February's Random Ramblings

• Today Abby told me "Mommy you are my heart, and my heart is happy".  Those words melted my heart!
• Abby was having a hard time after school one day.  She was just cranky, tired, and whining.  I had finally had enough and told her to go to her room.  After about five minutes I called up to her and asked her if she was ready to be nice.  She answered back, "No, not yet!"  After about five more minutes she came downstairs and said, "Now I'm ready to be nice."  At least she is honest!!
• Abby was driving her Barbie Power Wheel Jeep and she is not the best driver to say the least.  After steering off the sidewalk and into the rocks for about the millionth time she turned around, looked at me and said, "You know, I don't have my drivers license, what do you expect?!?"
• We were at the park one day and Abigail had to go to the bathroom really bad.  The park is about 1/2 mile away from the house and I could tell by the look on her face she had to go bad.  I told her to hurry up and we would get home as fast as we could.  She looked around and said, "I can't make it.  I just want to use nature's bathroom!" (meaning the bushes).

Gymnastics

The girls and I have been doing some digging around and trying out new gymnastics places for open gym.  I think we have finally found our favorite one.  They have open gym playtime for preschoolers every day which is nice for us and our busy schedule.  They don't charge for Olivia yet (although that will change in a few months).  They get an hour and a half of playtime followed by a snack that is included in the admission charge.  They have a tumble track, multiple trampolines, a huge foam pit with a rope to swing on, bars, and a really nice toddler area.  It is clean, and new, and the staff is really nice and helpful with the kids.  The girls love going there to play and burn off some energy!!

This picture is fuzzy, but its Abby swinging from the rope into the foam pit.  She loves this!

Olivia climbing up the ladder 

My gymnastics girls

Snack time!

Soccer

Abigail started soccer a few weeks ago and she is loving every minute of it.  It is more of a parent interaction league, where for the first 1/2 of practice they do some drills and work on soccer basics with a buddy (parent) and then the 2nd half they have a scrimmage.  Its hard to keep Olivia out of the mix, she wants to play too!

This is the first day of practice.  Abby doesn't look too thrilled here, I think she was a bit disappointed by the color of the uniforms.

A bit happier!

A few action shots.  She is actually pretty good and she got an assist in her first scrimmage, but they don't keep score at this age.

Olivia walked around saying "ball" and snacking the entire time!

Team meeting

Showing off her soccer wounds, one tough cookie!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dearest Chey,
I must say, we are all missing you dearly right now, and excited for you to come home tomorrow from Vegas.  Being alone with the kids for the past few days has served as a wonderful reminder of just how awesome of a mom you are.  Those kids really wear me out!  I appreciate all you do, day in, day out.  You are a great mom, and a great wife.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,
Andrew
 

Olivia--15 Months

Wow, I really can't believe my baby girl is 15 months old.  Seriously, where does the time go?  The past few months have been full of discovering new things and mastering skills.  It seems like everyday a new word comes out of Olivia's mouth.  Her now extensive vocabulary includes the standards like Mama, Dada, ball, banana, juice, eat, nite-nite, bye-bye, hi, book, Elmo, Grover, and thank you among others.  And some not so standards like Spongebob!  Olivia loves to do everything her big sister does.  She definitely does not think she is baby.  She no longer wants to eat in a highchair, ride in a stroller, or get her diaper changed.  Her appetite and willingness to try almost anything offered to her are a welcome change from Abby's picky eating habits.  She LOVES to read books and it doesn't seem to bother her if it is the same few books over and over and over again.  She likes to play blocks, "cook" in her little kitchen, dance, play ball and bug play with her sister.  She is happiest when she is outside whether its playing at a playground, digging in the sand, running in the grass, or riding her car.  She is love bug, but only on her terms and her timing.  If she wants to be left alone she will let you know, LOUDLY.  All in all she is growing up too quickly, trying to hard to keep up with Abby.  Everyday I see more and more of her "baby-ness" slip away, and even though I love watching her grow I wouldn't mind if she slowed down just a little!