Home Makeover

My bedroom has been driving me crazy. It seems to be the messiest room in the house that gets cleaned the last. Stuff just piles up in there. This past week Sam was out of town for a few days and one of my goals was to clean out our room. Then my mom redid her room and had some bedding that she gave me if I could use it. Sam called to tell me he was on his way home from the airport and I had not started yet. So, in 45 minutes I cleared every item that did not belong from the room. It is all in a tub in the dining room, waiting to be sorted. I then put the new bedding on our bed. It coordinated well with what we already had so that was a bonus. Here are the before and after photos.

Looking into the former dressing room. Now that piece of furniture in the nook is my scrapbook armoire.

Looking at our bed. I hate all the clutter. The plaid bedspread is what we already had. The original dust ruffle was solid, the color of the window treatments. I had already put the new one on when I took the photos. The pillows (6 huge fluffy king size pillows) were from my mom along with the dust ruffle and the cream coverlet. My favorite part of course are the models on the bed.

Here is a close up of the two patterns.

Finally, here is the view toward my dresser and Sam's closet. I still need to get rid of the book case but I ran out of time.

Sam was surprised, especially when I told him that I did it all after he called. He liked it, especially the lack of clutter.

Family Day

Sam was getting ready to head out of town for a few days so we decided to skip church and spend a day at the Arboretum as a family. I go with the girls a lot but he rarely gets to see them there. We took a big step and decided not to take any stroller or wagon for the first time and that allowed us to easily explore some parts that we normally don't make it to.

We ran into a girl with a parakeet on her shoulder and my first thought was, "that is odd to bring your pet bird to the arboretum." Well, it ends up it was just a random friendly bird. I guess it may live there. So, we all got to hold it as well.




In the spring there are lots of brides getting their photos taken. There are also a lot of girls taking photos from prom and quinceneras. Of course Katherine things they are all princesses and wants to follow them around. We finally got her to walk away after taking a photo.

The Zoo

We went to the zoo with a family that has become great friends this year. Stephanie and I met through 2 women's groups at church. Then our husbands hit it off. Then we realized our kids were close to the same age and all girls and they hit it off. Then they joined our community group. So, we see this family a lot.

It was a perfect day at the zoo, not too hot, not too many field trip kids and the animals were all ready to be seen.
Often the gorillas are hiding but 2 of them were where we could watch them for a long time.
The girls loved playing on all of the brass statues.

Katherine and Emma are in great discussion over the map.

I thought this was so cute of all 4 girls looking at the crocodiles.

Emma and Katherine adore one another.


Caroline really wanted to hold the baby monkey.
This chimp came right up to the glass and started making all kinds of noise. It was really cool but also a little scary since it was right in our face.
The elephants are always fun to see. It is really funny because right now if you ask Caroline what sound an elephant makes she always says, "Aaaaa-chooooo" because that is what an elephant does in one of our favorite bed time books.

Dentist

Last week the kids had a dentist appointment. Katherine was a big girl and went back to the big kid room all by herself. She appears to be like her mommy and not really mind going to the dentist. Thankfully, no cavities this time.

We love our dentist office. If you live in our area and need a good pediatric dentist, let me know and I will send you their info.
Since Katherine had 2 cavities in October, we decided to go ahead and have Caroline see the dentist as well. She had a "lap visit" where she sat on my lap and leaned back on to the dentist lap. When Katherine did this, she freaked out. Caroline was very still and did well. I think it helped that she had just seen Katherine have her appointment.
She received a good report as well. Both kids have no spaces between their teeth which looks great but means a future of orthodontics as their permanent teeth come in. Luckily our dentist is also an orthodontist.

21 months

This is over a week late. Life has just been busy! Really though, as you are getting older, there seems to be not as many things to report on your monthly post. You are not learning as many new things as much as you are just getting better at what you already know how to do.

You are getting better at running, climbing and swinging on the playground. You amaze me at your bravery. You have no fear.

You are really growing up. You love to play with Katherine and search her out when she leaves your sight.

You are getting much better at tantrums. Here you are on Easter Sunday, ready for church throwing a full tantrum on the floor. This is not my favorite part of parenting for sure. You are approaching 2 though and hitting that stage where your knowledge, interests and desires do not match up with your capabilities, language and what mommy allows. It can be so frustrating for both of us. I am trying so hard to nip these things early.

You love to be a helper and are hitting the stage where you want to do everything by yourself. This includes getting dressed, putting on your diaper and buckling yourself into your car seat. All of these things create frustration when you are not actually able to do it by yourself of if mommy tries to help.
Speaking of diapers, you are ready to not wear them anymore. I planned to work on potty training in August, between all of the craziness of summer activities and the return to school. You, however have other plans. Every diaper change is a battle that ends in discipline. You want to sit on the potty all. the. time. Yet, you don't really get the process. You are up and down several times. I may give potty training a shot in June when we are done with school just to make sure I don't miss the window of opportunity.

You are great at making new friends. This is Asher, the son of a close friend from high school. They were in town and we met at a park. Asher is about 8 months older than you but as you can see, you all became friends.

You took a fun music class this semester. You really enjoyed it. I wish we were able to do more activities like this but it is so hard with Katherine tagging along.
I tried to get Katherine to sit to the side and do quiet activities but the two of you just wanted to be together. It was so sweet.


You and Katherine really do adore one another. I have loved having 2 girls. You follow her around and want to do whatever she is doing. I am working with her on always being a good example. Bath time is a lot of fun, especially when mom puts in too much bubble bath.
You still love to play dress up. You and Katherine had a lot of fun playing with my wedding veil.
You and Katherine both love to go out to the workshop when daddy is out there. You love to play in his truck. He is determined to pass on skills and interests of his even though they may not be what girls normally love. So far you all really enjoy it. You both got a lesson in screwdriver use.
Your vocabulary continues to increase. You are putting a few words together to form more complete thoughts. We rarely use sign language any more since you are so verbal. You have graduated out of the high chair and are now in a booster chair. I still like the high chair with the tray that is easy to clean but for the sanity of meal time we needed to move you to the table. It was becoming a battle field as you wanted to sit in the same chair as Katherine. She actually was sitting in the regular chair but we have convinced her to get back into the booster to be an example. It has been working nicely.
Your biggest milestone this month is that you are fully weaned. I went out of town for 4 days so that was my goal. For the 2 weeks prior you were down to just nursing once a day, first thing in the morning. I nursed you the last time right before I left. It was rough for a few days after my return and in the last 2 weeks since you have nursed, you have asked to every day but one. The funniest part has been Katherine's response. When you are crying, she will say, "just give her your milk mommy!"
You are doing great at school and no longer cry when I leave you. I hope that with a long summer break you still do as well next year. You have started to really enjoy the art projects and time with friends. Every day that the weather is nice we stay on the school playground with friends for over an hour. I love seeing you play with all of the big kids.
Caroline, you are such a joy and we adore you.