Wasps are ruining my life, daddy and the 5 diapers and by the way, can I have a pink frog???

....whew! It was quite the Monday at our house :)

All of the sudden last weekend, wasps started to show up, all over!  Arnie sprayed several nests this weekend and there seem to be less, but we are still seeing one or two every now and then.  They haven't bothered us at all, but apparently Maggie thinks it's not safe to be with in a quarter acre of them.  We were out in her playhouse yesterday and we saw one, I quickly smacked it with a coloring book, hoping she wouldn't notice.  She seemed to go on about her business....I came in the house with Grace and a few minutes later there Maggie was coming in the back door....she said "Mom, I saw another wasp."  I told her it wouldn't bother her, and just to go back to playing and not worry about it... she proceeded to slump down on the rug, stick out her bottom lip and proclaim that "these wasps are ruining my life!"  Seriously, maybe a little dramatic....we're in real trouble during her teenage years!

Not long after the wasp incident, I was cleaning up dinner and Arnie went to change Grace.  He got to the changing table, took of her pants and said something about how she faked him out and her diaper was clean....he spoke to soon.  Before long I heard something to the effect of ohhhhhh sh***t, after a few minutes I went to check on him and there was a wad of diapers on the side of the changing table, Arnie look a little grossed out and I'm pretty sure Grace was laughing.  I left him to finish the job, he finally announced that she seemed to have finished her business and I assume he grabbed one last diaper....as soon as he got it under her, she peed all over!... So he started with a clean baby and 5, yes 5, diapers later he had her redressed :)  Grace and I both got a good laugh out of it....

Last night at bedtime when Maggie was saying her prayers she asked God if she could have a pink frog.... they seem to have a pretty tight relationship, but I really hope he doesn't honor her request on this one...it would freak me out a little. 

A few pictures....

The perfect shirt for our little Tater, and a big smile to go with it.



Gracie is SO BIG!  She even graduated to bigger bottles,
we got tired of refilling the little ones.



Maggie let Gracie play with Baby Chocolate Milk,
it looks like she liked it.  I wonder what her babies will
be called???



Maggie wanted to put her headband on BY HERSELF!
So we went with the Rambo look :)



On the road again...

We've had such a nice weekend at our house. Friday night Miss Lauren stayed with the girls and we got to have a grownup dinner with some wonderful friends.  It was beautiful outside so we got to have dinner and drinks on the patio at J's and really enjoy ourselves.  You know you're getting old when you can have a great evening with friends and still be home by 10 :)

Yesterday we packed up the kids, the diaper bag, the stroller, and probably about a "zillyamen" (Maggie's new favorite number) other things and headed off for Lincoln.  Our first stop was Miss Lauren's softball tournament.  It was a beautiful day and having a little time to run around outside after being cooped up in the car was great. 

Maggie is sort of a cross between the team mascot
and the little cheerleader.  The big girls are all so good
to her and she thinks she's hot stuff when she's with them.



Gracie was keeping up with the game...



Oh how we all love this girl! She is so good
to our kids and such an amazing person! 

After the softball game we went to Grandma Lea and Papa's to spend some time with them and get cleaned up for Molly's graduation party.  We only gave Papa about 30 min. notice that we were coming, but somehow by the time we got there he already had several toys ready for Maggie.  Maggie still wasn't crazy about the clown statue inside the front door, but this time she just said, "I don't like that thing" and walked right by.

What a special Mother's Day week for my girls, in the last week they have seen all 3 of their great-grandmas and both of their grandmas.  That's a combine 351 years of wisdom that they were exposed to :)  What great role-models and supports they each are for all of us. 

Today we hung out at home, it was the first day in Gracie's short life that I would call her 'fussy', and really she wasn't so bad, just a kind of whinny and restless...hopefully all that time awake will mean that she sleeps good tonight.  By this evening she was acting more like herself, we had a wonderful dinner, went for a nice walk and spent lots of time playing on the driveway. 

Tonight I gave the girls a bath together (and I didn't take the camera, if you can believe that!) Maggie was filling a sponge with water and then wringing it out on Gracie's legs....and Gracie was laughing.  Occasionally she'll give me a little smile, but for Maggie she had this huge open mouthed smile and her whole face was into it....I can't believe I didn't get a picture of it!  She adores her big sister, I hope it stays that way. 

This Mother's Day I'm feeling especially blessed to have both my girls.  They amaze me every day, I'm not sure how anyone could look at them and question that there is a God...I certainly thank him for trusting me with each of them.



Teeth...

Yesterday Maggie made her first real (non-emergency) trip to the dentist.  She's a little younger then he usually likes to see them, but because her front teeth had the bed-jumping trauma, he thought it would be a good idea to check on her.  The hygienist took Maggie back and counted her teeth, she had no intention of cleaning and polishing them, because she didn't expect that Maggie would let her....well she was wrong. Maggie was doing great, so she decided to give it a shot.  Maggie sat patiently while she cleaned, polished, flossed and put a fluoride treatment on.  The hygienist couldn't believe how well she cooperated.  I was very proud of her.  Maggie loved the water squirter and the sucker thing, unfortunately for us the hygienist let her play with both....she thought the never ending supply of water made the squirter a perfect "shoot gun"....Neither of us left the dentist as dry as we arrived.

Unfortunately the Dentist said unless we wanted to pull her front teeth, there is nothing that we can do to turn them back into the bright white teeth that they used to be.  We just have to be thankful it's not the permanent teeth that she hit...I think once her big teeth come in, I might require her to wear a mouth guard at all times :) 

Yesterday I took the time to focus 100% of my day on being a mom, that sounds a little crazy coming from a (partly) stay-at-home mom, who's (mostly) on maternity leave.  But I haven't done a very good job of putting everything else aside, I've been busy working on taking and editing pictures, trying to keep up with my different committee and board commitments, running here and there, etc... and yesterday I didn't do any of those things.  I walked around the lake with Gracie, I rocked her in the rocking chair, I snuggled Maggie at nap time, I played outside with both girls, all little things...but things that occasionally I have to remind myself I love to do.  All that other stuff and all those other people can wait, I feel like my girls are growing so fast, I need to remember to put my energy into what's most important. I'm not very good at saying no, but for the sake of my sanity and for the well-being of my kids, I may need to practice.

Grace is doing such a good job holding up her head and she's starting to really make eye contact and smile.  Of course she won't smile when I pick up the camera...stinker!  When I was pregnant I really hoped that this baby would have big brown eyes like mine....what in the world was I thinking...it doesn't get any better then this....

Good thing Daddy is home...

...because Mom is no good at driveway ball.


At one point Maggie said "Dad, guard me, play defense!"...he was so proud :)



Maggie and Reagan vs Daddy...I'm not sure who won, but I know which
team made the most noise.

Gracie and I enjoyed a little outside time too...



Maggie did a little driving, boy is she glad she has a car without a top like Pops.

I'm so glad the weather is starting to warm up a bit.  It's nice to be able to spend a little more time outside and it's good for Maggie to run around and burn off some energy. 

Last night we were in Omaha and my Grandma's came for dinner.  I'm a very lucky girl to have 2 wonderful Grandma's who for my entire life have been very involved and healthy.  I'm so glad that my girls have them.  One of my favorite things about my grandma's is that for more then 50 years they have been friends with each other.  Most kids don't get to grow up with that kind of family relationship, and growing up I didn't realize that it was unique.  Now I do, and I appreciate it more then ever. 

 
 
A couple more of my girls....


Grace is one month old...



Thanks for the hat, Aunt Soni.



Growing like a weed...

Grace had her one month check-up this morning.  We haven't been thrilled with our doctors office in Norfolk, so after considering lots of options, today we tested out a new pediatrician in Omaha.  It was really nice and I liked the doctor a lot.  Next month it will be time for Maggie's 3 year check, so I'll take both girls and we'll see what Maggie thinks (I'm pretty sure she'll like it, just based on the basket of suckers on the counter). 

As of today, Grace weighs 9 lbs. 15 oz. and is 22 inches long.  That makes her tall and skinny according to the growth chart....oh ya, and not surprisingly her head is on the large end of the scale :)  She has her daddy to thank for that one. 

Yesterday I cleaned off my camera and tried to get all my picture folders organized and backed-up, in the process I came across a couple of pictures from Arizona that I meant to share and never did, so here they are.....

What are the chances???  Someone just happened to notice
this car in the parking lot.



Maggie loved riding with Pops!  she is still asking why I can't
take the top off my car.

  

If you're looking for a summer vacation spot...

...I hear West Point is pretty nice.

Not long after we left Norfolk today, Maggie said "Mom, I would like some gummies for a snack."  I told her maybe we would stop in West Point.  Then she said, "West Point is my favorite place, well West Point and the beach are "bowf" my favorite." 

So if you can't make it to the beach this summer, just stop in West Point for some gummy worms....it's about the same :)

In the hopes that we will make it farther then West Point this summer, I took Grace to get her passport pictures taken today...it was a small feat, and it looks like a mug shot, but I think they will do....passport office here we come!

By the way, this morning I was hoping to have everyone ready and be on our way out the door for school by 8am...we made it with time for a picture (wanted proof) and a minute to spare :)



An evening outside with Maggie...

Maggie was on a roll tonight, here are a few things she said....



"Peanut, get out of the way, or you might lose your tail" and then
"Mom if Peanut lost her tail, where would it go?"

"OOOPPPPS, I ran baby Chocolate Milk's head into the gassing pump."

"She's ok, now we can get our gas to go to Omaha."

 

Why Maggie can't babysit Gracie:

"Can Gracie go down the slide with me?"



If she could talk, I'm pretty sure she would have been
screaming for me to save her! She stayed safe in her
pouch while big sister was being crazy!

 A quick video that's good for a laugh: