March Madness

March was a great month.

It was very busy, but very fun!

Here are some of our March Memories!
(that I haven't yet blogged about...)

Warm Weather & walking to Bagel Street with The Sembrat's:

Girls trip to visit Great Grammy & go to Kristen's Bridal Shower:
4 generations
Can you believe my Grammy will be 98 in October!?!



San Francisco!
(twice in 7 days!)


Some of my favorite pics of Kate & Claire
(but not together of course....do you know how hard it is to get a picture where they are both smiling AND looking at the camera at the same time? Almost impossible!)

And, I was the Mom my Ride Winner (see my acceptance speech HERE)

You Go Girl

GoGIRL.

Is this really a product? Wow.
I double dare someone to buy one and actually use it.

GoGirl...the funnel for women who want to pee on the go.

I am thinking this is a perfect White Elephant Christmas present.

Better yet, I might buy one for my older sister & give it to her for her birthday since she drinks SO much water & always has to stop and go to the bathroom when we travel.
Actually....maybe I will put it in her Easter Basket since that is in 2 weeks & her birthday isn't until August.

If you want a good laugh, read this... How to Use a GoGirl.

Mom My Ride

Our friend Reid emailed Kevin and I this video about a month after Kate & their son Owen were born. The video is HYSTERICAL. You must watch it! We joked about it and I said my car would NEVER be like that...no matter what.



Fast forward 2 years....

Our friend Wendy is having a contest .
(Kevin and Wendy went to high school together)
Her blog is great & when Kevin & I read about the contest he told me I had to enter. This is a contest I DO NOT want to win, but unfortunately, I am a strong contender.
You see, I am a neat freak. My house is very clean & I don't like clutter around my house. My car, on the other hand is a different story. I used to have a nice clean car. Then I had kids. I swore I would NEVER be one of those mom's who had a nasty kid car. Never say Never. My Tahoe has become my dumping ground! It is quite sad. Kevin gets very annoyed when my car looks like a bomb went off in it. So, here you go in all my glory....what my Tahoe looked like this past week. I WILL be cleaning it out this weekend...I am disgusted at myself!

The contest ended today. The pictures I submitted are below. You can check out the competition here. Can't wait to find out who won! Thanks for the fun Wendy!

Bye Bye Rat-Tail & Crib Monkey

Last night I finally cut off Claire's rat-tail that I mentioned in this post about Hair's Hair.

I think it looks much better. Does this count as her first hair cut?
I did save the lock(s) of hair I cut off though...
Claire is SO much happier without her rat-tail!

Onto other news....Claire had banana for the first time today & LOVED them. She hasn't met a food she doesn't like!
And....Kate climbed out of her crib for the first time today, on the day she turned 26 months. UGH.

I shouldn't be surprised. While we were at my Grammy's house this weekend, she climbed out of her pack n play on Friday night for the first time. Luckily, it was only once!

So, today my mom put her down for her afternoon nap and she was going to nap there today. My mom and I were having lunch with Claire in the kitchen and the next thing we knew, Kate was in the kitchen staring at us. She had climbed out of the crib & walked downstairs. I wish I had my camera, the look on Kate's face was priceless!

I then spent the next hour going up to the room checking on Kate & catching her several times "in the act" of climbing out or out of her crib, playing with her toys.

Needless to say, Kate did NOT take a nap in a crib today, I gave up & she ended up falling asleep in the car.

I am SO not ready for her to give up the crib. I am totally okay with having 2 kids in cribs right now. I would be cool with Kate staying in her crib until she is 3. I am not ready to put Kate in her big girl bed & letting her have freedom like that!

The good news is that tonight when I put her down for bed tonight, she STAYED in her crib & didn't climb out. I wonder how much longer I have until we pack up her crib & set up her big girl bed. *sigh*

Hot Potato, Sweet Potato

The past week, Kate has been asking me to open the fridge & she wants me to give her a red potato. So, I finally gave in and gave one to her. She played with it for over 15 minutes, kicking it like a soccer ball, rolling it around, tossing it to me & telling me to "catch" it.

What a funny little girl!




Claire had sweet potatoes again tonight, she LOVES them. They are her favorite veggie so far. She has had sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, green beans and peas. We are starting fruit next week!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2009!

I am about 1/4 Irish, so that makes my girls about 1/8 Irish.

We had a little lunchtime St. Patty's Day Celebration when I got home from school.

I don't like Corned Beef & Cabbage, so I improvised.
I made Irish Soda Bread and Green Eggs & Ham.
Kate can be a little OCD and as you can see, she was not a fan of green eggs...
I had to make her a new scrambled egg one (sans green food dye)
Claire had green beans & rice cereal.

Processing

Since November 2008, I have been a volunteer with a non-profit organization called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.

In November 2008, I applied to be one of their affiliate photographers. I did not want to apply, but I did because God so clearly put it on my heart because of the experiences of 2 of my friends who (unfortunately) had to use their services.

When God calls you to do something, you shouldn't ignore it. So, reluctantly, I listened to His call.
I DID NOT want to be accepted, and actually I prayed that I wouldn't because I don't have the talent or emotional strength to do the type of work that it calls you to encounter.
But, God has other plans. I was accepted just a few short days after I applied (to my horror)
I prayed I would never get a call to go do a photo-shoot because if you know me, I cry at everything..happy and sad! I am very emotional. I knew that I wouldn't be able to get through a session.
On Thursday, March 12th, I got a call about a little boy born at 28 weeks in December. He was being taken off life support on Saturday morning. His parents requested a photographer to be there to document the last moments of his life & the first moments they would be able to hold their precious son without tubes & wires connected to him.
I didn't want to go. I was scared. But I knew I had to go, so I did.
I have been reluctant to blog about it, but I needed to post this because my heart is still so heavy for the parents of this little boy. I need to post because this experience was incredibly impacting & to not post about it would be saying it was insignificant.
It was so significant & meaningful.I am still processing the entire experience. I will never forget it. I will never forget the little boy. I will never forget the parents. I will never forget the doctor or the nurses that were there.

The past 3 days I have been distracted..thinking about them, crying for them & praying for them. It was heartbreaking & so humbling to be there. If you are reading this & you are a person of prayer, please pray for this family.

Updated on 10.19.12
If you are visiting from Kelly's Korner, I encourage you to check out NILMDTS.
NILMDTS is a wonderful organization that I am proud to be associated with. If you are a photographer, consider applying to be a volunteer, it is such a blessing for the families.

10 on 10 :: March 2009

10 pictures on the 10th day of the month!

Kate this morning in her new pj's (so cozy!) She can now unlock & open the sliding glass door. She loves to let Boulder in and out of the house.

The quad at my school. My classroom is in the back right corner. Isn't our campus beautiful?






Spring has Sprung! I love this tree in our front yard:
Kate eating lunch at her table in the backyard
(yes, she still has on her pajamas and it is 12:30...don't judge!)
Cute bibs for Claire my friend sent us! I love them!
Claire chilling on our bed while I put away laundry:
I was downstairs when the girls were napping & I heard a crash. I was SO sad when I saw that my clock had fallen off the wall in our bedroom :( I loved this clocked. Kevin hated it. (If he wasn't at work at the time of the crash, I would thought he made it fall....)

Kate "helping" me water the flowers:
Kate crawling in the backseat of my car. We were done shopping at Safeway & we get to my car & I couldn't open the back passenger side door to put Claire in because some guy crossed the line & parked too close to me! Luckily, I have a Tahoe & I opened the back door & put Claire in that way. It was quite the process. Kate wanted to get into her seat that way also, so I obliged.
Next stop....our favorite store, Target! This was the first time Kate got to ride in the basket: