Scotland

GB & Grandpa are back from Scotland/Ireland and they came to see us with presents for the kids!  Jonathan got a Scotland "football" (i.e., soccer) jersey & team book, a castle sticker book and had to borrow GB's castle books for the weekend.  Diana got an adorable homemade plaid coat and a castle book.  While Jonathan was working on his sticker book with GB, Grandpa read Diana her castle book.  Grandpa told Diana to hold on a second while he went to get his glasses.  He came back with his glasses and she got up right away, walked over to get her glasses, mind you his were reading glasses and hers were sunglasses, but I thought it was really cute.  Grandpa thinks she was trying to make fun of him.  The kids really enjoyed looking at the falcon and hawk pictures and Jonathan loved hearing about the castles.  What a fun trip GB & Grandpa had and thank you so much for sharing it with our kids!

Summer Is Here

Summer is officially here...we have been at the pool every day this week.  It is awfully hard to get anything done around the house when you are never home.  Ha!  If my posts start slipping, you will know why...I am never home to write a post and I am sure it would just say...went swimming again today.  :-)  The kids are loving the pool and the other activities they have at the Sports Club.  I think it is going to be a very busy but fun summer.  We are so lucky to be able to join the sports club for the summer and extra bonus, most of our friends belong too!

Rough Life

Jonathan had a blast camping all weekend, got spoiled by going to the Red's game Tuesday night and now today, he got to spend all day, literally (9:30 am to 4:30 pm), at the Sports Club...swimming from 11 am on.  I took Diana home to nap but Jonathan stayed with his friend Will and his mom.  When I showed back up at the pool, this is how I found Jonathan...laying on a couch in the cabana, eating pirate booty and having a drink.  Seriously!?!?  The kid is five!  Rough life but I guess someone has to do it.

Poor Diana

Diana has been battling an illness all week, low grade fever and cough.  Friday, she woke up at 5 am having a hard time breathing.  I thought for sure she had croup again but when I got a better look at her around 6:30 am, I realized she was covered in a rash.  I assumed it was roseola.  Friday afternoon I decided to call the doctor and she said there is a virus going around that is similar to croup but has a rash.  Since it is viral there isn't anything to be done so unless symptoms get worse, Diana will just need to fight this off.  However, as I was laying in bed last night I thought to myself, she was on amoxicillin for an ear infection about a week ago and I believe that is the first time she has been on amoxicillin.  Jonathan is allergic to amoxicillin and I remember something similar happening to him.  What I read about it, there is a rash that can be caused by amoxicilin.  It doesn't necessarily mean they are allergic but it is definitely a known side effect.  So who knows what she has!  She hasn't been sleeping well and has been a little grumpy.  Today is the first day where she started eating better.  Hopefully she will feel better soon!

Camping

The boys left us girls at home this weekend and headed north to Fayette, OH - Harrison Lake for a camping trip with Brad's best friend, Brian Foy, and family.  Brian has a much more daring wife than Brad, she went with all 4 of their kids.  My friend Emily was supposed to come down but her grandmother passed and as it turns out Diana is a little under the weather so it is all better off this way anyway.  I got the following pictures from the boys today.  Looks like they are having success fishing!  I am sure the kids will be really excited about that since they didn't catch any fish during last years camping trip.

Nature Center

Shonda organized a trip out to the Cincinnati nature center today to try out a new hiking trail.   It was a lot of fun and neat to see the kids out in nature.  It was a little chilly and I think next time I would get the backpack from the visitor center with a bigger net and other gadgets for the kids.  The ponds were the biggest hit, where we tried catching tadpoles with our really tiny net but had no luck.  The kids also liked the cabin that was built in the 1800's...way different than the "cabin" we are used to at Nana and Grandpa Gordy's.  These pictures crack me up because the first one by the sign with the boys, Diana refused to be in the picture with them...she later went over by the sign as soon as the boys left.  Drew was on Shonda's back in a carrier and Emma was in a stroller so neither made it in the picture.  The log pictures, Jonathan very eagerly climbed up the tree and scooted across to where I wanted him.  Alex and Evan didn't want to go up the tree but leave it to my crazy climbing 2 year old to follow her big brother up there.  She wasn't quite sure what to do when she got up there. 

Jonathan's Last Day of Preschool

I can't believe it, Jonathan's last day of preschool was today.  We celebrated with a get together at Alm's park and the kids had a blast.  I enjoyed watching the kids interact with one another.  Jonathan sure did have a great class this year and met a lot of really nice friends.  His teacher was amazing and will be deeply missed!  The random picture below is when Jonathan ran over to Mrs. Riccardi to give her an envelope that he worked on earlier that day.  It was his name with a capital J and the rest lower case.  She was so impressed I thought she was going to cry.  He has been working really hard at doing lower case letters with her and spelling his name all in one line.

Butterflies

I bought a butterfly garden for Diana's birthday...well it was supposed to be for her party but a couple of things didn't go in my favor and we didn't have the butterflies in time for the party, but we have them now!  All 5 of our caterpillars turned into butterflies!!!  Diana can now say the word butterfly and anytime she hears them or sees them flutter around she gets really excited.  We will need to do this again next year, such a fun activity.

Cool Shades

Jonathan got to experiment with different types of glasses today at school.  Here are some pictures his teacher sent me.  I sure am going to miss these pictures!  Thursday is his last day of preschool.  Ahhh!

Math Work

Jonathan really has an interest in math and he is quite good at it.  Today I was cleaning out the kids activity books and Jonathan started doing his math worksheets.  I had to take a picture because he did this all by himself and he got them all correct.

Where did my little girl go?

I feel like Diana is growing up before my eyes. I know she is two now and should be doing some of this stuff but I feel like she should still be my baby. Her favorite game is ring around the rosie. She is so cute, she will grab your hands and walk over to where she wants to do it and start walking in a circle. She particularly likes Jonathan to do it with us but really she is happy with anyone willing to play. I get dizzy doing it, so I don't last long. Tonight while we were eating dinner she got down, grabbed her picnic basket, put all the shapes in the correct places, brought a plate to me and then grabbed one for her and said "mine." Then she served Jonathan and daddy. It was really sweet. She loves her baby dolls and is very nurturing to them. Her favorite doll, is my old cabbage patch doll, named Jackie. She dressed her in my 2T swim suit I wore as a little girl and she calls her "swim". If you are ever over at our house and Diana is running around the house saying "swim" with her hands up (like where did it go), it means she is looking for her baby.

I don't want to jinx it but we are real close to saying we are officially potty trained. We still have an accident here or there, especially if we are busy but she definitely has it figured out. She was at church today for moms day out (the kids stayed and I ran errands) and she went for the lady watching her. First time for her going for someone else. I must admit, I was a little amazed. She also woke up from her nap yesterday very happy, playing in her bed and then all of a sudden I hear her saying "potty potty". I ran up there, took her to the bathroom and she went #2. It helps having Jonathan around because anytime he goes to the bathroom she follows and goes as well. She looks so old wearing big girl underwear and no diaper anymore!

Something Fishy

Jonathan's class painted real fish today to make artwork.  His teacher really is amazing!

Hot Day

As the inside house temperature rose to 85 today, I decided it was time to turn on the air and break out the water sprinkler.  Diana wasn't sure about the sprinkler at first but quickly warmed up to the idea and outlasted her brother!

Diana 2 Year Check Up

Diana had her two year check-up today and overall things were good with her.  She weighs 27 pounds and is 33 inches tall.  She is staying on her 50th percentile curve for both weight and height.  She had to get one shot today, hepatitis A, and she didn't even cry!  Jonathan was all worried so asked to stand in the hallway, when we came out he was shocked, "what, you are done?  But I didn't even hear her cry."  She does have an ear infection in her left ear, the doctor said 4 out of a 10 and since she is waking up in the middle of the night, this could be the reason, she wanted to put her on amoxicilin.  I could be wrong but I think this is the first, or maybe second, time she has ever been on amoxicilin, which Jonathan is allergic to, so hopefully she isn't.  I also discussed with the doctor my concerns about her lack of drinking milk, which the doctor doesn't seem to think it is an intolerance since she does fine with yogurt, cheese and ice cream but I am not 100% sold on this.  I will keep offering milk to Diana but will try and sneak in the calcium other ways and not worry too much about it.  I also talked to the doctor about Diana's waking up in the middle of the night and her fighting nap/bed time where we have to stay in her room with her until she falls asleep.  She thinks this is just a phase and that we need to work with her through it.  She suggested the "Mommy will be right back" method or that I try the Ferber method, which I need to learn about.  I think I will start with the Mommy will be back and see where we get.  I am hoping it's her ear and/or maybe her two year molars that are waking her up and that we will be out of this "phase" quickly....mommy (and everyone in the house) needs their sleep!  The doctor statred to ask questions about her cognitive and development just when Diana and Jonathan started fighting over a toy.  She laughed and said, "well, it looks like we are good there and I don't need to ask you any further questions."

Curious George

We have a house guest from Jonathan's preschool until Thursday, Curious George!  The kids take turns bringing him and then writing a story about him.  George sure is curious and got into a bit of trouble while he was here.  He sure does like to climb!

More Presents

The kids were so excited to open more presents after dinner tonight!

Oh Diana

We forgot to open Diana's presents from our family over the weekend and Jonathan went to King Arthur's Court and picked out two special gifts for Diana just from him.  He couldn't wait any longer to open them so I let her open those presents this morning and I am not sure who liked the playmobile zoo and Melissa & Doug house more...Jonathan or Diana.  Hopefully they will learn to play together with these new toys but this morning Diana was being really protective of her new toys and Jonathan so desperately wanted to play with them.  Finally Jonathan went off and watched a TV show and Diana got sad he wasn't paying her any attention any more so she delivered all of her babies to him.  Can  you even see him in the chair?  Oh and check out Diana's outfit.  We are into dressing ourselves these days and I am not allowed to help pick a better matched outfit or help her put on her pants at least.   We change a lot these days too...either because we have accidents or just because she feels like it.  I see my laundry pile growing by the minute.  We also had to put together her baby furniture that Natalie got her today.  I am not sure if she is scolding her babies, Jonathan or me in this picture but this is a common occurrence these days as well.

Mother's Day Gift

Made my Mother's day!

Bed Update

Slowly but surely we are figuring out Diana's bed situation.  We decided she didn't like the toddler rail because she felt trapped in it and it seemed more like her crib.  The other night she wouldn't let Brad put it up when he put her to bed so it was left down and I am pretty sure she rolled out around 6 am, but it's hard to say.  I read where someone used a pool noodle under the crib sheet which created just enough of a barrier to keep kids from falling out but allowed them easier access in/out of the bed.  Saturday night we took off the crib rail and added the pool noodle and so far things have been much better.  Today during nap, she fought it of course but after about 20 minutes of crying in her room she put herself back in her bed and took an almost 2 hour nap.  Yea!  I was so happy to see her in her bed!  Sometimes she has been sleeping in her chair or on the floor.  I will go in and ask her, "where did you sleep?" and she will point to the place and sure enough it is still warm and you can see a pool of her drool.  Here is to hoping she continues to sleep in her bed!

Present Time

Diana got spoiled by all of her birthday presents.  She was all about opening presents and opened every single one pretty much by herself and in it all happened very quickly.  I didn't even have a chance to move to get better pictures.  Ha!  Thank you to everyone who came to her party and shared her special day with us!

Cake

Diana doesn't really like cake but loves ice cream so we did a Dairy Queen ice cream cake.  It was a big hit with everyone.  Go figure though, at Jonathan's party in March it was sunny and in the mid 70's and we could have used an ice cream cake.  Today it was in the 60's and cloudy. 

Diana Butterfly Party - Activities

I wasn't sure how to run Diana's birthday party

with the wide age range of kids but I think all in all it turned out pretty good.  The birthday girl looked fabulous in her "2' t-shirt Nana made her (thank you)!  There were butterfly wings for the kids to wear and noise makers.  I wish I would have made more kids put the wings on and gotten a picture...oh well.  We had the Elefun game, it's that blue elephant trunk that blows out butterflies, which all kids seemed to enjoy until the batteries ran out...I had extras just never got around to putting them in.  We colored butterfly shrinky dinks, hence the picture of the kids crowding around the oven.  I tossed stickers in the air and the kids caught them in their butterfly nets.  We also had butterfly coloring pages and a paper plate craft where you turned it into a butterfly and decorated it.  I did a really bad job of taking pictures...I need to remember to assign this task to someone in the future.  The kids also enjoyed playing in our spin chairs and with the piano.  The finale was to wrap the kids up in toilet paper to form chrysalids, or cocoons.  Alex, Evan and Jonathan learned about butterflies at school so they informed me it was chrysalids and they were the only kids to be wrapped up...over and over again.