You can see in the reflection of the mirror we've got some hair growth to go. So cute!


Bo meets Stuff

Bowen's friend Mia turned four and is an Orlando Magic fan. Her Magic themed birthday party was a huge hit with the kids. The first half of the party was spent in a gymnastics style bus. The kids piled onto the bus and tumbled, jumped and ran. The second half of the party had a surprise guest. Stuff the "MAGIC" Dragon (Orlando Magic mascot) showed up to entertain the kiddos. He played Duck Duck Goose, Hide and Go Seek, Pinata, and silly string wars. Bowen is NOW an Orlando Magic fan! He put a bumper sticker that Stuff gave him (magnet) on HIS minivan to prove it.

Oh...and my friend Kristy made the birthday girls Magic inspired tutu. She wore it for the party and it was a big hit.




Thursday, April 21, 2011

Caroline on a swing

Okay...I've done it again! I've loaded up my camera with pictures and haven't uploaded to my blog. Life has been so busy. I've got pictures of a birthday parties, a wedding, Davis being happy Davis, an Easter Egg hunt, kids in Easter clothes, swimming lessons, Caroline in her big girl bed (that's right...big girl bed). We've been super busy. No, let me rephrase that. I've been so busy that the last thing I want to do at night is hop on the computer. I'm coming around. Brantley is back in town (was in NY) and I should be able to have some more "me" time. YEAH!!!! Keep you posted.

We are on night 3 of Caroline in her big girl bed.

Stats:
- 1 nap in 2 days (fighting naps and currently sleeping on the floor next to her bed..smart mommy has baby gate at her door)
- 1 night she was up until 10 pm talking and bouncing around her bed, yelling out "MOMMY", and then fell asleep at the baby gate and I transferred her to her bed
- 2 nights to bed by 7pm and slept until 7am

Why did we move her? She was hurdling the crib rail on several occasions. Her weight on the crib was causing the side rail to pop out. NICE! I really didn't want her breaking her arm or knocking out her teeth. Plus, the crib was borrowed and I didn't want her scratching it. Okay....I just wrote all of that to reassure me that I've done the right thing. Ummmmm...still not sure.

Meanwhile, my friend Catherine took these photos of Caroline on Tuesday. She emailed them to me so I had easy access to share with you. They are so cute I just had to share. They were taken at an a park in Windermere Downs. Caroline posted up on a big kid swing and hung there for most of the time. We also did an Easter Egg hunt with the play group. Fun times. Enjoy these!



Sunday, April 10, 2011

INDEPENDENT!!!!

Caroline is such an independent child. She insists on doing EVERYTHING on her own. Brushing her teeth by herself, getting up into her carseat by herself, getting dressed by herself. These photos are of Caroline insisting on buttoning her own sweater. This is just so jaw dropping to me.

Bowen on the other hand is quite the opposite. If he doesn't have to do it on his own...he won't. We are actively working on getting him MORE independent. He could take a few notes from Caroline. He has recently noted that he's a baby, too! He's feeling the pressure to be the big boy in the house.