Prayers for Aidan

Our good friends The Sharman's moved to Oregon in September.
They have met some great friends in Oregon, namely the Fredette family.
Please pray for the Fredette's 21 month old son Aidan who fell from a 3 story window last week.

Please visit Aidan's blog HERE .
Pray for complete healing for him & his strength for his family.

Mits

Ever since Claire was born, I would put "no scratch" mittens on her hands at night so that she wouldn't scratch herself in her sleep. As she got older & out grew those I noticed that her hands were freezing cold when she would wake in the middle of the night & in the mornings.
So, I decided to have Claire wear a pair of fleece mittens at night to keep her hands warm. She obviously has poor circulation like her Daddy! The mittens have a two fold purpose:
1. Keeping her hands warm at night (and protecting me from her cold hands when she wakes up to nurse in the middle of the night)
2. They are helping me win the Thumb War. If she has mittens on her hands, she can't suck her thumb! (That either makes me a mean mommy or a genius. You decide!)
She hasn't worn the mittens in a few weeks because the weather has been so warm. But, since the temperatures have dropped at night the past few nights, I have busted out the mittens again!

Kate has noticed that Claire wears mittens at night & for the past few months has been begging us to sleep with her "mits" (mittens) on.

Another reason she loves wearing her mits is because one of her favorite books, "Goodnight Moon" has mittens in it also.
Every time we read from the book about mittens Kate shouts out "Mits!, I want my Mits!" She makes us go get her mittens so she can finish listening to the story with her mits on.
Kate is excited & ready to go to bed with her Mits on!
Don't mind her shiny face, her skin gets a little dry and she insists on me putting Aquaphor on her face every night. Sometimes she will wake up at night shouting for me, "Mommy! More Aquda pweeese!"

From her mits to her "aquda" she keeps us entertained. What a funny little girl!

Bumbo-nastics

Claire learned a new trick & can now wiggle herself out of her Bumbo chair.

This is the last picture you will see of her sitting in it because is almost able to launch herself out of it.

I guess I will sell it on Craigslist.
Bye Bye Bumbo.

Houston, we have a Tooth!

Claire's 1st tooth started coming in this week!
(her bottom left central incisor, for all you dental students out there!)
Most kids seem to get their bottom 2 teeth at the same time, but not my girls, they get them one at a time. Kate got her bottom right at 6.5 months & then the bottom left at 7.5 months.
I wonder if her bottom 2 teeth will come in crooked like Kate's?!?
You would have never known Claire was getting a tooth, she is still a happy, go-lucky, smiley baby & has been completely un-affected by the tooth coming in! Hooray!

This has been a big week for Claire. She started army crawling & scooting, her first tooth has broken through AND she has slept through the night from 10 pm to 6 am for the past 4 nights!!!!
Can you say, "PRAISE the LORD!"

Wordless Wednesday

{pretty.messy.flower. headband from julie @ joy's hope}

Army Crawl

As of yesterday, Claire is on the move!

And, a video for your viewing pleasure.
Please ignore my voice on the video. Does anyone else hate the way they sound when they hear themselves talk? So annoying! haha!

My little Piccaso

I busted out the watercolor paints & Kate was enthralled.

She sat & painted for OVER an hour! Amazing.
(and, YES, they are still in their pj's & it was almost lunch time. That's how we roll)

Claire loved watching Kate paint her masterpieces.

What's Dat?!?

As heard from our bathroom this morning as I was getting ready for work:

(Kevin, stepping out of the shower, drying himself off with a towel)

Kate: What's Dat?

Kevin: A towel.

Kate: No, not towel. Dat. (pointing at Kevin)

(Me: putting on my make-up and SO glad I am not a part of this conversation)

Kevin: ummm..

Kate: Daddy goes pee-pee?

Kevin: Yes, sometimes Daddy goes pee-pee.

Kate walks away.

Kevin is mortified.

(Me: snickering to myself in the background & pointing at Kevin)

Thumb War

One. Two. Three. Four.
I declare a THUMB WAR!

Claire vs. Mommy

Claire is 7 months old. She REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wants to be a thumb sucker.
But, *I* don't want her to be a thumb sucker. Maybe because my mom told me she sucked her thumb until she was in kindergarten & that thought has traumatized me.
I gladly give her the pacifier. My thought is that you can take the pacifier away, but you can't take away the thumb. I don't want her sucking her thumb until she is 5 years old. (the germs! ack!)
Kate was never interested in her thumb. She sometimes took a pacifier until she was a year old & then I threw them all away.

Claire is perfectly happy with her pacifier, but every once in awhile I see her sneak her thumb & I promptly replace it with the pacifier. I am such a mean Mommy.

I have a feeling this battle is not over yet.
Wish me luck.

3 days of Easter

Easter Celebrations started for us on {Good} Friday night when we went over to Kevin's parents house to dye Easter Eggs & go on an egg hunt to see what Grandma Bunny brought them!

Kate LOVED dyeing the eggs & watching them change colors.

She also loved the egg hunt she went on around Papa & Grandma's house with her cousins. Kate & Claire really liked the new wagon that Grandma Bunny brought her & Claire.

Saturday morning we woke up & headed up the street to our neighborhood Eggtravaganza. The HOA puts on a fun event for all the kids, including an egg hunt with hundreds of eggs, a bounce house, Easter arts & crafts and of course lots of sweets & goodies! The event began when a police car drove up & dropped off the Easter Bunny to kick off the Egg Hunt. Kate DID NOT like that & jumped into our arms & was too scared to hunt for eggs. We were able to convince her after a few minutes that it was "safe" to look for eggs. Silly Girl!

Claire & Zayden hanging out while Kate hunts for eggs.

On Saturday night we headed over to my parents to celebrate Easter with my parents & sisters.
The girls got Easter presents from Auntie El, Auntie Bots brought them back purses from Taiwan Easter basket there, Kate loved the Oreo Cakesters the best.

Sunday we went to church & it was great to have The Sembrat's come with us!
While we were at church the Easter Bunny came by our house & brought the girls some presents. (They get the same thing every year..a new swimsuit, swim cover up, sandals, a pair of pj's and a book.) This year Kate even got a chocolate bunny!

Kevin started a new tradition this year by hiding some eggs downstairs for Kate to search for.
( I didn't think of that because I NEVER went on an egg hunt as a kid...thanks Mom & Dad)
It was a big hit & Kate loved collecting her eggs.
Then we headed out to Lodi to celebrate Easter with Kevn's side of the family.
We had yet another Egg Hunt and a fun time with Kevin's family.

Mike & Linda have an awesome bench in their backyard that I LOVE taking pictures on.
I got some cute ones of the girls & I even got a family picture.
(and I got a couple of Kevin's parents with all their grandkids, but I can't reveal that picture yet!)

Happy Easter!

He is risen!

We have been busy celebrating Easter since Friday with family, friends, egg hunts & more!
I will be posting a massive photo overload of our Easter activities on Monday!

10 on 10 :: April 2009

0 photos on the 10th day of the month
Snuggling with my girls in bed until after 8 am.
I love Spring Break!
Homemade Latte
Kate wanted to take pictures like Mama
Boiling our eggs so we can dye them
Kate's pet chick & egg that she has been carrying around for a week
Dyeing Eggs
Claire Bear Bunny watching us dye eggs
Our beautiful Easter Eggs
Look what Grandma Bunny brought the girls.....a new wagon!Good Friday bedtime story