Thursday, November 29, 2012

Jumping ahead...A Milestone Kind of Day...

I know I'm not all caught up on the blog at this point but I had to log in to write about the day we had today, 11/29/12.  When the kids woke up this morning, REid and Gwen noticed the Elf on the Shelf who was hanging out on the picture display shelf in our foyer.  While i was pumping for a very unhappy and hungry little man, I read the kids the Elf on the Shelf book.  It was such a cool moment to see their excitement about Elfie the Elf (they named him themselves).  They ran out to the foyer to check on him often throughout the day and to tell him all about their holiday wishes.  When Reid refused to take a morning nap, we got ready and took a walk (bike ride for cole; stroller pushing for Gwen and stroller ride for REid) in the cold to burn a little energy and we ended up at the Kiss Family home for a morning playdate.  The kids had a blast and Lauren and i got to chat for a little while.  After lunch, Reid went down for his nap at 12:30 pm and slept until 2:45 pm!  This is one of the longest naps he's ever taken.  I guess i do have to mention that the other morning he napped for 2 hours in the car.  I would have been thrilled about the morning nap except he chose to do it on the snowy day when the sun was not shining so mommy sat in the car FREEZING for a good portion of the nap time.  Back to my point-- Reid's middle of the day long nap was awesome.  He also decided today that he enjoyed meat and ate more salty meat than i think my kids have ever had (sausage for breakfast; turkey lunchmeat for lunch and chicken nuggets for dinner).  As i was making dinner, i looked into the family room to check on the kids who were watching TV and noticed the REid had learned how to climb onto the ottoman.  My little risk taker was standing on the ottoman!  OH and one more fun milestone today was that Reid put together two signs.  I was tickling him and he signed "more, more, more" and then made up his own sign for "tickle".  He signed "more, more, more tickle" for at least 10 mintues while we giggled together :)

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Reid at Longwood Children's Garden

Here Reid shows us his love for water at The Children's Garden.  Too bad this does not translate to him enjoying baths (The kid still refuses to sit in the bathtub!)  Oh and some random man thought Reid was so cute that he also caught him on video.

Longwood Gardens 10/20/12

Cole, Gwen, Reid and I met up with Nana and Pap at Longwood Gardens for a beautiful day of exploring while Daddy worked on painting Gwen's big girl room.  We could not have asked for a nicer fall day and as Nana always says:  "WE could not have asked for better behaved children" :)  



 Reid first discovers the fountains at The Children's Garden
 Everyone tried to catch the water as it went down the hill.
 Painting was a big hit.  Reid only tried to eat the paintbrush twice.
 Reid decided it would be fun to put his head in the fountain (see next post for video of this action!)
 Right about now Mommy was thinking:  "I sure hope Daddy did not take the bin of extra clothes out of the van" because the towels that Longwood provided were not going to help much.

 Wet drummers.
 Reid checks out a birdhouse in a case while hanging out in the treehouse.
 Our dry clothes may not be stylish but at least we're dry!

Checking out the trains.  Cole was mesmerized and spent at least 30 minutes just watching them go by.

Weis Tour- 10/19/12

Club Mom organizer, Marissa, arranged for our group to have a preschool tour of the local grocery store.  This was the first time the store was offering this activity so we just kind of went with the flow (have I ever mentioned how much easier it is to 'go with the flow' when it is just me and I don't have THREE kids in tow?).  Anyway...I did manage to stay patient and Cole, Gwen and Reid all enjoyed making cupcakes and pizza as well as visiting the lobsters and other sections of the store.  Everyone was very well behaved considering we were there for over 2 hours.  I'm thinking maybe someone should give them some feedback that two hours is about an hour too long for little dudes!



Getting ready to make the pizza :)

Goodbye Infant Carseat

In mid October I posted the infant carseats on my Lehigh Valley Buy/Sell/Trade board.  I had one lady inquire about a price because she wanted to purchase it for her cousin who was pregnant and was unable to afford a carseat for her baby.  I told her that I would be more than happy to give her the carseat as long as she was able to wait a couple of days so that I could attempt to take some pics of my kids in them.  I know that probably sounded strange to her but I had a hard time letting go of the carseat knowing that it was how i brought my little preemie and my full term little man home from the hospital.  Some day I hope to put these pics next to the pics of them coming home from the hospital but for now I'll settle for this.

 Reid even thought it was funny that Mommy wanted to strap him into the baby carseat.
 Cole gladly took a seat
Gwen insisted on joining in on the fun even though she knew her carseat was not going anywhere.  (If i had sold hers she would have had a major temper tantrum as she uses it daily for her baby, Matilda)

Hot Dog Hot Dog Hot Diggity Dog!


Coleman is quite the singer these days.  He knows every word to shows like Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Little Einsteins.  Here I was able to capture him singing a little tune at dinner.

Firehouse Open House 10/13/12

This was our second year attending the Open House and boy, did they step it up this time around!  Not only was there free food and lots for the kids to do but they also had a car demonstration and a helicopter land on site.  Too bad Gwen was busy crying because she thought she had received a small slinky last year at the event and they did not hand them out this year.  I swear she remembers EVERYTHING.  She can tell you what she wore to almost any event and apparently this slinky stuck out in her mind.




School Picture Day: October 10, 2012

I knew about school picture day the first week of school when I received a packet of information from the kids preschool.  I honestly didn't even look at it because I knew that we were going to have family pics done with Christina Willardson and that school pics wouldn't be worth the money.  Fast forward a month to the evening of 10/9/12 when I was logged onto Facebook and came across a post from my friend, Julie Horleman Bacon, asking about purchasing school pictures.  The majority of the replies were that she would regret not purchasing them so her friends encouraged her to suck it up and buy the cheapest packages.  So there I was thinking that I was a horrible Mommy for not even considering purchasing school pictures.  I let it go and the next morning when i was getting Gwen and Cole ready for school I took this adorable pic to be their 2012 Preschool Picture.  But...when we arrived at school I was overcome with Mommy guilt.  All of the other parents were fluffing their kids hair and saying things like:  "Show Mommy how you are going to smile for the camera!" and "Make sure you smile big and pretty".  Then I overheard the other twin mom say to Gwen and Cole's teacher, "I think $16 was the cheapest package so here is the money".  I smooched the kids goodbye and immediately went to the car to see if I had $32 in cash to purchase pics.  I usually don't keep cash on me but thankfully on this day I had all of $33 in the car.  I then rushed back to the classroom and with the help of Mrs. Lynch filled out the papers to purchase pics. Hey, at least I now am the proud owner of two class pictures and individual pics of the kids their first year of preschool :)



Monday, November 12, 2012

Family Pumpkin Patch Trip

As is life with three young children we had a rather adventurous trip to the pumpkin patch.  Of course the chaos started when Daddy was going to get some food...First, a nice lady informed me that Reid was putting corn in his mouth and while i was taking care of him i heard Cole tell me:  "Mommy, there is corn in my nose".  Unfortunately i heard him correctly.  Apparently it is a fun experiment to stick corn kernels up ones nose! Thankfully, i was able to hold one of his nostrils closed and have him blow out the other and the kernel came flying out.  Fun times at the pumpkin patch!

















Double the Twin Fun!

On October 5, 2012, Gwen and Cole's twin friends, Noah and Emmalyn, came over for a dinner playdate.  They had a blast hanging out and it was fun to see the girls play princess and the boys run around like maniacs.  Ok...truth be told it may have been a little more fun to watch the girls because the boys just make me nervous...



Group hug!

We have a 13 Month Old!

On October 3, 2012, my little man turned 13 months old.  I am still in denial that my baby is over a year old now.  He is such a little man!  At 13 months Reid loves books.  He constantly brings me books and then wiggles his little bottom into my lap to look and listen to them.  When I finish reading, he stands up and faces me to then turn around and sit again with the same book signaling me to read it again.  He especially enjoys books about animals and is an expert at making duck, dog, cat, guinea pig, mouse (squeak), and geese noises.  He is fascinated by dogs and an expert cleaner.  He picks crumbs off the kitchen floor and puts them in the trash can and enjoys using the vacuum attachments to do his own carpet cleaning.  We joke that he is his Pap Pap's clone because of his organization and cleaning skills.  He has mastered climbing the stairs and runs around like a crazy man.  He has started climbing play structures at the playground.  He thinks he is one of the big kids and insists on doing everything that they do.  If he does not get his way he has all out temper tantrums on the floor espeically when it comes to food.  He now knows what the teddy graham, pretzel and cranberry bags look like and if he catches a glimpse of them in the pantry he freaks out.  Reid enjoys the morning routine and proudly runs over to give daddy high fives and hugs when he leaves for work.  He also greets daddy at the door when he hears the garage door open late in the day.  Reid has been sleeping a little better in that he goes down easier in the evenings and is only up 2-3 times a night.  He takes two naps and i have been enjoying a little quiet time on school days when Reid snoozes in the car and i sit and relax or read a book.  

Reid spotted Oscar dog!

First Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

On October 1, 2012 the kids decided against napping so I decided to take them over to Grims to enjoy an afternoon of fun at the pumpkin patch.  The weather was beautiful!  Reid loved the animals and kept quacking and yelling "duck, duck, duck!"  He seemed to think the pumpkins were balls and wanted to play with them.  Cole and Gwen had a blast in the corn box while Reid toddled around.  

No, i don't usually coordinate GWen and Cole's clothes (if it happens it is more likely to be Gwen's doing) but they were both dressed for red day at school.  




 Choosing baby pumpkins.

 Playing by the corn box.
Making corn castles.