Experiment.

A couple of weeks ago we had a few friends over for dinner and I tried a little experiment. The two toddlers of the group ate their dinner at a kid-sized table with kid-sized chairs (usually Presley eats in her highchair). To my surprise they actually ate pretty well! A bit messy, but what toddler isn't?

So, next I tried this--Presley actually at the dinner table in a booster seat. I cannot tell you how good she was! She was so proud to be 'with' mommy and daddy on her own chair. Presley was even better a few nights later when her grandparents and aunt and uncle came up for dinner (I think she was starving and that helped to focus her energy on the actual eating). Not that we do this all the time now, but I think this is a step in the right direction! Here are the photos from the first experiment.



I grew up in a family that had dinner together nearly every single night. I have always wanted to follow that tradition but over the years Chris and I had simply developed different eating times/schedules. Usually it was a night out that brought the two of us together for a meal or a relaxed Sunday dinner. I am trying, now that I have a family, to get back on track and have family dinners together. It is tough! I feel successful if I can get it/us all together for a real, sit-down (nothing fancy) dinner together twice a week. We just all have such varying schedules--we really need to sit down and MAKE this work!

My friend Kimber posed some additional questions that inspired this post (and got me thinking in general) . . . though there is a lot more to raising a family than family dinner--this is a good start for us.

Routine.

Our morning routine consists of breakfast for Presley and me then a feeding for Stella followed by a little playtime, a nap for Stella, and finally a shower for Presley and me.

While Stella is sleeping soundly Presley and I wash our hair, face, and bodies. Then I jump out, dry off, and get ready. While I am getting ready P stays in the shower--writing in the steam on the glass walls or playing with whatever toys we have in the shower--she is ALWAYS good!

Well, today when Presley yelled to me "Time to get out!!!", I got the towel and opened the door to get her out. I instantly saw bubbles on the shower floor and the whole steamy shower smelled very familiar--like my face wash!


Presley had proudly "cleaned" the shower with my nice, exfoliating face wash (could she have used the nearly empty regular face wash?). I calmly said thanks but explained that we do not use mom's face wash to clean the shower. She was so sad that I was sad (yes, nearly HALF the bottle was down the drain). We dried off, cleaned up, and I moved the face wash to the small, taller shelf in the shower.

I guess I am lucky to have a sweet little girl who wants to "clean" the shower.

Sick feeling.

You know the feeling--the one when something has gone wrong. Well, I have had that feeling all day! For the first time in my life I have lost my wallet (and my favorite baby blanket too). It happened some where between my grocery store purchase last night and a social event I attended after coming directly from the grocery store.

All my cards have been put on hold and thank goodness there has been no suspicious activity . . . but all in all I would just rather not have to deal with the aftermath of loosing a wallet.

On the bright side, it means I get to look for a new wallet (not so happy to have to spend the $$$). The one I lost was pretty great and even held my cell phone in an outer pocket, it was just a little small. Here is what I am thinking for my new one:



The lost wallet is Hobo International too. This one has the same 'wristlet' feature but with more card slots and a cute coin purse inside, but no cell phone pocket (unless it was small enough to fit in the coin compartment). I love the color--saffron--and the inside pattern!

Movies.

We occasionally watch movies at our house (thanks to a neighbor who lent us all the children's movies they own). Presley's favorites are The Bee Movie, Finding Nemo, and Monster's Inc.

The other day Presley looked at me and said "You are Schmoochie-poo mom. And I am Googly Bear." Comparing the two of us to characters from Monster's Inc. (a pair of monsters who are in love). On a different occasion (while I was disciplining her) Presley told me "You are being Marlin mommy." Comparing me to Nemo's overbearing father.

It amazes me what Presley will pick up and understand!

Sleep-over!

Presley LOVES to sleep-over at Grandma and Grandpa's when they are in town! They live just down the road and it is so much fun for Presley. Notice all the "gear" she takes along--a back pack with toys, her Nemo hat, sunglasses, and a bag with PJ's, her blanket, and clean undies for morning.


The funny part is that she hardly sleeps while she is there. Presley will sit in bed for at least an hour and play with whatever toy she took to bed and then wake up at about 5:30 AM! Thank goodness she doesn't do either of those things at home.

4 months.

Stella went in today for her 4 month check-up. Along with the 4 vaccinations and a good report from the doctor here are her stats:

• Head circumference 15.8 inches (27%), an increase of 1 inch in 2 months
• Length 24.5 inches (61%), an increase of 2 inches in 2 months
• Weight 12 pounds 8 ounces (25%), an increase of 2 pounds in 2 months

Stella is far from rolling over--probably my fault for not putting her on her tummy enough. Her neck muscles are strong but her arms could probably use the tummy time.

Daddy and Stella--don't they look alike??? Maybe Stella will have his green eyes.

Presley "holding" Stella. This is Presley's new "smile for the camera" pose. We have got to work on it before family pictures in a couple weeks.

Flashing lights.

Yes, I got pulled over for only the second time in my life (it has been 13 years since the last time) today as I drove through our small town today. I knew I wasn't speeding--who speeds through a small mountain town and a school zone--so it was of course my over due registration stickers that got me pulled over.

Good thing just a couple of days ago we replaced the windshield and got temporary papers printed up! Let's hope this doesn't happen again for a LONG time.

Gold Medal.

The Olympics aren't over in our home! Well, they are but this weekend we were invited to dinner at the home of a friend and gold medal winner from the Beijing Olympics.

Chris's dad was in Beijing and helped coach his 7th Olympic men's volleyball team. Of course we all know they men won a gold medal! Ryan Millar, a player on the team, let us hold his gold medal and even posed for a shot with Presley.


The medal is prettier in person--on TV the white part just looked like plastic to me but in real life it is actually a white jade stone. Not too shabby! If Grandpa Carl has anything to do with it Presley should be winning one of her own gold medals on the women's volleyball in a future Olympics.

Sundance again.

We have been taking advantage of Chris being home with lots of fun day trips! Today was no exception--we made the quick trip to Sundance for chair lift rides, suckers, and playing in the river. I took the time to take more pictures with the nice camera (still trying to get used to it--I am thinking of finding a photography class somewhere, any suggestions?).


Mom and Presley on a bridge. She was a little nervous about being held up near the edge--she liked looking through the railings better.


This was Stella's view for most of the afternoon. Well shaded from the sun and happy with dad in the Bjorn.


Presley playing in the river. Dad helped her down to a rock where she loved being so close to the water--touching it and looking for things in the water.


Does anyone else remember when these suckers were only 25 cents??? Well, now they are $1! Presley thoroughly enjoyed her Lemon Meringue flavored sucker.

How they grow!

I just finished up with Stella's 3 months photos (well 3 1/2 months if you want to get technical). I still want to do something outside but this is what we have so far.


This is Stella in a basket, with a blanket on the rug. She is trying to eat her dress and talk at the same time.


Stella with a home-made purple tutu. The tutu got a little bigger than I expected. This picture reminds me so much of Presley's 2 month photos that Krista took.


On the bed--I was trying for a different/colorful background . . . I am not sure the green is right.

Next time we will try to get SMILES--she can do it but this time not a single shot had a smile. Next month it is time for the family photo shoot--Krista will be coming out to take them, yippy!