April Phone Pics

How about a quick round-up of April's phone pics before the month of May is over?  Geez, why is time going by so quickly these days???  Sloooooooooooow doooooooown.

A lot happened in April and like every other month, I took pictures of it all along the way.  I've already showed you pics from our bike rides, tulips, new swing set, and Easter, so I'll leave those out of this post.  

The month started with the most exciting thing - getting to meet my sweet new niece and grandbaby number NINE for my parents!  Lilli Greer actually arrived on March 31st but I didn't meet her until April 1st.  She is just the most precious little thing ever and has a head full of dark hair!  I think she looks like her mommy, though I occasionally catch glimpses of her daddy too.

We finally started having some warmer weather this month, making playing outside a necessity everyday after "school."  Katie Wynn's love for bubbles is still going strong, but she must do them herself! 

You might be able to tell in the pictures above that one of her buddies at school used her dress as a canvas that day.  She had blue marker all over!  Luckily it all came out.  :)

Speaking of canvases, during the month of April we had our first crayons-on-the-wall experience.  I tell you, Katie Wynn was so excited about her coloring job and so thrilled to show it to me that I couldn't even get on to her.  I think I broke her little heart when I told her that was a no-no and that we absolutely could not color on the walls or stairs.  She helped me clean it up and so far, it has not happened again.  

Several, several years ago, Anna asked for a "giant" teddy bear for Christmas.  My sister-in-law, Beth, came through for her and gave her this enormous brown bear.  Since we moved into our current house, the bear has sat in the corner upstairs in our rarely used play room.  One weekend, Katie Wynn found the teddy bear and lugged it down the stairs.

She insisted on napping with the giant bear and I cannot even begin to tell you how much I jumped when I rounded the corner to check on her during her nap and saw that big brown thing in her crib.  I knew it was in there but had forgotten and it scared me to death!

Thomas has been doing so, SO much better with his naps and sleeping at night.  In fact, I'm almost scared to even write about here in fear that I might jinx it.  I commented to someone the other day that I have so many pictures of Katie-bug asleep in her bed but none of Thomas because it's just not worth the risk of waking him up.  I finally have one, though!  He is doing better about napping in his own room in the afternoons and has been sleeping all through the night in there too.  With the exception of one night this week, he hasn't had to get in our bed during the night in about a month!  (pleasepleasedon'tjinxit)  I'm contributing it to the essential oils I've started using - I'm officially a believer in them!  It has been so nice to get full nights of sleep in our bed with no kiddos wedged in with us.

More afternoon bubble blowing (and look at poor Thomas out by himself on the swingset, ha!).  

We are still loving having our very own set of swings out in the backyard!  

This month, this has been my favorite outfit to put Thomas in and it came from...Walmart!  He's about to outgrow it so I made him wear it every time I had it clean.  I just love those gingham checks.  :)

Every now and then, I actually get a day when both kids are cooperating for pictures.  This was one of those days.  They were both smiley and happy!

Sometimes after "school" we stop by Mimi's to play for a few minutes.  Both kids love to swing, especially if someone will swing with them.  Mimi was the chosen one on this day!

Mom will probably want to kill me for posting this pic, but I think it's hilarious.  She tried to get Katie Wynn to sit in between her and Thomas, but Katie Wynn pitched a fit to swing in the back.  I'm sure it was super comfy for Mom!

We take a lot of pictures in the mornings after getting dressed.  :)

Sometimes it's impossible to get a good clear shot.

Mid-month, we were invited to a tea party at church.  Beth and Bren were there too!  In typical fashion, Katie Wynn was shy and clingy and wouldn't let me put her down.  

Bren wore a boa and participated in the parade and crafts while we played over in the corner by ourselves...

I finally got a boa on her for one decent shot before leaving.

Totally random, but Charlie (my parents' dog) naps like this.  He's not modest at all.

Also totally random, if I ever attempt to do computer work at home while the kids are awake, my view is something like this.  My little people don't like for Mommy to use the computer.

Katie Wynn helped Mimi make brownies.  Mimi gave her the spoon to lick after they poured the batter into the pan.  Then Mimi turned her back to put the bowl in the sink.  What did Katie Wynn do?  She kept going for more batter straight out of the pan!  I really can't say I blame her.

Do you ever have one of those days where you just really need to wear your "gobbles" during dinner?

Bath time tea party with cousin Bren with lots of "cheers!" and splashing!

Matt spent one morning blowing off the patio and spraying down the furniture.  The kids were enamored with it all and stood and watched him for over ten minutes.  I was actually able to get a few quick things done while they stood there and watched!

Here's Thomas rocking the one-shoulder look.  How did he get his arm out of his shirt?  I have no idea.  If I had to guess, though, I'd say his sister was involved.

Matt traveled for the better part of a week in April so we stayed at my parents' house for a few nights.  (It's so much easier to have their help with the kids!)  Here are two pics from our visit - the first is of Katie Wynn using the wall phone that doesn't work.  She had the same conversation over and over.  "Hello, Daddy.  You won't cookie?  You not here.  You still at work."  Hang up and repeat.

The second picture is of her going night-night in a big bed!  She chose to sleep here instead of in the baby bed.  She did roll out one night but we had pillows on the floor to catch her so it wasn't too bad.  We might be moving out of the crib soon!  (I know it's time, I just don't want to.)

We made it to the tail-end of my photos.  Smell ya later!

March Phone Pics

I'm stuck at home today with strep throat!  Oh, Monday.  Why must you always be so bad?  I could tell I had a sore throat coming on last night and sure enough, it was worse this morning when I woke up.  I got ready for work and then ran by our Minor Medical office for what I was sure just the beginnings of a sinus infection (thank you crazy weather changes and high pollen count).  I was very shocked when they told me it was strep!  No work for me today.

I am trying to be productive anyway and at least get caught up on the blog, but I'm so sleepy from the shots and medicine that I keep drifting off to sleep!  Here's hoping I can actually finish at least one post.  :)

I thought one big round up of phone pics each month was a good idea but there are always so many to sort through at the end of the month.  I am way too trigger happy when it comes to taking pictures!  It's also hard to try to group them together in ways that make sense (other than just chronological), but I'll try.  Here we go for March pictures!

Let's start with pictures of just my little dude since Big Sister usually steals his thunder.  He has discovered the joy of emptying out cabinets and drawers, and he doesn't even care when he's been busted!

This is his version of an "orange peel" smile.  He uses his paci instead!

I took these pictures because I was so proud of him for standing by himself for so long and then right after I took them, he took his first step!  There were several witnesses too - Matt, his parents and I all saw it and clapped and cheered for him!  He has done it several times since then, but no more than a step or two at a time.

On the first Sunday in March, we were the last to leave the sanctuary after church.  This happens a lot because I like to visit too much.  :)  I had tried so hard to take Katie Wynn's picture that morning but she hadn't let me and then, as we were leaving, she ran down the aisle, sat down on the front steps and yelled "Cheese!"  Of course I was way too far away for a good picture but oh well.  Maybe one day she will walk down this same aisle to get married (and hopefully won't be running down it like she did this day!)

She is starting to catch on that when I tell her she has a new outfit that Mimi made to wear, I'm going to want to take her picture so we can send it to Mimi.  She's almost come to expect it.  :)

Here are more pictures from throughout the month of just Katie Wynn.

IMG_3808.JPG

We still let the kids do quite a bit of jumping in their cribs before bedtime.  Whatever it takes to wear them out!

Jumping in the crib always starts out fun for both of them but then at some point Thomas usually gets tackled for not jumping properly according to his sister and then he gets mad and wants out (plus he knows there's a bottle waiting on him) and then she gets mad that he gets out because she knows the end (aka bedtime) is near so we distract her by letting her read him a book while he drinks his bottle.  There are nights when it is so sweet to watch them play together and other nights where it's just flat out exhausting!

Some nights Thomas gets too wound up during the jumping and book reading that he's difficult to rock to sleep.  (Don't even get me started on the fact that yes, he has to be rocked to sleep.  Every. Single. Night.  I was way too spoiled with Katie Wynn who put herself to sleep every night.)  On this particular night, at left, he squirmed and squirmed until he finally got out of my arms, opened the door himself, and just crawled away. I had a runaway baby while I just kept on rocking.  Seriously, the dark and the sound machine nearly put me to sleep right away, why is it so hard for him??

Speaking of sleeping...remember how I said my birthday was not very good?  It was like an infirmary in our house.  In the morning, Thomas was the healthiest so we shipped him off to my parents' house.  Matt and Katie Wynn slept the whole day away.  I couldn't keep them awake for more than 20 minutes at a time!

Thomas developed a fever over the course of the day too so by that evening, Mom and I had the two babies at a minor medical place and my dad took Matt to the ER.  It was a long night for us all; the guys didn't make it home until after 3am.  Matt had what we guess was a migraine and they loaded him up with medicines that made him sleep for about 24 hours straight.  In hindsight, we're blaming this weird solar storm that I read about for all the unexplained illnesses.  

I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was to see these grins the next morning!  (Or, 2.5 hours after I finally got to go to sleep!)

I did get a do-over dinner for my birthday that was very fun and yummy, so it was not really the worst birthday ever!  And I got some cute photos of my kiddos before the birthday dinner and that's always a plus!

I love it when she tries to help me get him to smile.  :)

I also love unexpected pictures like this where they have matching expressions and I realize how much they really do look alike despite their opposite coloring.

In keeping it real, sometimes this happens.

They let Uncle Nick take them for a wagon ride that night!

We have been so thankful to have some warmer weather this month (in between days of snow, so weird).  We were able to cook out one night and blow bubbles.  It was T-man's first experience with them and I think he loved 'em!

On warmer days, I've also been able to take the kids to the playground a couple times.  It's right by Katie Wynn's daycare and is a great way to kill a little bit of time before dinner.  It helps us survive the "witching hour!"  

I thought she would like holding him going down the slide but that didn't go over well.  He cried while she screamed "He's heavy!  He's hurting me!"

The next time at the playground was a little more successful.  I was able to put him down to sit and play some.  (And he's wearing the same outfit, oops.)  There was a curious little 5-ish year old girl there and we had this conversation:  "What's his name?"  "His name is Thomas!" "What's her name?" "She's Katie Wynn."  "Oh, so he's Thomas Wynn?"   I didn't even try to explain.  

We got to do some swinging at a birthday party too which may have been another first for Thomas.  I think they could both swing all day.  

Can you believe baby Henry is already one?!  Seems like I was just throwing this baby shower for him and helping plan his nursery.  Doesn't he look precious in his Mint Tulip outfit and party hat? :)

Lala and Poppa (Matt's parents) came for a short weekend visit this month and I didn't take any pictures of them!  The only ones I have are these from story time where we learned that Katie Wynn knows all the words to our new favorite Pete the Cat book after only having read it three nights.  She pretty much read it aloud with Lala!

Speaking of story time, when the big kids are here, they always read to Katie Wynn.  They either each pick a book to read or they tag-team one book, with one of them "narrating"  and the other reading the voices.  I think that's what they were doing this night when I snuck around the corner to take pictures.  

The weekend Lala and Poppa were here, I tried to take Katie Wynn to her first Easter egg hunt of the year only to find when we arrived that it had been cancelled.  (Because it was snowing...on the last weekend of March...after 70+ degree weather that week...oy.)  We had a makeshift egg hunt in our living room instead.

Katie Wynn has taught her little brother how to splash in the bathtub.  I'll be honest, it was cute and fun the first time.  Now it's just a huge mess for me to clean up!  

Poor Thomas is always the first to be taken out of the tub and it usually makes him mad.  K-dub could sit in the tub and play all night if we let her...she doesn't even care if the water's all gone.

And that's all the phone pics for March.  I made it through without falling asleep and still have maybe 3 minutes to spare before Matt and the kids walk in.  :)  I uploaded lots of other pictures today too so hopefully I'll get a few more posts done before I go out of town on Thursday.  Fingers crossed.  Oh, they're here now!  Gotta run!

February Phone Pics

Time for the roundup of all the pictures I have on my phone from the month of February.  As usual, there are lots of them!

It's funny that these silly photos are the first ones in the lineup because she's wearing this same outfit again today.  :)  She loves her "best."  (vest)

My dad is on the school board for the school in our town, which means he has school pictures made every year for the yearbook.  And every year they send him a whole envelope full of prints that just get thrown into a cabinet.  Why would he want all of those pictures??  Katie Wynn found them recently and walked around carrying "her Poppys."  We had to cut one off for her to take home with us.

February was the month we introduced the kids to the "big bathtub."  We offer it up when a certain two-year-old isn't very excited about bath time; she loves getting to play in the big bathtub!

I'm pretty sure those bathtub pictures are the reason my blog is blocked for "porn" at my office.  I have some really cute naked booty pics of them leaning over the tub waiting to get in, but I guess I'll keep them to myself due to the nudity.  

Thomas is on the move all the time.  I've caught him inside the wet shower a couple times and every day he pushes all of the little chairs across the kitchen floor.

One cold day called for some piano playing, coloring, and napping with gloves on!

Two of Katie Wynn's favorite things to do in the car are taking off her shoes and socks and wearing her sunglasses.  She'll say, "It too bwight on my eyes.  My glasses make me see bedd-uh." 

Valentine's week meant hearty outfits for the whole week!

Here's a fun side-by-side comparison from last year.  Red and white polka dots and hearts for two years in a row!

For her school Valentine's, Katie Wynn and I strung cheerios onto pipe cleaners to make heart-shaped bird feeders.  They had a note that said "Love is for the birds" because when you're two, it kinda is, right?

We visited Poppy at work during Valentine's week and he insisted on carrying both kiddos around his whole office to show them off, even with his broken knee cap!  Thomas makes a pretty cute Chief Credit Officer, don't you think?

Katie Wynn came home from school on Friday the 13th in her backup outfit.  I asked what happened to her heart dress and she said "I made mess. I spill my juice."  She hasn't had her clothes changed at school in months, go figure this happened on party day!  She came home with lots of goodies from her buddies.

Cupid brought a present for everyone on Valentine's Day!  Or they were from Santa Claus, according to K-dub.  Either way, there was a present-opening party in bed bright and early.  And then Daddy and Thomas crashed for an early morning nap.

February was also the month that we discovered Katie Wynn's hair is long enough for braids!  Or, "Anna blades" as Katie Wynn calls them.  :)

Mimi (my mom) plays the piano at church and so Katie Wynn plays the piano at her house.  She turns the pages in her hymnal just like Mimi.

The week after Valentine's Day, Katie Wynn got to visit her Lala and Poppa (Matt's parents)!  Matt just so happened to be traveling there that week for work and since he was going to be staying at their house and she had been wanting to see her, we thought, "Why not let her tag along?"  She had a blast!  They weren't supposed to leave until early Monday morning, but with bad weather moving in, they decided to get on the road right after church on Sunday.  Matt said she was an excellent passenger.  I'm sure it helped that most of the ride was during her normal nap time.  :)  It was late when they arrived and from what I understand, Katie Wynn wasted no time telling her Lala that she wanted TWO pieces of french toast in the morning.

While there, she bundled up and helped Lala hang their heart-shaped bird feeder for the birds.  She also went out to eat with her Daddy and Aunt Jill and cousin Nathan, and slept in a BIG GIRL bed!

She also got to visit with Granddaddy and play at his apartment, which I know was special for both him and her.  When I asked her if she had fun playing with Granddaddy, she smiled and said, "He kissed me on my cheek!"

Lala and Poppa also took Katie Wynn to their local library and she had so much fun that they took her back the next day!

I think my little girl was so sad to leave and come home!  She has already asked to go back multiple times.  Seeing me didn't cheer her up much, but getting to bring Thomas the hat that Lala made for him made her happy!  I know he was so glad she was home!

I took the picture of Thomas at the window right after Matt and KW left for a few days.  Maybe he somehow knew they'd be gone for a while?  While they were gone, we got iced in over at my parents' house.  It was nice to have extra hands to help take care of him.  The downside, though, was that Charlie the dog was a bit of a paci thief!  He would snatch them up the second they hit the floor and immediately rip the plastic tip off.  I had 4 pacis over there with me and we were down to the last one by the time we left!

When Katie Wynn got home, I loaded her up and took her to Tractor Supply to see the baby ducks and chicks!  I was so sad that we couldn't actually pet them.  

We spent one weekend playing with sponge rollers.  She loved them that weekend but I haven't been able to put them back in since.  

The sponge rollers worked because she was definitely Curly Sue the next morning!  I wish I had gotten a picture of her in her Sunday dress because she looked precious.  It was hard for me to get a picture period because she wouldn't stay still.

After her nap, the flattened curls got swept back into a ponytail that was equally as cute.  She helped Mimi make brownies!

I think I have way too many pictures of my kids in my bathroom, but we apparently spend a lot of time in there!  They say "pick your battles" and on this school morning, I was not going to battle over that extra headband.

When Dad's giving baths, someone might end up with a mustache...

When my little blond hair, blue-eyed cutie has on these pale blue pjs, I tell you he can do no wrong!

We let them jump around in Thomas's bed one night and then they both had excellent nights of sleep.  Now we let them jump in the bed any night they want to! 

We ended the month by visiting the baby ducks and chicks one more time, but this time we took Addi Clare with us.  Someone should tell Tractor Supply that 2-year-olds can't read signs.  

Addi Clare joined us for lunch that day too.

My March pictures are already piling up so they should make for another long post next month too!

January Phone Pics

Eek!  I thought this posted 10 days ago!  Not sure why it got hung up in my drafts folder...

I'm thinking I might do one big "Phone Pics" post for each month in 2015.  And since we're already a week into February, I better get on the January one!

2015 started off with goopy, crusty eyes for my baby girl.

It was a Saturday morning and I quickly called our doctor's office and got her an appointment at 9am.  Matt took her while I stayed home with Thomas and waited for his phone call...ear infections or pink eye?  Those were my thoughts.  I was not expecting FLU!  Yes, she got a flu shot.  This was the strand not included in the shot and she had a full-blown case of it.  They came home with Tamiflu and we settled in for the weekend.  She ran a pretty high fever for about 48 hours straight - this was the sickest she's ever been!

Putting on a brave face to go to the doctor.  And wearing her "tie" shoes - the only ones she has with laces!

Putting on a brave face to go to the doctor.  And wearing her "tie" shoes - the only ones she has with laces!

This is when I knew she really didn't feel well - she never lays still on the couch!

This is when I knew she really didn't feel well - she never lays still on the couch!

Back home from the doctor and already feeling worn out.  She spent most of the day on the couch.

Back home from the doctor and already feeling worn out.  She spent most of the day on the couch.

Good thing for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to keep her occupied.

Good thing for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to keep her occupied.

We tried hard to keep Thomas away from Katie Wynn so he wouldn't get it too.  Matt took him to church Sunday morning so they could get out of the house and get some fresh air.  While they were away, Katie Wynn managed to get up and play in my bathroom/closet for a little bit while I got cleaned up.  She was taking care of Elmo and Bitty Baby who apparently had a case of the flu too!

Thankfully, she only had to miss one day of school before she was back in her normal routine.  And that day was more of a precaution than anything.  She loved getting to play at her Mimi's house though!

Though the first weekend of 2015 was a little rocky, the rest of it was pretty good!  Thomas had his first restaurant high chair experience and actually behaved really well.

He also started really crawling and sometimes, after crawling for a few minutes, would just need to splay out and rest a little.

I told Katie Wynn that night that she could pick A book to read to Thomas.  She picked out a STACK of books.  That girl...she can't pick just one of anything!

More resting periods for Thomas...

IMG_2456.JPG

Now that Thomas can sit up and move around, I keep catching the two of them playing together.  I think Katie Wynn likes having him around.  :)

Almost every toy they're playing with in the photos above technically belongs to Thomas.  Katie Wynn likes to claim them as her own.  Like this caterpillar tunnel below - she calls it HER "patter-pillar" even though it was his Christmas present.  Anytime she fusses about him touching the toy she's playing with and I remind her that it's actually his toy, she replies with "Thomas sharing."  She's all about sharing when it's him sharing with her...

With Thomas sitting up really well, we've also been able to have some fun kitchen sink baths.  

IMG_2613.JPG

Thomas has discovered Lolli's food and water bowls.  It was only a matter of time.  Now we have to keep picking them up and poor Lolli has to remind us to put them back down!

One Saturday morning after prying Thomas's hands open to empty out all the dog food and dropping them everywhere, Katie Wynn told me that she would "keen it up."  I went back a few minutes later to check on her and found that she had completely emptied the bowl of food so that she could pick up every single piece and put it back in.  Sigh...

Speaking of Lolli, she got to ride home in Katie Wynn's lap one night.  All I heard from the back seat was, "Thit 'till Holly!" "I hold you Holly!" "Holly heavy!"  [Somewhat related: she can say Lollipop the correct way but still calls Lolli "Holly."]

IMG_2695.JPG

After bath one night, I found the kids like this.  I asked Katie Wynn what she was doing on the boxes and she said she was on her potty (her diaper is still on).  I'm glad she likes to pretend to do that because she doesn't seem to have interest in doing it in real life...

Katie Wynn has become obsessed with having a "big ponytail."

One night I gave her one and she gave me one (with help) and then she squealed in excitement, "Now we bofe have big ponytails!"

Toy switcheroo!  Him on hers and her in his.

Here are a few more random pics...

Taking a bath in Mama's big bathtub!

Taking a bath in Mama's big bathtub!

Wearing Mama's hideous blue tennis shoes!

Wearing Mama's hideous blue tennis shoes!

She always climbs up on a stool so she can help Mimi cook.

She always climbs up on a stool so she can help Mimi cook.

I don't know what I was thinking with this loud outfit!

I don't know what I was thinking with this loud outfit!

I tried to catch Thomas in crawling action one night but Lolli kept photobombing him.

My dad has the only family birthday in january and instead of cake, we pigged out on chocolate fondue!  That's always pretty eventful with 13+ sets of hands trying to dip their fruit/cookie/cake in!

We had Anna and Wyatt the next weekend and had fondue with them too.  It might be my favorite dessert...I think I could eat it every night.  And the fruit makes it healthy, right?

Sadly, that's where my January phone pics end!  I have to save the next ones for February's recap post.  :)