Olivia's note to Kyle

A sweet note from Olivia to Kyle from their sleepover. All the kids paired up for beds. With 3 girls and one boy to pair up with, Kyle had good odds. And especially since the one boy is the youngest so he was paired with his oldest sister. 

"Dear Kyle I hope you had fun sleeping with me becase [because] you are a funny mucky [monkey]"

Love, Olivia

You bet we are saving this note. Too funny! 

Mommy-daughter afternoon

Emily and I had a wonderful mommy-daughter date afternoon together. We first went to get pedicures. Emily sure loves getting her nails done. Since we hadn't had lunch - we ate a late breakfast - I gave her the option of going out for some real food or Cup of Yo for a snack (at 3pm). Guess which one she chose?! Thankfully, the one I wanted too! 

Bonjourno

Aaron and I had a fabulous night of sleep last night. Jeff and the kids slept over at our friend's house. I came home earlier to put Aaron to bed while they all stayed and played and ended up being up so late they stayed over. Starting at 8:30, Aaron gave me a wonderful 6 hour stretch of sleep followed by 4.5 hours and then another 2 hours in a nap on me. Yes, I slept those times with him as well, minus the semi-consciousness needed to feed him and change a diaper. And we woke in good spirits, Aaron especially. He was mighty chatty this morning and some of it is here on video. 

Emily holding Aaron

Kyle and Emily both have an obsession with wanting to hold Aaron standing up. I think we've let them do that once each. Here is the one time we've let Emily do so. 

Aaron boogies

Aaron getting his happy feet on with some music in the living room.

Purring to monkeys

You know how Kyle purrs on Miko? Well it seems that Aaron knows how to purr too. Check him out in these pictures. He's staring intently at the monkey mobile above him. You can also see how happy he is with the monkey mobile in the video as well.

Aaron loves Emily

Emily is a wonderful big sister. She loves playing with Aaron and entertaining him. She is great with him.  And he loves her! And it's great for me too since it allowed me to cook dinner tonight! Thank you Emily!

Saturday morning

Thankfully Saturday mornings are what they were pre-Aaron. We sleep in and lounge around until we all feel ready to start the day. Who says having kids forces you to get up at the crack of dawn?! Thank goodness for a king size bed to fit everyone!

Spontaneous song

While doing their homework, Kyle and Emily just burst out into song. We watched The Sound of Music recently and they loved the songs in the movie. Of their favorite is "Doe a Deer" so they now sing that song in the shower and while brushing their teeth.

 

Fairy house

Emily is absolutely adorable. She loves fairies and wants them to come stay at our house. She's been reading a lot of fairy books lately - especially the Rainbow, Animal, and Jewel Fairy series. So she decided to draft up a plan to make a fairy house. And she set to work on it. It was wonderful to see how she took her idea, drafted it up and executed it.

Emily then made a bunch of fairy dust to leave by the house to attract the fairies. Fairy dust is composed of glitter and sparkles in a little organza pouch. She made many a bag in hopes of luring a fairy to the house and convincing it to stay. The fairies did come visit, but unfortunately they did not stay. But they did leave some fairy stones in a little heart vase which Emily says was from a water fairy. She is still hoping that they will come and stay so she can take one to school. She even left them a note on the fairy house to help convince them. 

Happy feet

Aaron has his happy feet going. Emily noted this early on that he has a happy foot and a sad foot. Here he  is with his happy foot. 

 

Dentist

Going to the dentist just got really cool... our dentist installed a touch monitor so the kids can play during their appointment. Kyle was the lucky one to sit in the fun chair. Bummer for Emily who was in the next pod over without the games, but major score for Kyle. Nothing like a little Angry Birds during your fluoride treatment. 

Monkey pile

Aaron rolls over

Tonight Aaron rolled over from his tummy to back. Way to go Aaron at nearly 4 weeks old!

Easter egg scavenger hunt (2012)

Happy Easter!! Kyle and Emily had a fun egg hunt this morning at home before brunch. The "aha" moments with the clues are great. Enjoy!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwJgC9mfuqA&sns=em

After the scavenger hunt, we went out to Easter brunch. After brunch, we headed to the beach to burn off some calories. 

Emily got so soaked that we pieced together some dry clothes for her to make it home - my sweater, her new shirt and Kyle's shorts. 

Easter Hunt Clues (2012)

Easter egg treasure hunt

There is a treasure at the end

So on a hunt you two we send.

From egg to egg, in order now.

You'll follow clues we'll tell you how.

Use your brains, your smarts, your intellect

To find the eggs we do expect.

Think hard to figure each clue out,

Then run to the spot for the next egg to scout.

Open each egg to find the clue.

Work together so it doesn't stump you.

14 eggs in order forward

Collect them all to earn your reward.

1+1=_____

You can find your next clue

Inside Kyle's / Emily's stinky shoes

You spin this to make the world go round

On it is another clue to be found

Under where your baby brother sleeps

Is another clue so go peek!

Look here if you want to watch a movie

And pick up another clue, groovy!

Daddy works all day in there

So go get your next clue if you dare!

You are always in here to get a snack

So find your clue there, you have the knack!

This is where you go to play pet shop

You can find a clue here if you hop.

You are learning this game played on a table

Find a clue there if you are able.

A favorite treat of any monkey

Go find your clue here before it turns chunky.

Where you stow the members of your zoo

Is where you'll find your next clue.

Expert barristas you both now are.

By daddy's black-and-blue look near-and-far

Careful not to get too cold

PBR too does this clue-holder hold

You look in this to see real far.

Today: An egg you’ll find, not moon nor star.

This is the final clue, to the challenge you must rise.

Solve this riddle to find your prize:

   A raven shouts the name of it.

   You can go super fast just sitting still inside it.

   It is gray and holds each one of us?

   A button press will open thus.

Blue eyed kids

My blue eyed babies

Tag with Grandma & Mike

Grandma and Mike were in town to visit us and meet Aaron. We took them to our favorite restaurants. After some great Mexican food at Milpas, we all needed to burn off some energy / calories. Grandma & Mike were great sports, running around and playing tag with Kyle and Emily. 

Hugs

Aaron's first real Bottle

Aaron had his first real bottle tonight. He had one quick one in the car before out of desperation and only took a little and another that I tried to give him for a night feed but he wanted nothing to do with bottled milk. This one from Grandma however, he readily took. Go Grandma!

"Butterflys only!"

This is Emily's butterfly trap. She picked each of these flowers and planted peas in the other cup . The third cup is a little experiment Kyle and I have with peas in water.  Her sweet 5 year old writing instructing the bugs on who can go there is too cute!

Meow Meow's birthday

Today was Meow Meow's birthday so Emily wrapped up a present for her and helped her open it. She got some pretty nice gifts and a beautiful card and note from Emily. 

Big sister

Emily has been great with Aaron. All along she was excited to have a baby brother and that hasn't changed since his arrival. She is a super sweet little nurturer and always wanting to help. She does a great job reading him stories, playing with him, helping with his bath, snuggling with him, comforting him and just loving him. 

Daddy nap

Aaron loves to sleep on us instead of his crib - though he certainly will sleep in a crib too. But what is better than a Daddy or Mommy nap?

Helping Daddy work after dinner

Comfy Kyle

Think he's comfortable enough?

Brothers

Kyle sure loves his baby brother. It's been something else seeing the evolution of their relationship where Kyle started off pretty much not wanting much to do with the baby and being afraid to even touch him to now loving to hold him and comfort him, fixing up the monkey mobile and helping with his bath.