two year well visit

Love Bug had her two year well visit this morning and I'm happy to report she is healthy!  I mean I was absolutely expecting that to be the case, but it is still nice to hear none-the-less.

At two years, Love Bug is:

28.4 pounds (71st percentile)

33 inches (32nd percentile)

19 3/4 centimeters head circumference (97th percentile)

When they measured her, they had her length at 35 3/4 inches.  I knew that could not be correct.  For one thing, she was 32 inches at her 18 month checkup (there is no way she has grown over 3 inches in 6 months) and secondly, Bennett is 35 inches tall and he is taller than Love Bug.  When we got home, I measured her (by putting her feet against the wall and making a pen mark on the door jam and measured her.  Both times I did this, it came back as 33 inches.  I am probably off an 1/8 - 1/4 inch, but I knew there was no way she was almost 3 feet tall!

The Mayor had a good day at school today.  It was rainy and dreary when I dropped him off and sunny and beautiful when I picked him up.  And it looks like the weather is going to be amazing for the rest of the week.  Thursday the high is 78 degrees!  Looks like winter is officially over.  Thursday is "Donuts with Dad" at The Mayor's school so D will walk The Mayor in and have breakfast with him.  I can't wait to hear how it goes.  It will be fun for D to get to see The Mayor's class but I am a little worried since this isn't part of our normal structure.  

Tomorrow, a dear friend from our Sunday School class has offered to take The Mayor and Love Bug all morning long!  She wants me to drop them off after 9 and not come back until 2 when she has to leave to get her daughter from school.  How nice is this?!  I am really looking forward to some alone time.  It will help recharge my batteries!

our girl is 2!

Today our sweet Love Bug turned 2.  And the day could not have been more perfect.  The weather was sunny and in the 60s and she was surrounded by family and friends who love her.

The kids had a blast jumping in the inflatable and going down the inflatable slide.  I was so happy I had rented it.  The kids wore themselves out...and they all played so well together.  Love Bug was a little apprehensive at first, she would only jump while being held by D and would only go down the slide in his lap.  By the end of the party, she was climbing into the inflatable by herself and would go down the slide alone.  Such a big girl!

My sweet love...I am so blessed to have you as my daughter.  Until 2 years ago, there was something missing in this family...and you came and completed us.  You are loved more than words could ever express.

D bought the birthday girl these beautiful flowers

coming down the slide in daddy's lap

big boy

blowing out the candles

digging in

daddy's girl

came down the slide all by herself!

sweet Bennett

taking an ice break

The Mayor had to help with the gift opening

the next david beckham?

Tonight was The Mayor's first soccer clinic.  I was so sad to miss it; I was working for a market research company that I sometimes do contract work for.  D made sure to take tons of pictures...how cute is he?  I love it when little kids play soccer and you can't see their legs because of the socks and shorts covering their legs.  He is so cute!

I was proud to hear he was loving it!  He was so excited to put on his shin guards and cleats and was participating and listening to his coach!  Such a proud momma!  He made it almost the entire practice before he got tired and wanted to go home.  He actually went up to D and said "Dad, give me the keys, I'm gonna drive home".  Hysterical.  D told him no, had him stick it out the last few minutes, thank his coach and say good-bye.  I am just so happy he was happy to be there!  And to his credit, he didn't fall asleep until 11PM last night and was up at 6:45.  Yikes.

Needless to say, he was fast asleep at his normal bedtime tonight and we will make sure he naps on Fridays before soccer.

Birthday preparations are now complete and we are just waiting for the big event in the morning!  I can not believe my baby is going to be 2 in just over 12 hours.

Here are some cute pictures of Bennett and Love Bug from the other day when Meega came over to help me make birthday decorations.  How cute are they?

they are sharing dried pineapple

a great day

The Mayor had a wonderful day at school.  And seeing the thumbs up from his teacher while I made my way in the carpool line and then to hear her tell me he had such a great day...well, it just makes the rest of the day an amazing one.

I am so proud of my boy and the hard work I know he is putting forth.

We spent the rest of the day getting more stuff done for Love Bug's birthday this weekend...I'm getting really excited!!

Tomorrow it will be non-stop party prep.  Finishing up the decorations and getting the house ready for houseguests.  Can't wait!

jumping beans

The Mayor's trampoline arrived today!  He loves it...and so does Love Bug.  This is going to provide hours of entertainment for our guy.

I have decided to keep some OT things around the house to help The Mayor's sensory processing.  This trampoline will allow him to get out energy and satisfy some sensory cravings.  I have also ordered a weighted blanket that will hopefully allow our little guy to fully rest and get into a deep sleep at night.  For too long he has woken up saying he is tired.  We have tried everything and are hopeful this blanket is our answer.  Many OTs and parents of children with sensory issues swear by these blankets.

Tomorrow is a school day and many prayers are being sent up that The Mayor has a great day and is excited to go in the morning.  We have talked about school all day and told him he needs to tell his teachers about his cool new trampoline...he was excited about that.  Hopefully that excitement carries over to the morning.

sunday funday

D got up this morning and ran 15 miles with one of his training buddies.  When he got home, I jogged/walked 2 miles.  I am currently doing a couch-to-5K training program in anticipation of my first 5K in May.  D averaged a 7:30 mile...mine was substantially slower...but that's ok...at least I'm doing it.

After our runs, we got ready and headed out to church.  I am really loving our church.  It's so funny, D and I have church hopped for most of our marriage.  And even when we found a church we liked, every Sunday would roll around and D and I would look at each other and ask "are we going to church today?".  We have yet to ask that question when Sunday rolls around.  We know we are going and we are both excited to be there.  Love that God has answered prayers and placed this Sunday School class in our lives.

This afternoon was a little lazy but great nonetheless.  We just enjoyed playing with the kids and letting them run wild.  We ran around this house like it was our job (and when I say we, I mean The Mayor, Love Bug and D - I just supervised).  They ran so hard they were both ready for bed come bedtime.

This week we will be gearing up for Miss Priss's 2nd birthday!  I can't believe my sweet baby girl is going to be 2 on Saturday.  Ugh.  The past 2 years have really gone quickly...my baby isn't really a baby anymore.  I love that peanut and can not imagine our family without her.  She has completed this family.

love this little guy too

change of plans

I was just sitting down to download pictures and write my blog post last night when the sirens indicating tornadoes began blaring in our backyard.  D and I ran upstairs, each retrieved a child, and ran down into the basement.  We made makeshift beds in the basement playroom.  That room is almost completely underground and doesn't have any windows.  The Mayor did perfectly.  He didn't wake up when we laid him in his "bed".  Love Bug, oh Love Bug, well, she thought it was a party.  And continued to "party" for the next 3 hours.  And you forget that a 2 year old doesn't know how to whisper.  Thankfully, The Mayor never woke up from his sister talking.  She finally passed out around 1:00 and then The Mayor woke up confused.  After he cuddled in with me, he fell back asleep.

Normally, the sirens will go off, and after hiding out for 20-30 minutes, you can come back out.  But last night there was cell after cell of horrible storms and we were under watch until 5AM.  I think the sirens went off about 4 times...it was one long night.

But it could have been a whole lot worse.  I am thankful we have a finished basement where we can sleep and there was no damage to our house.  Thankful PopPop and Mamie kept Bennett at their house last night and he slept through the storms in the nursery in their basement and thankful Meega and J were able to sleep in their laundry room and not have to worry about Bennett.  Thankful we should only see sunshine for the rest of the week.

Before the storms, we had a pretty good day yesterday.  We ran lots of errands to get the last few items needed for Love Bug's birthday party next weekend.  D came home early and made forts and tunnels for the kids to crawl through in the basement.  We had an awesome "breakfast for dinner" dinner and everyone went to sleep without any issues (until we woke them up due to the sirens).

Today will be low-key.  The Mayor is at his swim lesson (praying this week is better than last week's lesson) and then we will have lunch and naps for everyone!  We are meeting friends for dinner and then going to a surprise birthday party for a guy in our Sunday School class.

Can't wait for nap time.

crawling through the tunnels

the canopy of tunnels

our monkey

D and his mini-me

giving daddy kisses

how he rolls

our little party animal.  

The room was pitch-black so the flash almost blinded her...