A Girl in Love

Natalie and Ben got to meet their new cousin, Anna, today.  They were smitten.  Natalie right away asked to hold her, and even helped feed her a bottle.  At one point we looked over and she was sweetly singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to Anna.  Even Ben got in on the action, pointing at her and saying her name ("uh-nuh!"), holding her little hands, and giving her the gentlest smooches he could muster.

It was so adorable and heart-warming that it made me want another baby and not want another baby all at once.  On the one hand, how great would the kids be with a baby?  Well, Natalie for sure.  And who knows about Ben.  He was pretty excited to see her, and is already used to sharing attention, so for him the transition would probably not be as hard as it was adding him for Natalie.  But on the other hand, wow is she small compared to them!  And all those helpless newborn memories came flooding back. 

It excites me so much to just think about how good of friends Nat and the boys are.  And to add another girl to the mix is going to be awesome!

Anna Renee

Yesterday we were blessed to have another wonderfully healthy and beautiful baby enter our family.  I don't want to steal all her mama's thunder in introducing her, but suffice it to say that I am so proud and happy to welcome our new niece, Anna Renee, to the world.  She's just perfect and so pretty.

I know my sister might be a tad upset about this one, but I think she looks beautiful here.  There's something so amazing about the tired eyes of a new mom.  Anyone who's given birth knows exactly what that tired is like.  It's a tired months in the making, a tired of relief, a tired of anticipation for what's to come (more fatigue), and it's the relief in knowing your beautiful baby is here at last.

She wouldn't open her eyes (just like her brother being a rock-start of a sleeper already).  But she did give this big smile when I gave her to mama for some pictures.  I actually think that she was giving a little chuckle at the giant poo she was working up for me to change.  She might be a lady, but it's acceptable to discuss such things for now.

it's hard work being born & loved on all day

I love her stink face

I am so proud of this little bundle.  She's going to have to grow up fast to keep up with her wrecking ball of a brother and his two crazy cousins.  Getting to spend time with all the kids yesterday, they are pretty excited about having a new baby to smother with love.  I think it is just so great how loved a baby is before it's even born, and this baby is no exception.  There are two families who have been anticipating her arrival for so many months, and now that she's finally here she fits in seamlessly.

Welcome to the world, Anna.  I can't wait to watch you leave your mark on it.

Spring Cleaning

I love to clean.  I love to have my living space be neat and orderly.  This is a challenge with two kids and a husband around.  But generally we make out pretty well.  Being cooped up so much the last couple of months has made me even more driven to get the house into really good order.  We'll have been in our house 5 years this spring, and during that time we have accumulated a lot of clutter and "stuff."  A lot of it is kid-related, so there is only so much that can be done about it, but other areas just need some attention.

So, I devised a list.  The original list was 64-items, and my goal was to do at least one thing off the list each day, and finishing by the end of March.  As I've been cleaning, I have added several things to the list, and I'm fairly certain I'm over 70 items by now.  But, most days I'm getting more than one thing done, in addition to trying to keep up with our normal chores.  

The kids usually have a small part in all the household chores (whether or not they're actually "helping" is up for debate), so they've been happy to participate in some more exciting cleaning tasks...

Like when I pulled our bed apart to clean under it, clean the frame, strip all the bedding for the wash, etc.

How fun it is to jump on the mattress on the floor!

closet cleaning is a must in the spring

five bags full of baby clothes that the kids have outgrown 

(in addition to the tubs we already have in the basement--yard sale coming soon!)

half of my original list

I've also been inspired to start stocking the freezer for the busy summer months...

a little over an hour a few weeks back and Nat and I had prepared 4 freezer meals ready for the crock pot!

Anybody else spring cleaning?  

A Face Lift

It's been three plus years of the same format on our blog, and today we gave it a little overhaul.  Everything is still here, just a little different look.  I might still tweak it a bit.

Hope you enjoy the new look!

Outside!

Wow is it warm outside today!  We thought about the zoo, but put our plans on hold because of the threat of rain (and lots of it).  Instead, we just headed outside.  Our play was restricted to the driveway because everything is very wet and muddy.  In fact, most of the area surrounding our driveway is standing water.  It's going to be a real mess if we get the inch of rain they're calling for.  

These kids have been cooped up for so long, they had lots of energy to burn.  They immediately each selected a shoveling or scraping tool, and went to work.

I didn't ask them to do that, and our driveway is clear.  They decided on this all on their own! It was really fun to dig and play in the snow when it was warm enough for just jackets.  No frostbite here today!

These guys worked more in two minutes than the last county crew I saw out.  I love how they move from one spot to another.  Watching their little thought processes is so amazing to me.  Check them out in action:

Museum Day

Yesterday we recruited Uncle Ronnie to come on a field trip to the Children's Museum.  We loved spending the day with him, and his help was so great since we had another special person with us--Jack!  Jack has been hanging with us a lot more than usual since Aunt Beth is feeling pretty rotten in her last few days before our new cousin/niece arrives (which we finally have a date for: February 27th!!).  

We packed up the car, made a quick stop at the grocery for some boxed lunches, and headed to the museum for some good playing.

Nat coming out the slide in the tree house

Uncle Ronnie was so cool, he went into the giant playhouse with the kids

the sandbox might have been the winner of the day

the kids all loved the ride on toys

the water area was also a big hit...and the kids spent the day with soaking wet sleeves

Uncle Ronnie getting in on the fun

Ben found a book.  And a boat.  And snuck away for some alone time.

Ronnie and I built this giant arch while the kids took turns handing us the blocks

and then Natalie got to knock it down.

Thank goodness no one was below the arch because it came crashing down, and those bricks were heavy!

Legos!  Uncle Ronnie's favorite

Jack disregards the pole indicating that no one should go up the ramp.

I can hear it now, "This doesn't apply to us."  A phrase we heard many a time as kids on camping trips when Pa would then proceed past the "no trespassing" sign.

(Another) Snow Day

I can't say with any certainty how long the snow has been on the ground.  Weeks?  At least.  Since New Year's?  I'm not sure if there was a time between then and now when it all melted away.  In any case, it's been a very unusual winter in that we've had so much snow and that it's been so cold for such a long stretch.  

Yesterday we bundled up and headed out.  When life gives you lemons, right?

I actually love winter and snow.  But it's been too cold to take the kids out.  Below freezing, or worse, plus the wind we get at our house.  It just hasn't been safe.  But we thought we could brave a few minutes yesterday...

Ben still not such a fan of the white stuff

But this one...would play all day in it.

I think she was cold, but refused to tell me.

as long as he doesn't have to touch it, it's all okay.

Ben and I watched from the safety of the exposed rock wall in our landscaping, while 

Natalie did some exploring.

if he would only keep his gloves on, I think he'd be a lot happier!

We weren't out too long.  45 minutes, maybe a little longer.  But it was a welcome break from being cooped up.  And now our yard is appropriately covered with sled tracks and footprints.  The kids were very excited to discover tracks from several different kinds of animal in the yard!  We couldn't identify them all, but we had fun guessing!

Be Mine, Valentine

Valentine's Day is one of my least favorite holidays.  I don't really get it.  Or, rather, I don't feel like it's all that necessary.  But, whatever.  With kids, most holidays are important.  And this Valentine's Day, it just so happened that there was a great opportunity for us to divide and conquer.

Eric and Natalie had their very first Daddy-Daughter date.  Pinkalicious the Musical was playing at the Cincinnati Children's Theatre.  Pinkalicious is a character in a series of stories that Natalie has.  It is probably my least favorite of her books, and hands down it's Eric's least favorite.  (It's my least favorite, I think, mostly because of her name.  What's with that?  Her friends are Purplicious, Emeraldlicious, Silverlicious...see the theme here?)  But Natalie loves the books, and, as it turns out, loved the play!

for this showing of the play it was a "Pink Out" where all patrons were supposed to wear pink.

Natalie was crazy for the pink tie her date sported!

And while those two got to have fun on the town (in a crazy snow storm, I might add), I got to hang out at home with Ben!  He was a little lonely without his partner in crime, but once he figured out he had sole possession of all the toys for the night, he was thrilled!  No one to swipe anything from him.  That's heaven in his 16-month old world.

he is really attached to Mickey all of a sudden, it's cute and odd all at once

this was the first time he requested dinner with him, and since it was our "date night" some rules were out the window

even Mickey got a bite to eat!

Because of the time of the show and the snow, Nat and Eric got home pretty late.  She was so tired, and came into the house half asleep, in dad's arms, wearing the craziest plastic crown I have ever see, cocked half off her head.  It was adorable.  The perfect ending to a really great night for her.

Update

Naturally, since writing the previous post and bragging on how great Ben has been sleeping, he has pulled an all-nighter the last two nights.  And boy is he grouchy!  Awake every hour all night.  Hey, just like old times!  He must have figured I needed a little reassurance that he is still a baby after all.