Smiling Girl

Rachel gave us her first sweet smile a few days ago. It was wonderful and made this mommy so happy! I wasn't fast enough to get a picture. Here are some other pictures to go with her new milestone!

Daddy and Girls

Murr went in to check on Mary while holding Rachel. This is how he came out!

Sweet stuff!

Mommy shares a turn feeding Rachel. Mary loves taking that turn!

"Happy Party"

Mary had her 2nd Birthday! She was very excited about "Chuck E Cheese Mouse" and a "Happy Party Mary". She has been asking every morning if it was finally the day. The day finally came and she had a lot of fun! We started off the day with Chuck E Cheese. Mary had pizza and played games. Then we came home and she took her nap. She woke up and opened presents. We had dinner as a family and then invited a few friends over to sing and have cake. Mary had a cute expression on her face when her friends sang happy birthday to her. You could see she felt special and she certainly is to us! I just can't describe how much I love this little girl! I am so lucky to be her mom!

Pizza, Mary's meal of choice!

Mary really enjoys her friends!

Cake, thank you for the idea family fun!

It's Quiet in There

Some days I wish for enough quiet time to accomplish an entire task. But not too much time. I have a mommy timer in my head that goes off when the quiet time has reached a dangerous duration of time. Dangerous because there is something occupying Mary long enough for it to mean trouble! This wasn't so much trouble just funny. Mary had taken an end table from the living room into her room and while standing on it was rummaging through the top drawer of her dresser wearing her favorite find, an old sun hat! I told her to wait while I ran to get the camera.

Princess Potty

We made a family trip to the Baby Depot to pick up potty supplies. I wasn't brave enough to pull it out so it sat in Mary's closet for a month. Mary has been telling us for awhile when she is going to go potty. Finally we pulled out the princess potty stuff. Sadly, she just wasn't into it. When she tells me "mommy potty" I ask her if she wants to go sit on the big toilet and she tells me "no, diapers potty." She does however want to sit on the toilet and read the potty book, wash hands and then get a candy. We aren't going to kill ourselves to potty train Mary yet. We are too tired! Hopefully she will let us know when she is ready. Everything is set up for when she is and we are prepared to hoot, holler and cheer when that day comes.

The Progression of the Box

We have been staying inside the past few weeks. Between the difficulty of venturing out with a toddler and a newborn, coupled with the fact it has been about 2 degrees outside! We ended up playing with the giant box Mary's kitchen came in and let me say it was a lot of fun!

First I cut off the top and we crawled in and out of it. Then while sitting in it you could push to one side and roll around in it. Mary liked doing this and then yelling "Stuck, Mary's Stuck Mommy."

Sit and Spin was even fun in the box.

Then it turned into a house. We even colored and decorated it with stickers!

Night Night

Mary is almost two and still has a difficult time sleeping through the night. Mind you, it isn't her fault. We as first time parents had no clue how to put a child to sleep. As a result she developed some poor habits to soothe herself to sleep, mainly US! Poor Mary and poor us! Now Murray and I have a newborn who wakes frequently in the night as newborns do and we can't take getting up with two children!

Our pediatricain gave us an article about bedtime resistance. We used their idea of a pass for older children and modified it for Miss Mary.

We moved the plan to action.

Murray introduced the idea of "The Pass" to Mary.

You get two passes in the night. They are good for two visits from Mommy or Daddy and you can have a hug, bottle, song or drink of water.

They made them together.

The passes were velcroed to the wall.

Success! Mary has slept through the night several times, without even using the passes. Yea Mary! We knew you could do it!

Gingerbread House

Last year we started a tradition of making a gingerbread house at Christmas time. December was a little hectic for us this year so we actually made this gingerbead house in January. Mary loved putting on the "tandy" and eating it even more! She was very good about putting more on the house than in her mouth for about 10 minutes and then she couldn't resist the temptation any longer. That is when Murray and I decorated the house while Mary ate the candy.

Sleepy Time

Murray is great about tending the girls so I can run to the grocery store. We try to plan it perfectly. The minute she is fed I run out the door. When planned well you can see it is pretty hard work tending baby Rachel!

Last week I came home and found Murray and Rachel like this

This week I came home and found them like this.
Very sweet!

Rachel

Bundled up

Rachel likes to sleep with her arms above her head, just like her sister.

She sleeps well in her car seat when we ride in the car. Please, please, please last!

I have to take pictures when Mary holds Rachel because it is so sweet to me. Mary held her today and said "mommy pictures". As though, how could she hold Rachel and mommy not take a picture, so odd!

Bonus Room Project

Today marks the end of a project I have been working on for more than six months - finishing a bonus room above our garage. I am so glad to have it completed and off my to do list. It ended up being a much more involved project than I thought it would be, even though we hired others to do a lot of the work. Here is what we did:

1. The Starting Point - This is what the room looked like when we bought the house, it was already framed with a window and floor boards.

2. Electricity - We hired some electricians to put in the outlets and lights, because I didn't want to electrocute myself or burn the house down.

3. Heating and Air - A whole new heating and air conditioning unit had to be added with all the ducts and vents. We hired professionals to do it.

4. Insulation - While Margaret and Mary were in California I spent a few days putting in the insulation and drank a gallon of lemonade per day.
5. Drywall - I wish I could say I did this step myself, but I chickened out and had someone else do it.

6. Paint - I primed and painted the walls with the help of a couple friends.

7. Floor - Some friends helped me put in this laminate flooring.

8. Closet and Trim - I installed and painted the closet door, closet shelves and the baseboard.

9. Storage Cabinets - Before we started the project, Margaret had the great idea to leave room behind the walls for storage. So I built a floor and walls for the storage spaces and my neighbor helped by framing the doors and teaching me how to make the doors and hang them.

10. The Finished Room - This is now our guest room and also Margaret's sewing/project room. We are so happy to have it.