I can't believe she is TWO!!

Where oh where has the time gone? Lola's birthday snuck up so quickly! I was planning on blogging more often around her birthday but with having a family Easter/birthday party at our house I got caught up with cleaning and getting everything ready for Easter Sunday...and who knows what else....well life....It's now A MONTH after her birthday!!! So here I am, Lola is now two and I finally have some time to blog. YAY! It will take me a bit to get caught up but there are lots of pictures to post and lots to tell.

Let me start with how a few weeks before Lola's birthday I was getting up numerous times at night. Running into Lola's room because she was screaming and all she ever wanted was milk. So of course I got her milk. Soon she wanted it every time I came to check on her. After a couple weeks of this I had to put an end to it. I honestly thought she wasn't getting enough to eat during the day so I fell into her trap. She must have been testing to see what she could get away with. One night I told her she couldn't have milk but she could have water from her sippy cup (which I left in her crib). She screamed and screamed. She threw her soother out of her crib and I didn't go in right aways. I let her "go" for a while. I went in then and gave her the soother and she soon stopped to cry. The next night she tried milk again but I didn't give in, she cried again but not as long. The next night she slept through. Finally!

We were wanting to put Lola into her toddler bed (which I picked up for 20 bucks) on her birthday but with all the sleepless nights we had recently had I suggested we hold off for another month and see how things went. Then on her birthday I decided we should just DO IT. With the Easter long weekend, it might be a good time to get her adjusted if we were to have a few sleepless nights then at least Jonathan wouldn't be working. On good Friday I washed her bed and after her nap I began to set it up.

She wasn't too happy that I had moved her crib away from it's original spot but then I explained to her what I was doing and she wouldn't leave my side. As I placed the headboard and foot board in their places, Lola decided to sit in between them and after each piece was put together she continued to try to sit as if she were sitting in her bed already. It seemed to be a good sign. Once her crib mattress went on her toddler bed she seemed really excited! She climbed on and off her bed and then would just lay there and smile. Another good sign. I quickly got her crib out of there and got her blankets and pillow all set up.

That evening we went to Jon's mom's for dinner. We put the kids down for night there and when we got home Lola was still half asleep so we put her down and she woke up once during the night (needing a drink) and at 6am I thought I heard her so I sent Jonathan to check on her and she was in Zoey's room! She threw some of her stuffed animals in her crib and wanted to get in with Zoey (it's a usual morning thing we do). Jon sent her back to her room, tucked her in and told her to go back to sleep. Luckily Zoey fell back asleep too. At 7am she woke up and came into our room. I have to say it was a good night with her sleeping in her new bed.
On Lola's birthday we went shopping at Bellis Fair. Yeah, I know that probably wouldn't be her first choice to do on her birthday but it was the only day that worked out to go with Rose (my sister-in-law) and Arie (her little guy). We did take the kids to a play area in the mall. They loved it! Up and down the slides, climbing over the little obstacles and enjoying time with other kids. The kids both slept on the drive home (an hour..tops). Needless to say she was pretty tired and whiny the rest of the day.

I made her favourite meal it's a delicious paste cooked al dente smothered with a rich creamy cheese sauce....in other words good old KD! We served Lola with her plate and she dug in but as soon as she saw daddy's bigger portion she wanted his! So Jon let her eat off his plate as much as she wanted. She ended up eating her portion PLUS half of Jon's plate!! Where she fit all those noodles...I have no idea! She would've played the perfect role for a Kraft Dinner commercial. We decided to give her dessert after her bath. Again I made one of her favourites...vanilla pudding. Yum!

We decided to give her presents the next day since she hardly had a nap. Our poor girl was exhausted......

Slacker

I will be updating soon!!

More Good Finds

My neighbour told me a couple weeks ago that he would be having a garage/moving sale this weekend and would be selling all the toys he had for his grandkids. I knew he had some stuff but WOW did he ever spoil his grandkids. I was lucky to have dibs on these items! I went over an hour before his garage sale started and checked it all out.


We got three large items:

• a house with doorbell, two seats, mini table, mailbox and doorbell


• a car that Lola can sit in and push around with her feet


• a Little Tikes picnic table

I am very excited to have a few more outdoor toys for Lola to play with (and soon Zoey). We are going to keep the house and table on the sundeck until the weather gets a little nicer. This way I can also let Lola go on the sundeck and back in the house as she pleases. Luckily we have a covered sundeck. I need to move things around to make it all fit better.

On the down side my neighbors are moving. It's a rental house and he has been the best renter ever. He always kept an eye out for our place when we were away (actually, even when we weren't away). He prevented burglars from getting away with some of our stuff. We have been very lucky to have such a good neighbor. Hopefully we are just as lucky with the new neighbors.

My Creative Side

About six years ago I took the Wilton Cake Decorating Course with a friend of mine. We wanted to improve our decorating skills and we had a lot of fun doing it. Even long before that, my mom had a few icing bags and tips for cake decorating. I was always looking for an opportunity to play with them. Since the course I have enjoyed making a few shower cakes and two wedding cakes. I will have to dig for photos of previous cakes and post them at a later date.
Today I had another opportunity to make a baby shower cake. I was looking forward to this for a couple days. My sister-in-law was throwing a shower for a friend/co-worker of hers and I offered to make the cake. Since Lola usually goes to my mother-in-laws every Friday it was perfect timing for me to create.

It's Been A Poopy Week

Not the nicest topic for conversation but when you're a parent it's a pretty normal topic. Yesterday Lola decided to poop in the tub. Luckily both her and Zoey had already been washed and it was just play time in the water. I scooped Zoey up in a flash and Jon came to the rescue. While he held Zoey I got the lovely job of fishing out the poop! Yuck! Anyways I tried not to make too big of a deal out of it but she also needed to know she shouldn't poop in the tub and that's what the potty was for. Now, I wasn't planning on writing this for everyone to read except that, what happened today was a milestone.

Tonight when Lola was waiting for the tub to fill up she wanted to brush her teeth so I stripped her down, gave her her toothbrush and told her to go sit on her potty (like she always does before hopping in the tub). I wasn't paying too much attention to her but she did give me a funny look (it was "the look" I get when she goes #2 in her diaper). I just looked away and hoped she would continue on her potty. When she stood up I just had to go over and check.....WHOOHOO! She finally did it! I started to praise her for doing a good job...she had this confused look on her face. Jon must have heard me cheering so he came over to check out what was up. He began to cheer and clap too. So to make it clear to her that what she did was a good thing, we asked what she did and she said "poo" and pointed to her potty. Immediately after Jon and I began to clap and say "YAY!!!" We asked her a few more times and continued on with the cheering. Soon we didn't even have to ask and she just pointed and said "poo" and she kept getting the same response from me and Jon. The look on her face was priceless, she was grinning from ear to ear the whole time. Did we go overboard with the cheering??? Naaa, we were just so excited she went in her potty.

I had stopped potty training her for a while because we had a few mini-meltdowns. With swimming twice a week it also made for a crazy time for potty training. I was gonna start again after swimming lessons but I think I will start tomorrow morning and hopefully we have more successful moments! Sorry no pictures in this post ;)

Mommy...Mommy...Mommy

These have been the words that have continuously been coming out of Lola's mouth. I guess she has finally made the connection with that word and getting my attention. I do enjoy hearing her say those words. Up until now it was always "Daddy" that she would say clearly. Mommy was more of a "mama". The phone would ring and you could either hear Lola say "phone" or "Daddy". It seems that since she's learned to say mommy she has become super clingy. All she wants is me. We went for swimming lessons with her cousin (Arie) and her Tia (Spanish for aunt). Her Tia wanted to take her to climb up the kiddy slide (and I was gonna catch her at the bottom) and she wouldn't leave my side. She has never 'not wanted' to go with her Tia, she loves her to pieces. She doesn't even want Jon to help her with her dinner. She just grabs her fork and hands it to me asking to help her. When she doesn't get my help she starts to cry although I think it's kind of a fake cry. I guess this is a phase she's going through and just need to figure out how best to handle each situation.

Poor Zoey!! I woke up this morning and when I went to get Zoey this is how I found her!! I know when Jon took her to bed he hadn't buttoned her sleeper all the way. I meant to ask him to button it up but I guess I forgot and he forgot too! What kind of parents are we!!?? Poor thing, her leg was freezing this morning although she didn't complain at all! I made sure to give her some extra lovin today!

Latest Pictures

Fun times at the park. Lola calls the slide "WEE!"

Little miss cowgirl!
Always full of smiles!
Lovin the puddles!
My new wheels!

Where has the time gone??

Has the month really flown by that fast? I have NO entries for February...how pathetic is that!!?? Now hmmm lets see...

Lola is halfway done her swimming lessons. We are having a lot of fun! Going twice a week sure makes for a busier week. I can't wait until I get a chance to take Zoey. So far she loves her baths so that's a good sign that she likes the water. The girls sure do enjoy bathing together.

Zoey is still working at sitting on her own. We are almost there, she is just so....what's the word...top-heavy? I got her weighed in the middle of February (6month mark) and she is 18 pounds 12 ounces. (WOW what a change from what Lola was like at that age). She enjoys her jolly jumper and excersaucer but I think the most fun she has is when her and Lola hang out in their crib together. All I hear is giggling...is that a sign of what is yet to come? My little girls are so much fun!

Lola's words are coming along. Everyday the words she knows become clearer and clearer. She has a favourite book, it's all about hedgehogs (it's so cute hearing her say "hedgehog") She is such a busy body, always full of energy and is beginning to test the waters. How much can she get away with and the latest is "fake" crying to see if mommy will give in. I am totally on to her!! One other new thing/phase she is going through is always wanting to be with me...what a great feeling 'to be needed' except when I need to get things done or drop her off somewhere. Guess I'll see how it goes.


The last couple weeks I have been researching double strollers. Do I get a Phil and Teds? Do I get a regular tandem? Do I get a side-by-side? So many options, so many high prices!! I was searching through eBay and Craig's List. I can't believe how many people think they can sell their strollers for the same price that I could get a brand new one!! I was beginning to lose sleep over it...why? I have NO idea!! Silliness I guess. Luckily a friend of mine heard I was looking and she was planning on listing hers but I scooped it up. It's a Schwinn jogger stroller so the girls sit side-by-side and both sides recline. It's has a swivel front wheel that can lock when in jogging mode. We've gone on a few walks and the I think the girls are getting used to it. My goal is to walk to and around Mill Lake like I used to do after I had Lola.

Another goal I have is to try to post something at least once a week...hopefully I can!

Good Finds

Zoey has been playing shy with many people...even family. On Saturday I left Zoey for part of the day at her Lita's (Spanish for grandma). The first hour I was gone didn't go so well but I guess she realized that she had to deal with the fact that I wasn't around. It turned out that she had a nice bonding time with Lita. When I picked her up she was all smiles. Ah, what a nice feeling.

While Zoey was at Lita's, Lola was was having bonding time with her daddy. I went out with the girls to a kid's swap meet. We found some good deals. We picked up a few large outdoor play items for Jon's mom's backyard. She spends a lot of time with the kids back there when they are over. They are going to love the new toys: a push car, a tunnel and another big plastic object that has a door a mailbox and plastic garden. I can't wait to see them play on it. I got some good deals as well shoes for 2 and 5 bucks, clothes for 2 bucks, a toy highchair for 5 bucks, a toddler bed for 20 bucks and probably the BEST buy so far was a pair of Barbie plastic high heels for 1 buck! Lola put them on and wore them ALL night. Even after her bath she had to put them back on. Jon and I were laughing at her clicking away on the hardwood floor. I was amazed at how well she could walk in them.

When I came home from the swap meet I found Jon, Lola and Shoney playing in the snow. It looked like they had a great time. I still can't believe how much had snowed in such short period of time. That's one thing that I will always love: SNOW! I was hoping to go outside with the girls today but it just seems too cold. I think we are just gonna curl up on the couch with a bunch of books today. I will be looking forward to more snow tonight!

Lola and Zoey

Lola loves being a big sister to Zoey. She enjoys reading to her and makes sure she has toys to play with.

The girls love playing in their crib together. Lola bounces around often landing on her little sister. Zoey just giggles and giggles!

Lola is a very affectionate girl. As you can see here she enjoys being close to Zoey.

New Beginnings

I was hoping that I would get a chance to scrapbook or even just get pictures into an album...it's just not happening and Lola is almost two! I see that a lot of people blog so I am going to give it a try. I have a gazillion pictures stored on my computer and this way I can add comments and remember the pictures and the detailed stories behind some of them. I feel like I need to back track a lot but if I start from the beginning I just might feel a little too overwhelmed to continue. So let's start with a brief overview and dive into what is happening now!



So let me tell you a little bit about me and my little family....

Jonathan and I began dating in the fall of 2000. We actually graduated together from the same school but our paths never really crossed. We then got engaged March 2001 and later that year we got married in October. We rented for a little over a year and then February 2003 we bought a small house in an older subdivision. Then in 2005 we had a nice little surprise...I was pregnant. We began renovating the main floor hoping to be back in before our bundle arrived. We moved in on a Friday and then on Monday March 20, 2006 Lola Danae arrived. I had always wanted a little girl and I got her. Jonathan and I also had no "boy" names picked out. Lola has been such a blessing to us. Every day we see changes and she has her little quirks that make us laugh. She loves to talk and talk and talk. I can't wait to understand everything she is saying. I went back to work, 4 days a week when Lola was a year old. I would have gone back less days but I was pregnant again and wanted to collect maternity leave before the next bundle came. Again, I really wanted another girl and again we couldn't agree on a "boy" name. Zoey Claire entered our world on August 15, 2007. She has been such a happy, easy baby. She is full of smiles and giggles and is growing up so quickly. Yes, the girls are 17 months a part. They are keeping me very busy, when one is sleeping the other is up. I sometimes get a half hour of alone time during the day. It's a nice little break. Well that's all for now. I will try to get some pictures posted soon. ......this was kinda fun.....