Princesses:The real story

Kindergarten class of 2010

2010-06-20T16:51:00.001-07:00

Well my baby girl graduated from Kindergarten! It was a beautiful Friday morning and we were able to have the graduation outside.It was a very sweet and cute ceramony. I wish I had gotten video of their songs. I cried of course :P It's hard to beleive my little girl is going to be going into 1st grade next year!! She is already ready to go back to school hahaha. And school just let out on Friday its only been the weekend. Hopefully her attitude towards school lasts andother 12 + years :P She did great of course and is now reading pretty much any word you put in front of her, she can do basic math, and can spell a few words. I'm so proud of my baby girl!

Rachel and her graduation walk

waiting for her name to be called

with her principal
with her teacher

The past few months!

2010-06-14T17:46:00.001-07:00

So I've been really bad about writing in this thing haha. Life does that sometimes when you have kids though. Not only do I have my girls but now I also have 2 little boys under 2 that I watch during the week so not a lot of free time. So here are a few pictures from the past few months.

We went to Tulip Town with the cousins. It was a lot of fun and there was of course some beautiful flowers to see there. This I have to say is the best picture of all 4 girls. They all get a long so well its just great! Charle just worships her big cousin thinks shes the "bees knees" as my Grammy would say.

That same day there was a parade in one of the local towns and since my big brother works for Shell as a firefighter he was in it driving one of the trucks. The girls got to all be in the parade as well. Shell always hands out some really fun things in parades!

Charle was also dedicated to the Lord. She is a little older then most of the babies are that get dedicated but thats okay :D I went to this church as a youth and its pretty neat that Charle was able to get dedicated there. They gave her a beautiful rose and of course a certificate stating she was dedicated to the Lord that day.

Rachel and Charle built their first fairy house. We had been waiting and waiting to do this but time and weather were never on our side...at least until Mother's Day!! It was a lot of fun to do and it still stands. Rachel thinks she saw a fairy trying to hide in one of the pictures we took. :D Who knows maybe we did I told her you never know those fairies are great at hiding but I know that they love their little house by our porch. Rachel also cut her hair..ite wasnt long enough to go to locks for love liek she wanted it to so instead she donated it to the gulf coast to help with the oil spill.

The most recent exciting news is Rachel got glasses!! She is so excited and loves them! Hopefully her eyes will correct themselfs and she wont be like Mommy and have to wear them forever. I love the ones she picked out! I think she looks even more beautiful if thats even possible.

Easter 2010

2010-04-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

We woke up early ion Easter, like 6:30 early! The Easter Bunny brought some yummy treats and a ball for each of the girls. But silly Easter Bunny didn't know that Rachel "doesn't so much like jellybeans" when I was little the bunny always forgot my sister hated chocolate..silly bunny! Ill spare you the pictures from Easter baskets and the hunt at home because both girls had major bed head!

I was able to buy the girls matching dresses that even came with matching dresses for their babies Cherry and Evie.So of course Cherry and Evie HAD to come with us to church that morning. We had breakfast at church and then listened to the sermon as a family. During the worship Charle was doing her best to sing a long. Her favorite lines were "He has risen" and "alleluia" she was real cute singing along, clapping and raising her hands to worship the Lord. Shortly after worship she fell asleep on my lap and Rachel was kind of fidgety so we let her draw and write a picture. She wrote a letter to God stating that she loves him and she drew hearts and a cross she even attempted to write the word cross. I wish I had a picture of it but she put it in the offering basket so that it could go to God. She thought the offering basket went straight to him :) Everyone just loved the girls in their matching dresses and babies.

Charle was so cute she would see her Sunday School teachers and say "There's my teacher Mom!", "That's my teacher Ate!", "Daddy look my teacher!" and then seeing friends from Sunday school class of course got her very excited. She doesn't have any friends that she plays with on a regular basis so seeing her friends from church make her super excited. During the service a family sat behind us and Charle kept looking back and smiling and giggling at what I believe was the dad. Here she is with her baby Evie. Yes she has a bruise on her forehead I have NO idea how she got it :(

Rachel was kind of being a grump lol. I think it was the going to bed at almost midnight and waking up at 6:30AM thing. She was very upset that she didn't have Sunday School that morning and no Children's Church. I had to promise her that we would try and go more often so she could do both of those things. I taught her myself about the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Jesus. She was visibly upset at the fact that people would do that to Jesus. She didn't understand why they did it because he was telling them the truth. She was also EXTREMELY happy to hear that he rose from the grave. Or as she said it "grows from the grave" (Charle corrected her each time though :P) Here she is with her baby Cherry.

After church we went to the annual Easter egg hunt at Causland Park. It has been here for as long as I can remember! It is always something that has been a lot of fun. I made the girls change into pants, shirts and sneakers so they could run easier for the eggs. Causland Park is an awesome park made of completely rocks (aside from the grass but that's a no brainer) so there is plenty of cool spots to hide eggs. It's a completely free event put on by the local Lion's Club.

Rachel was in the 2nd big kids group :( the first being 9-12 year old's. I can't believe my baby girl is getting so old. She got a lot of eggs! I would say about 20 some kids didn't get any. Rachel after much convincing gave one of her eggs to one of the girls who didn't get any because she was to scared to run and get them. I'm very proud of her.

My little Charle bug. Even though shes the size of a 2 year old she was in the 3-5 group and probably the smallest one of all!! She kept asking me "is it time yet" and "now?" she was so excited to go pick up eggs that when it was finally time she ran past like 3 eggs LOL. She did get 3 eggs total but when we were walking to find Rachel we saw a little girl crying because she didn't get any eggs. I explained to Charle that she got no eggs and Charle took her biggest egg and gave it to the little girl. Her mom thanked us and told us that the little girl has Autism and since the parents weren't allowed to help she wasn't able to get any. I was so proud of Charle for doing that! It made my heart swell with pride I have to say that my little 3 year old would be so generous. Her big cousin, Katie, gave her a few eggs so she would have more then just 2. Charle just adores Katie and for good reason. :D

Just remember HE HAS RISEN! We need to thank the Lord for all he has done for us. Times are rough right now. With the earthquakes throughout the world and more locally there was an explosion at the refinery that killed a few people. We need to praise the Lord that we are fortunate to live where we are that we are healthy and alive. We need to thank the Lord for taking our sins and washing them away.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-17T09:13:00.001-07:00

Baby Wearing

2010-03-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

Ok so recent news tells us that baby carrying causes death. While the article states that it is NOT the carrying that causes the death but the postion in which the baby is carried. I suscessfully carried Charle bug in a sling or wrap for 14 months!!! Carriers/slings are VERY important I think. When Charle was sick it helped her sleep, when she was first born it helped us bond. Charle and I were not like Rachel and I. When I had Rachel I had an instant connection with her....with Charle I can honestly say I had to warm up to her. I suffered from what is called
gender disapointment, it was carrying her in a wrap that I feel caused us to truly connect with eachother. I carried her everywhere in that wrap we didnt even OWN a stroller (for her at least I had a umbrella stroller for Rachel.) 2 days after Charle was born we went trick or treating. Rachel was dressed up as a dead bride and Charle was safely tucked away in a moby wrap. Now of course being 2 days postpartum I was in pain after not to long but it wasnt because of the wrap!! Babies are carried in your womb (sometimes more sometimes less) for around 9 months (in cases of adoption this obviously not the case) they expect to be carried longer!!! Bag like carriers like the one in the article are NOT safe. It is NOT safe to carry your baby front facing so babies chin is on his/her chest. Wraps/slings are GREAT if used correctly! Baby MUST be postioned in a safe way. It takes practice, its an art! I am no expert on baywearing and I will not pretend to be so. But I do KNOW that it is one of the reasons I bounded with Charle bug, the other being extended breastfeeding. But that is for another blog another day. If you choose to babywear YAY for you! But please be educated about it find the right carrier for you and your baby. Bag slings are always a NO! And also when carrying your baby make sure you learn how to postion baby correctly first. In closing I want to say BABYWEARING IS SAFE! Don't let the news fool you :)

Yes in the above picture I am bottle feeding Charle she was a few days old and hadnt gotten the latch down. It was a bottle made for breastfed babies AND it was breastmilk. As you can see I was still able to care for Rachel and carry Charle at the same time! We are using a moby wrap here.

Here Charle is at 13 months old (maybe older Im not sure:P) in a pouch style carrier that my good friend Whitney made for us.

The Beach

2010-03-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

This is where the good Lord has blessed us to live! Beautiful views like this are very common! The girls and I like to walk the whole block down to this. What torture for us :P On a partuclar sunny day we did this.
We took a took a lot of pictures and found some really interesting things. Including this broken plate! When I was younger I found a toilet on this same beach! We also threw rocks in the water and flipped rocks over rocks trying to find baby crabs. We didnt find any but it was sttill fun to hunt! We had fun playing on the beach and enjoying the sun. Our dogs really liked it as well!

At least until Charle had to pee then we had to run home :P Here Charle is telling Rachel she needs to pee and Rachel is telling me :P

Through the Eyes of a Child

2010-02-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

To get the full effect pause the music on my page by scrolling all the way to the bottom

An important break from our regular posts PLEASE READ AND PASS ALONG!!

2010-02-13T08:36:00.000-08:00

For the latest news please check out http://www.goskagit.com/search/results/4a7308435da5925fb5841f2a64caffcf/

I never had the opurtunity to get to know him as a student as I didnt go to high school in Anacortes but my sister did. And she said he was a great guy and helped her a lot. Please please repost this even if you don't live in the area you never know what one of your friends may know!!

2010-01-16T22:32:00.000-08:00

Rachel has learned that she can carry Charle and teh girls just think it is so neat! SO I had to grab this picture of them it was to cute!! They really are best friends and I am so glad of that! You can't get much cuter then these two :D

Lost Tooth New Earrings!

2010-01-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

Well after 2 months of having a loose tooth Rachel finally lost it last night! We were at Daisy's when it decided it was time to come out. Of course Rachel is totally excited! The tooth fairy came last night and gave her a whole $5!!

And to top all that off Charle girl got her ears pierced! She was so brave and didnt cry at all she loves having earrings!! She feels like sucha big girl with them....now to get her to be using the potty fully! LOL

Holiday Mail for Heroes

2009-11-28T21:08:00.000-08:00

Everyone deserves something during the holidays. We have people fighting for our country over seas that will not be home for the holidays. Please if you have the time make them a card or buy one (or 15 :D) and send them out to those overseas. The Red Cross has a program you should be able to click on the link above or click Here for more information. The girls and I went down to our housing office and made a few cards. We will more tehn likely be back there this week to do it again :D The girls had a blast doing this and knowing it was going to touch the hearts of soilders.

Rachel making her card

Charle making her card
The girls and thier 3 cards each in front of the office xmas tree

Trick or Treat!

2009-11-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

Do these really need a blog on it :P We had a blast trick or treating in our neighborhood and the girls got SOOOO much candy! Of course Mommy has to try the candy daily to make sure its still good LOL! We had a lot of fun :D

Charle's 3!!

2009-11-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

Both of the girls always get 2 birthday parties. One that is just the 4 of us and then one with her friends or whoever she wants at the party. The one with the 4 of us is just cake and singing and is held on her actual birthday. I normally make the cake but this year it was bought...Charle picked a monster cake LOL. She thought turning 3 was very serious business and had actually fallen asleep before Daddy got home from work for her cake but she did wake up! So we didnt have to wait for the next day. She of course loved her cake. It's hard to believe that my baby is already 3 years old! She is still a little peanut and weighs in at about 23 lbs I think. When we get her into the doctor for her weight check Ill update and let you know what she actually weighs in at. She is still wearing between 18 month and 2T clothes depending on the brand. She loves cars, dinosuars and GI Joe. We got her Spike the Dinosaur and it is deffintly worth the price! She LOVES the toy and plays with it constintly! She actually gets mad when we turn it off!

Charle's 3rd birthday party

2009-11-17T13:45:00.001-08:00

We celebrated Charle's birthday with the cousin's Katie and Alyssa we went to Jungle Playland! It is a lot of fun there the girls have a blast. As you can see they had a lot of fun together! They had pizza and played on all the toys.

Here she is watching to see if more of those balls are going to fall on her head she thought it was so cool!

They don't allow inside food or drinks so we went to a close by park for the cake! She really liked her presents!

A family of pirates!

2009-10-30T14:08:00.000-07:00

This year we are going to be pirates! Arrrrgh! I love getting to dress up with the girls! It is so much fun! As you can see We have Captain Charle, First Mate Rachel and their deckhand Mommy! There will be more pictures to come after we go trick or treating! We are so excited!! I have to say I think I have two of the prettiest pirates in the world!

Captain Charle

First Mate Rachel

Just an update

2009-10-08T17:55:00.001-07:00

We are getting out of the navy and so our life is going to be changing drastically in the next few months with more to come I'm sure. Biggest change is we are getting ready to move back to Anacortes and I will be getting a job :)

Rachel is doing great in school and loves her teacher. She is making a lot of new friends and was able to keep a few from the last few years as well! She is learning to read some basic words and is able to write a lot more. I am very proud of her and have no doubt that by the end of the year she will be reading books all by herself! She is not to happy about moving away from her friends and going from 2 to 3 days a week school to 5 days but she will deal with it. She is happy that she is going to be near her cousins though!

Charle is learning at home and so far knows the letters A and B by sight :) which I am very proud of! She is turning 3 at the end of the month :( time really flies. We tried to get her into the developmental preschool but they say she is to advanced for it! Which is great news of course but at the same time I think preschool would have really helped her a lot. When we move I'm going to look into the local preschools and see what I can do. I will be working for the first time in her life and that is going to take a bit of a toll on her I'm sure but being non military we are going to need 2 incomes. She is ALMOST potty trained...she was fully when we were visiting Granny and Grandpa but when we came home things changed. She is doing better I just have to remind her A LOT.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Zing! Zang! Zoom!

2009-09-11T22:52:00.000-07:00

Last night the girls got to go to the opening night of the circus! This year is I think better then any other year because the girls were able to really get into it! And everything is still very magical to both of them :D We got there early enough where we could go down onto the floor and watch things up really close. Charle just loved the clowns and Rachel loved "the pretty lady on the ropes." We had a lot of fun :)We got back to our seat to wait for the show to start and as you can see were very excited to be at the circus! Once again they both got their own seats sure that ended up being a waste of money but thats okay! (Both girls fell asleep at the end of ths show haha)
Charle LOVED the elephants expecially when they stood up and put their front legs on eachothers backs she just thought that was the coolest thing she has ever seen! As you cann see from her face above she was very excited by them :) My favorite part by far was just watching the girls :) Mainly Charle she got into it a lot more then Rachel did. It was such a great time and I hope that we can go again next year!

Kindergarten

2009-09-11T22:36:00.000-07:00

My "baby" is now in Kindergarten. Here she is on her very first day of school! Which was yesterday the 10th :) She was so excited to go!Its a new bus driver this year not our favorite Ms. Anne but thats okay :) SHe also ridea anew bus this year seems like there has been a lot of changes this year for her! Here she is getting on the bus!Charle girl is VERY upset that she didnt get to go to 'chool on the bus. So Im going to be doing some homeschooling with her. She did get to eat her lunch out of a lunch bag though! ANd that of course was really cool and fun!

Rachel really enjoyed her first day of school and she says shes one of the only kids that didnt get ANY frowny faces. (you get frowny faces for not being good) this of course makes me soooo proud of her. She is in class with her besteset friend Hailey and she has made a few new ones too she just doesnt remeber any of their names :)

The Kangaroo Petting Zoo!!!!

2009-09-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

One of the really cool attractions here in Arlington is the Outback Petting Zoo! This place is just amazing has a bunch of super cool animals! And you get to go and pet and feed almost all of them! Click here for more information on it:) One of the fun little things if you dance the dance from Madagascar you get to feed these little guys. They are called "leaping" lemurs. Rachel and her cousin Katie danced the best so here's Rachel feeding one of them.
Here Rachel and CHarle are feeding a Wallabee...you can buy these from them! The girls plan to ask Santa for one....sadly Santa doesnt have these at the North Pole though! They sure do like feeding them and petting and hugging them it is so cool . I'll admit I love doing it too they are so soft! I think if we owned a house Santa might just have one in the North Pole someday ;)Spending the day with the cousins is the best part I think! Here they are petting a wallabee.They also got to feed Alpacas....you do it by putting food in your mouth and they take it out of your mouth! This was a favorite :)

Granny and Grandpa's!

2009-09-11T20:04:00.001-07:00

In August we went to go visit Granny and Grandpa Hawkins in New York! The girls each got to sit in their very own seat on the plane which of course is just the coolest thing in the whole world! Even better then that we rode JetBlue which gives you your very own TV to watch! So they got to pick anything to watch and it didnt have to be the same thing!

They also got to pick fresh corn from Grandps'a garden! This was I think their favorite thing to do besides go to the lake LOL. My girls are both corn lovers! One night Charle ate 2 whole ears of corn and Rachel ate 3!! They even got to attempt to shuck the corn with Grandpa. Which was fun for them too :P
I think the coolest thing is Granny and Grandpa live in a barn! This is the back view but from looking at it from teh front you wouldnt know anyone lives there! It is really cool and just a beautiful place to play and live!
Another fun thing was going to the lake. Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Hawkins have a cottage on Kueka Lake. So we went down there almost everyday to swim, have a picnic and even eat down there. Both the girls were so brave! They would go out and swim with just wings on! They loved it and just had so much fun! They can't wait to go back to the lake again next summer! Its all they talk about still!

Anacortes Arts and Crafts Festival

2009-08-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the girls got to enjoy the annual Arts and Crafts festival in Anacortes. As a child I had so much fun wondering around and playing in the kids section. Painting fish was always a lot of fun! I love watching the girls do a lot of the same things I did as a child!

In a couple of days we are making the trip to see Granny and Grandpa in NY!! We are so excited we will be back in the end of August when I will update with pictures :D

Beach day

2009-07-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

This summer has been great weather we were able to take the girls down to Wenberg State Park in Stanwood, WA. It's a little bit of a drive but it is deffinitly worth it! The kids are able to play in the water and in the lake. Of course they just have a blast! We played in the water for awhile then played on the beache then played in the water some more :D Rachel got burried in the sand and then Charle decided she wanted to be burried too! But she didnt want to lay down so she just got her legs burried LOL. And she patted herself down in the sand even more. She is so funny sometimes!

crabbing fun!

2009-07-14T09:36:00.000-07:00

We went up to Anacortes on July 11th to go out and go crabbing. We all had a blast the girls are like me and LOVE being out on the water. It was just a blast even though it was a pretty windy day. We didn't catch any that we could take home because there are regulations (the crabs HAVE to be males and HAVE to be at least 6 1/4 inches long. Also there are only certain days you can go crabbing (Wednesday through Saturday) so there's a lot of rules on it but its still fun.
Charle was really scared of the crabs at first but as i was about to through this female back in she decided she wanted to touch it so she was able to. She thought it was the coolest thing in the world!

Rachel was a little freaked out too and this is as close to them as she would get. But she had so much fun and when it was time to go home she was upset she wanted to crab some more! The one closest is a male but wasn't big enough the one closer to Rachel was a female and possibly big enough.

Surgery

2009-07-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

On July 1st Rachel went in for surgery. She had her tonsils and adenoids taken out and ear tubes put in her ears. She was so brave I am so proud of her!
This last week has been difficult while trying to take care of her and dealing with a 2 year old who wants to play outside. On the 4th of July we had to take her into the ER because she was throwing up blood. What happened was her scab fell off, which is very common. She ended up needing an IV because she was getting dehydrated. We got home at about 5 AM and slept for 2 hours before I started searching for whose house Charle was at. I love all of our neighbors the are amazing and were such a big help cleaning up our 4th of July BBQ and taking care of Charle. Eating has been difficult for Rach but she is eating normally again and is doing just great!

remind me to NEVER cut my kids hair again :P

2009-07-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

Charle was in desperate need of a haircut. So I took her outside with scissors and decided to do it myself. Well that really didn't end up so good. As you can see from the pictures below. So that is something I will NEVER do again LOL. The front isn't to bad but.....the back well its horrible! I really messed up and I felt really bad. Luckily she's only 2 and will not remember the hack job I did on her hair...oh wait I'm writing a blog on it whops maybe she will LOL. We were gunna wait a few weeks for it to grow out more but since I have some wonderful neighborsone took pity on her and fixed it. It's a lot shorter then I planned on making it but at least its all even and looks very very cute!

graduation

2009-07-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

Rachel graduated from preschool on June 10th it was a gorgeous day and she of course looked beautiful! She rode the bus to school like normal and she had dressed herself!

The ceremony was very cute. Teacher Janet started by talking about the butterflies that the recently released into the wild. How hey started out as caterpillars and ended up as butterflies. Then she started calling up the "preschool caterpillars" and then they went through the tunnel and came out "kindergarten butterflies" and then Teacher Kay gave them there diploma's.

We were able to get a picture of Rachel and her best friend forever Hailey. These girls would do everything together, (including get in trouble for talking to much :P), they were attached at the hip. Hailey's mom and I are trying to get them into the same kindergarten class. it's hard to believe that my baby is going into kindergarten!

2009-06-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

We have been having so much fun playing outside its been in the mid 7o's to low 80's all week and we are practically living outside playing in the water and just having an all around good time! I let the girls pick out their swim suits for this year. Rachel can no longer shop in the baby section :( She is officially a big girl and has to shop in teh big girl section....sad I know. But I guess thats what happens /sigh. At least I have a few more years of shopping in the baby section for Charle Bug. This summer is going to be great we are going to have so much fun I can already tell!

Charle is getting so big and learning so much. She is very smart and has great manners...when she's not acting 2. She is starting to jump and run and her speach is really starting to pick up. She is still behind the kids that are her age but in time I'm sure she will catch up. She is really enjoying the neighbor kids! They are all right around her age so she always has someone to play with now. It's so great to see her interact with all the neighbor kids :D:D She is right now working on the whole sharing concept....very difficult for a 2 year old :D I'm proud to say though when she see a dog she asks me and then the owner if she can pet him and then lets the doggy sniff her :D:D What a good girl I have :D:D

Rachel.....well she is getting ready to go to kindergarten next year :( Time has just flown by. she is doing great in preschool and is deffinitly ready to move on to kindergarten. She has a lot of friends in the neighborhood that she can play with too! She just amazes me with her memory she remembers things that I just can't believe she knows! She is very smart and is gunna keep me on my toes forever! Right now with her Im working on not whinning and listening. Becasue shes 5 she of course knows everything and Mommy knows nothing....

Well today Rachy has a field trip to the beach so I guess i should get her up and dressed so she can get on the bus. When Dad gets home from duty Charle, him and I will be joining her. I might try and get there early though if I can pull it off :P

Summer is here! (kinda)

2009-05-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

The summer weather is here and we are loving it! We have been playing outside with the neighbor kids in the pool or sprinker everyday. It is so much fun! Mommy of course has gotten a little to much sun :D But its still a lot of fun and we crash hard everynight and it is jsut great! Weare excited for the rest of the sunny weather and playing with all of our new great friends! No pictures at this point but I promise I will get some new ones soon :D

2009-05-10T10:00:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone out their in blog land has a great Mother's Day!

WHOO HOOO!!!

2009-04-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

Cheesy has been doing real good about going in the potty as long as shes wearing panties. If she has a diaper on then she will go in the diaper. But she is doing real real good! Im so excited! Hopefully she will be completely off diapers soon! She gets so proud of herself when she does go in the potty that she announces it to everyone who will listen. She is doing great Im so proud of my big girl!

"Cheese"

2009-04-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

Charle's newest nickname is "cheese" dont ask how but it is and its stickin'....so far: P

Well Charle is a little stinker. I put panties on her and she freaks out "no I diaper NOW" the first day she actually went and got a diaper and put it on herself! So i had to hide them from her. The lil stinker. She still refuses to use the potty though. She will wait till nap time or bedtime when I put the diaper on her. Today she is sick, again, so we are in panties because well I dont wanna clean up the...well you know. We have a doc appointment tomorrow for her for another weight check. Lets hope that her weight gain is good and she has beat this "failure to thrive" thing she has been diagnosed with. She is still a little behind devlopmentaly. She is starting to jump though!!! She still isnt running but her speach is improving with leaps and bounds! She is for the most part speaking in 2-3 word sentences. Which at her age is what she should be doing. I think most of the time Im the only one who can understand her but lol at least I can and really to me thats all that matters! Her and her sister still fight constintly well it changes hour to hour. Charle is the instigator though. She will do anything to make her big sister cry or upset. she also has a bit of a temper...if she doesnt get her way she will throw something. And her favorite game is "fight" she will put her little fists in the air and start swinging at you. She actually popped me in the nose the other day pretty good for a 2 year old. Of course if she really hurts you she gives you a hug and ask "are you ok?" and then gives you a kiss and says "sorry." So as much of a stinker as she is shes my little sweet pea Charle bug. She loves the kittens, that 2 of which still need a home, sometimes a little TO much lol. Same with our dog Logan....she was "hugging" him the other night and made him throw up LOL. it was gross but really funny at the same time. One of our neighbors had a big bull dog and Charle is scared of him cause he snorts. I think shes confused cause acording to her he's a pig...but he still looks like a dog.

Tomorrow is the day!!

2009-04-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

That Charle gets cut off from diapers! I will only be putting them on her at bedtime and nap time and other then that she will be in panties....my laundry is bound to be much more but Im sick of diapers! She knows when she has to potty and she will tell me after she goes. Hell she tells me before she goes just when I try and get her to the potty she gets mad! But I'm done sooooooo done! No more diapers for her. I'm scared LOL. But lets hope this works out :D It's going to be hard because of the fact that she is non communicative. But she is making leaps and bounds thanks to her speech therapist she sees once a week. So starting tomorrow "I say NO to diapers!"

Princess Kayleigh needs your prayers/good thoughts

2009-04-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

A few months ago you may or may not remember me talking about sweet baby Kayleigh. Who was born prematurely and has been fighting for her life ever sense. I have read some great ups in her life lately. Showing me and many others that God is great. But this sweet little princess needs your prayers now more then ever. She is struggling for her life, I know that my God is great and CAN and WILL preform miracle's. He has already proven that in the healing he has done! http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/2009/04/42109-please-lord-help-us.html is the direct link to the latest blog her Dad has posted and there you can read what is going on with her right now. If you would like to read all of it you can click here or you will notice in the right hand corner of my blog a button that links to her page. Yes that is really her hand at birth. She is a true blessing from God and shows us that even today he works wonderful miracle's. http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/

Rachel's new hair!

2009-03-27T13:52:00.000-07:00

So the other day Rachel woke up and had curly hair...very weird. I brush it and it becomes a frizz ball. She looks like a poodle that hasn't been groomed or something lol. It was frustrating because no matter what i did she was a ball of frizz. I dont have curly hair so I didn't know how to take care of it. The other day we took her to the on base beauty shop and they did her hair and gave me some product to make her hair look good. And now it looks great! my frizz ball of a daughter no longer exists! Here is her new cute hair!! The product that we use make it so her hair has the wet look even when its dry. I love it and its super easy to use! Please exuse the wet shirt...I have no idea how she managed that!

An update (without pics)

2009-03-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Well On Thursday the 11th of March Rachel had an appointment with an audiologist to test her hearing. I was so sick of her constantly saying that she cant hear, and basically yelling into the phone. And it turns out that she has a lot of fluid behind her eardrums and they have bubbles. That is NOT a good thing lol. So they then tested to see what its doing to her. And her right ear is fine but her left ear has 25% hearing loss. I have to make an appointment with her doctor sometime in the next couple of weeks and we will go from there on deciding if we need to put tubes in her ears as well or not. Charle already has them and now it looks as if Rach needs them too. To my knowledge no one else in my family (or Dominick's) has ever needed them and now both my girls might!! She's doing great in school though we have a parent teacher conference coming up. Everyday Rachel asks me "did you get me signed up for kindergarten yet??" She is so excited to be starting that next year! I'm a little sad though! Here's a cute little convo her and I had the other day when she got off the bus:

Rachel: Did you sign me up for kindergarten yet?
Me: No hunny not yet
Rach: But MOM you HAVE TO!!!
Me: Your not going to kindergarten next year
Rach: (with big eyes) WHY MOMMY?!?!?!
Me: Cause that means your growing up and you wont need me anymore!
Rach: (sighing) Yes I will Mommy (pause) cause I don't know how to cook

I couldn't help but smile at that one so at 5 years old already all she needs me for is cooking for her LOL. Kids they are crazy :D

Now on to Charle Bug. Not much of a change going on with her. Shes talking more and using 2-3 word sentences (when she wants to). She still refuses to wean and when I try ti get her not to nurse she screams "NO MINE SUSU" (SuSu is Tagalog for boobs). She is a funny little girl who is full of life! She makes me smile and laugh on a regular basis. She picks on Rachel all the time though. If you sit back and pretend your not watching you will see her do little things just to make Rachel mad or cry. She also is in the biting phase of life....I think some of it has to do with her speech delay but each time she bites she gets in trouble so hopefully it will be over SOON. She's still Rachel's shadow though :D And whenever she sees a picture of herself she says "Dat ME" not many people can understand her but I can, much like the days when I spoke "alien" and only Mom could understand me. Her weight gain is great!! At her last appointment she was 20 pounds!!!! And she was SICK and had been throwing up and having the runs so that is GREAT news!! 2 years old and 20 lbs lol who would have thought. I'm going to be scheduling another weight check for her soon. Lets hope shes jumped in the numbers again!!

Bowling

2009-03-06T18:26:00.001-08:00

The girls got to go bowling today. They both had a blast!!!

Rachel got 4 strikes! And the other times they looked pretty much like this. She is amazing at bowling! There was a bowling league there and they were all amazed by her as well. No one believed that she was only 5 years old with the way she was bowling. She was very proud of herself and of course I am too! She was using an 8 pound ball while most of the kids were all using the 6 pounder....I think she demanded to use the 8 pounder mainly because its pink though LOL. Charle didnt do as good of course but shes only 2 years old :D There was a few times her ball had to be rescued because it got stuck halfway down the lane. But she had a fun time anyways. her smiles today and her excitement were priceless. She was clapping and telling everyone to look. And loved cheering her sister on the most! She was using the 6 pounder...she couldn't lift it on her own so I had to carry it over for her then she rolled it down, most of the time with my help too lol. But it was a fun time anyways

Seattle Aquarium

2009-02-20T10:28:00.000-08:00

On February 16th we took the girls to the Seattle Aquarium. I haven't been there in YEARS so it was pretty cool. The girls LOVED it. They sure love animals and to be able to see them that close was really cool for them. Rachel was upset they didn't have her favorite animal, dolphins, there. They did have seals and otters and those are next on her list. here she is looking at them...luckily it was a nice day so long sleeved shirts were enough of what to wear. Charle LOVED the octopus. We got each girl a little "snow"globe from there as a keepsake. its going to be what we get them every place we visit. I let the girls pick which one they each wanted. Rachel of course choose and otter and Charle an octopus. After that we were gunna go to the Science Center and walked up to West gate mall since we got to park our car ALL day for only $5!! But by the time we got to the mall to take the monorail Charle was passed out. Rachel walked the whole time without complaining at all and Charle walked most of the day too! We didn't even bring out stroller! We are planning on going somewhere else this weekend with the girls....so be checking for another fun outing pictures!

Rachel looking at the otters

Charle and Daddy looking at starfish

Charle the diver and Rachel the eel

I have a lot more pictures I think I'm going to have to create a photo album for you to see them all. I will try and remember to do that at some point today. But with a 5 year old and 2 year old my days are never dull!

Rachel's Bday party/sleepover

2009-02-15T09:06:00.000-08:00

We had Rachel's Fancy Nancy birthday party yesterday Saturday, February 14th (yes on Valentine's day). We had a great turn out and all the kids seemed to have a lot of fun! It was hard getting kids between the ages of 1 and 9 to all look at the camera lol. We tried though and now Im thinking it would have been easier to just get them all outside for the picture but oh well :D. We did pin the tail on the donkey, balloon popping and just running around. After the party the house was a HORRIBLE mess! But all that matters is that the kids had fun :D She got some great presents from her friends. It great that they know what she likes, Hannah Montana of course :P

The cake was made special for Rachel by one of our friends Lauren. She did an excellent job and the kids, and adults LOVED it! There is suppose to be a prince on the cake but he kept falling off and I forgot to get a pic of it with the prince on it lol. Even the little hearts are cake!! What a great 5th birthday cake and I think Fancy Nancy would have loved the cake :P

Two of her friends even got to sleepover! They did makeovers on eachother, ate popcorn and candy, and watched movies. Around 1 AM I MADE them go to sleep lol. They still giggled for a few more hours though.

All an' all it was a great party and lots of fun ... I deffintly have a lot of clean up to do today though!!

"Daddy"/ Daughter dance at Rachel's school

2009-02-13T18:17:00.000-08:00

On Thursday February 12th Rachel's ECEAP had a "Daddy"/Daughter dance. Daddy didn't go so Charle and I took Rachel. We had a lot of fun. Singing, dancing and eating yummy deserts :D. Charle of course had to join in on everything the big kids were doing. She was a little grumpy that night but she was OK. Not to many of Rachel's good friends came but a few did. Mostly the kids were the afternoon kids and Rachel is in the morning class. We came home and pretty much passed out from all the dancing! Since we are a military community there was a lot of kids there that Daddy wasn't/

Rachel being goofy

Rachel dancing with Teacher Kay

Rachel and Charle singing "Old McDonald"

"We're moving to Texas!"

2009-02-08T17:55:00.001-08:00

LOL ok so no we arent really moving to Texas but this is what my 5 year old just informed me. And Charle said "me Texas too" So right now they have built a "tent" in my room along with books, stuffed animals and of course pillows...I guess in Texas you dont need blankets cause they didnt bring them lol. Rachel told me they would make sure to write...man I love their imagination! Hope they have fun in Texas :D

Hotgraphix.net

2009-01-31T15:50:00.000-08:00

So Ive been making my own banners and I am an amature at it so I decided to take it to the professionals :) LOL. Hotgraphix.net is a WONDERFUL bunch of ladies who make blinkies, siggis for groups and they made me my banner! Im sure in a few months Ill be back to them for an updated one hehe. I just really love their work so if you ever need anything done please check them out! Most of the work they do is indeed free like my banner. But they also have some paid services and can even teach you how to do this kind of stuff! Theres been a number I have used throughout the years but most have seemed to just go into the background. I have YET to be disapointed with ANYTHING they do! Just wonderful work! I wish I had as much talent as they do :)

Im so blessed

2009-01-17T09:26:00.000-08:00

As I sit here listening to Rachel singing Opera in the bathroom and Charle singing Hannah Montana I realise how truly blessed I am. My girls are wonderful kids and they crack me up. I love my kids so much and I couldn't imagine life without them. It sure would be a dull and boring like :D We are going to be getting ready to head to Pike Street for the day to just walk around and have a day out. It should be a lot of fun :D

we had a fun evening :)

2009-01-14T22:47:00.000-08:00

This evening while I was cooking dinner I decided to try something new. Normally I have to keep the kids entertained while I attempt to cook dinner and that is NO easy fate! So I took out the art supplies and play dough so they could do whichever they wanted to do. Charle did art for a little while as you can see from her face :D then she got into the play dough...much less messy!! And Rachel stuck with her art, she LOVES to do art its pretty amazing cause she is fairly talented too. So while I cooked spaghetti I snapped a few pictures of them. They are just so amazing and when they aren't fighting they are a total joy. When they are fighting...they drive me nuts! LOL

Then the girls took their bath brushed their teeth. Rachel flossed and they got into their jammies and played for a little while longer. Charle ended up picking her nose so much she made it bleed...again she does that a lot lately and Im not sure why so that was exciting and we had to change her jammies. Rachel is such a loving big sister and was very concerned about "all the blood". She's fine of course and didn't even cry at all I just need to get her to stop picking her nose!

The other day the girls decided their beds needed to be next to each other instead of separate so I did....well I might as well have not done it because they sleep in the bed together anyways!! I put them to bed at 8PM tonight then went downstairs to do something. Then Rachel calls down to me that Charle wont get out of her bed. So I go up there and read them a little story tuck them into Rachel's bed together. Of course Rachel then decided to "read" another story to her sister.

As much as they fight they sure do love each other a lot. They keep me on my toes...and I love it :D They are crazy kids! I should sneak up there and see if they are really sleeping because its oddly quiet...lets hope they are it is 11 PM after all!! I think ill stay hiding though don't want to wake the sleeping bears...I mean babies :P

Rachel goes to the dentist

2009-01-13T15:44:00.000-08:00

Rachel went to the dentist today. Unfortunately I couldn't go with her because the front wheel on our car blew out and we are having to borrow the truck. So Dominick took her in and I stayed with Charle. it turns out the little princess has 3 or 4 cavities...Dominick doesn't remember. All on top from what I understand. So shes not getting her teeth brushed well enough up there I guess. I'm super stressed out about this because its going to cost a lot to fix even with insurance because ours doesn't cover everything for some reason. Next week Charle goes in for her appointment....lets hope her teeth are okay!! Ill get pictures of Charle at the dentist :D

In 1 month.....

2009-01-03T20:30:00.000-08:00

...my sweet little baby girl Rachel is turning 5. 5!! I cant believe she is already turning 5. It feels like yesterday that she was born. She was such a sweet little baby girl 5lbs 12 oz and 19.25 inches. She was born at 9:31 PM in San Diego at the Naval Medical Center. My labor with her was only 7 1/2 hours. She was beautiful right from the start. People use to say she looked like a little china doll. I hope you enjoy these pictures of newborn Rachel. These were all taken within the first 2 weeks of her birth. She was so itty bitty. It just amazes me that she is gunna be 5 in such a short amount of time.

Rachel getting weighed

Mommy's girl right from the start

The sweet little Princess sleeping

In her take home outfit, she SWAM in it :D

Update on Charle

2008-12-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

After posting about baby Kayleigh I figured I should update you all on Charle. She is now 18lbs 14 oz! While that is not a lot for most 2 year olds...actually thats not even a lot for most 1 year olds :P It's a lot for little Charle. She is still delayed developmentally but she is getting better. She is doing things more and more like a kid her age should. Speech is the most frustrating for all of us because we dont always know what she wants. I can only imagine how it is for her not knowing the words but knowing what she wants. Or when she is telling me with her words what she wants but me not understanding. Right now she is dancing to her leapfrog learning drum, she LOVES to dance. We are going to be going back to the doctors again sometime this week because the girls both just got over being sick. I think we might try and wait till the snow isnt as bad though so we dont get stuck in the parking lot again. She is also going to go to the dentist for the first time from what I understand that might be part of the reason she has speech delay. Please continue to pray that she will gain more weight and make strides developmentally.

Sweet baby Kayleigh

2008-12-29T10:32:00.000-08:00

As you all know sometimes I post blogs about things I feel to be important, read my blogs on Salt Cay if you want to read the others. This is about a darling baby named Kayleigh who was born prematurely. When she was born she was only 1 lb 1 oz! What a miracle she is already. Now she is up to the 6 lb marker!! Please pray for this beautiful little girl to gain more weight. I know first hand how hard it is to get a baby to gain weight, I can only imagine how it is when a baby is so young and not gaining as fast as you would like. You can read baby Kayleigh's story for yourself by clicking on the picture above. Sweet little Kayleigh we are thinking of you and praying for you to get strong enough to go home soon!

Christmas

2008-12-28T15:59:00.000-08:00

Well I couldnt find my camera on Christmas so no pictures. :( Of course I found it ooo 5 minutes AFTER all the presents were opened LOL. The girls had a wonderful Christmas and got some really great toys. We were a little grumpy from being tierd and it was an early bedtime :D We went to Anacortes for xmas eve and were there xmas morning. Ill post pictures when I get them :D

it really is beautiful

2008-12-22T17:57:00.000-08:00

It may be cold but even i have to admit its beautiful. There is a picture I want to take elsewhere in the complex and Ill go do that tomorrow. I should have done it today when it was "warm" a whole 30 degrees :P Maybe tomorrow we'll get lucky again lol.

"Sno" much snow!

2008-12-18T09:04:00.000-08:00

So the snow the other day DEFFINTLY wasnt the last of it!! The snow never fully went away and now its been snowing 2 days straight! So we went out again yesterday to play in the snow. Charle liked it a little more this time! But I think shes like me and prefers warm weather :P Rachel of course loved it! We decided to make a snowman and one of our neighbors helped us build it. Rachel says we need to make another one today but seeing as Charle is a little sick I think Im going to have to wait until its naptime for her. I am starting to wonder when this snow is gunna stop. Cause I havent stocked up any kind of emergency kit.... I think I need to make sure and do that!! I'll try and rememeber to get a picture of how much snow we have :D I dont remember EVER getting this much snow when I was little!

first snow of the season

2008-12-14T11:16:00.001-08:00

Well its snowed! While Mommy is not a big fan of the snow :P The girls sure are! We went out to play in it. Even though Rachel had a slight fever. She took some Motrin and we bundled up and went out to play. We played probably for a good hour. Rachel made snowballs and snow angels and Charle...well she touched it a few times but wasn't into playing in it. Rachel's hair WAS nicely brushed until she did her snow angels...next time Ill do pictures of them BEFORE we play lol! We had a lot of fun and after we get nice and warmed up we will go out and play some more :D

Christmas Party

2008-12-12T12:38:00.000-08:00

We went to a Christmas Party in Everett and the girls got to each make a gingerbread house. It was a lot of fun I don't remember doing that when I was growing up :) The one on the left is Charle's and the one on the right is Rachel's I forgot to bring my camera so I didn't get pictures of them actually making them. Charle ate more then she put on...which says a lot seeing as her gingerbread house is FULL of candy lol. They loved making them though. And Santa was there. Rachel told me "Its not the REAL Santa though Mommy" So I told her she was right but the other kids didn't know that so she needed to keep that a secret lol. All the reindeer were there as well, they came in trucks and Santa came in a big dump truck type thing lol. It was really cool. All the kids were really excited. They even got early presents from Santa. Rachel got bath toys and Charle got a baby doll and stroller. I think Santa's helpers got them confused though and Charle was suppose to get the bath toys. Oh well though they play with each others things anyways. They are both getting more and more excited for Christmas and we hopefully will be decorating the tree this weekend. So pictures of that to come :D

How do different signs relate? The Aquarius and Scorpio child

2008-12-07T02:06:00.000-08:00

Fascinating Companions

Whether or not these children get along, they find one another fascinating. Observant young Scorpio is naturally interested in psychology, and her unusual Aquarius sibling certainly gives her food for thought.

Both these children have strong opinions and political views -- yes, political, even from an early age. Aquarius is a pioneer who might champion such causes as animal rights, veganism, or protecting the environment, while Scorpio is interested in human issues of loyalty, trust, and betrayal.

These two will have many intense, complicated conversations throughout their childhood, especially if they disagree on major issues. Each will try to bring the other over to their side. Arguments will result when Scorpio gets frustrated with her Aquarius sibling's refusal to succumb to emotional manipulation.

Yes, these two are well matched in many ways! Both children are sure to grow up into interesting, multifaceted adults who share a devoted connection with one another.

http://www.babycenter.com/horoscopeCompatibility.htm?r=cnc&sign1=aquarius&sign2=scorpio&x=19&y=19

feeding the deer

2008-12-07T01:22:00.000-08:00

Anacortes is such a nice small town that there is places where you can get right up close to the deer. The other weekend 2 deer sniffed Rachel's hand when she was feeding them. This weekend they were a bit more cautious. But they still got pretty close to us and I was able to takes some pretty good pictures of the babies. Charle was trying to talk to them and they were deffintly spooked by her. Rachel just loved the deer and was upset that they didnt sniff her hand this time. Both my girls just LOVE animals!! Its all pretty cool. There are some very special things about living in such a beautiful place.

Christmas tree lighting and parade

2008-12-07T01:09:00.000-08:00

We went to Anacortes for the annual Christmas tree lighting and parade. Friday night was the tree lighting festival so we bundled the girls up and picked up the cousins and headed down to the tree lighting ceramony. I love getting them all together. Rachel and Alyssa get along great , most of the time, and Charle and Katie are great buddies (well as much as a 9 year old and 2 year old can be). Charle thinks Katie is (as my Grammy would say) the bees knees LOL :P. She just loves being with the big girls. As you can see they all had a lot of fun, even though it was cold. Then Saturday morning was the annual parade. Charle just loved it! Im sure the big girls did to but I know for sure Charle did. They all got a load of candy becasue we were right in the front. And acording to Katie thats the best place to be cause you get the good candy there :D. Its deffintly starting to be winter here we are having to wear more clothes then we use to. Now the search is on for gloves that will fit little Miss Charle. her hands are so small that they only make mittens :D Rachel is also in need of new gloves and only reason she is difficult to buy for is cause shes 4 and is picky! All and all we had a lot of fun :D

Letters to Santa

2008-12-01T18:01:00.000-08:00

The girls decided to write letters to Santa tonight. And I must say they did a GREAT job! They also were very proud of themselves! Rachel started doing her letter first. She wrote it all! I should her a few of the letters that she didnt know in a book. But most of the letters she already knew! She asked Santa for Camp Rock Dvd, books, crayons and Princess stuff. She decided since she was 4 years old that she should ask Santa for 4 things. LOL. She is so funny. She could have written anything she wanted to. Charle said she asked for a baby. Other then that I dont know what she asked for. But as you can see she was also very proud of her letter :D

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T18:39:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving and stuffed ourselves to the brim! And of course all took a nap :P Rachel's favorite was the corn and Sweet Potatos with marshmellows. And Charle's favorite was the corn and cranberry sauce :D Charle didnt eat as much as I would have liked her to. But we still have pumpkin pie to break out :D I think both girls will get a kcik out of that...at least I hope! And we have PLEANTY of leftovers :D Hope all of you and yours had a great Thanksgiving. We are truly blessed to have all that we do.

I eat at Mom's

2008-11-17T16:10:00.001-08:00

This is Charle's REALLY cool shirt that we got at the World Breast Feeding Celebration this summer. You can read about it in my August postings :D http://moonturtle.blogspot.com/2008/08/world-breastfeeding-week.html We had a lot of fun at the celebration and its nice for my big 2 year old to be able to walk around wearing this shirt. In a way shes promoting breastfeeding too :D The shirt is just adorible and I love it! Yes Charle is 2 year old and is STILL breastfeeding :D

Charle's Bday present from Granny

2008-11-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

Playing in the box

laying on her new turtle made by Granny

Charle got her birthday present from her Granny the other day. Insode the box was a GIGANTIC turtle made by Granny as well as matching pink crocs for Mommy, Charle and Rachel. Well the girls were a little tierd so the things in the box werent that interesting to them. BUT the box was a huge hit. Rachel turned it into a story box. Her and Charle both decided to colot on it so they colored pictures and Rachel wrote words. Once we put a movie on though, Wizard of Oz was on TV :D, Charle used her gigantic turtle as a pillow. And now today shes been using it as that all day. Its been really cute :D

We have poo poo in the potty!!!

2008-11-12T10:08:00.000-08:00

Well we had our first poo poo in the potty today! I was changing her diaper and well saw she had poo poo coming so I ran her to the potty. She kept tryin to get up but I kept making her sit lol. And she did it!! She made a little poo poo in the potty. I was so happy for her made a HUGE deal about it. We also put a sticker on her brand new potty chart. She REALLY liked the sticker and wanted another. I told her she had to make pee pee or poo poo in the potty to get one so she sat down and tried to make more....she didnt get anymore but she understood! Im so excited maybe just maybe we can get rid of diapers soon!! Keep your fingers crossed that it wasnt just a one time thing and that she will do it over and over again today! Or at least a few more times in the next few weeks. I think its about time to make the change into panties and plastic pants....now if I can only find plastic pants that fit her skinny butt!

**This picture isnt from today but it is so cute and it does show how proud of herself she was!**

A new superhero is on the rise!!!!

2008-11-10T08:03:00.001-08:00

A new masked Superhero has come out of hiding! It is the amazing Wipegirl! Wipegirl's powers are the ability to make your heart melt, a smile that is contagious, hugs that can fix anything and kisses that will make your day seem brighter! She is truly the newest superhero! And I know we will see great things from her!

And look I was lucky enough to get a picture with her mask up! But be careful to not look at her smile unless you want your heart to melt. Her smile is contagious!

Charle has an owwie

2008-11-10T07:57:00.001-08:00

Well about a week ago now Charle barley tripped over her own feet and hit her cheek on the xbox 360. My poor baby. She now has a HUGE bruise on her cheek. In the pictures shes crying casue i dared to tell her "No" about something....sigh teenage years Im SO ready lol.

Movie Night

2008-11-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

The girls and I have started a new once a week thing. WE are going to start watching a movie. Doesnt matter if its on DVD or if its on TV just as long as we spend it watching a movie together. Last week was our first week doing it. I cant recall what we watched. It was something on TV though. We pop popcorn and the girls each have their own bowl, same bag though :P Neither girl would have it any other way! They sit on different chairs so that no one steals any from eachother lol. I try and keep the fights down as much as I possibly can.
Here is Rachel on the couch enjoying her popcorn
Then here is Charle with hers, on a different chair :P

Trick or Treat

2008-11-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

We did a Wizard of Oz theme

Ready for Trick or Treating, the bags were made by Granny!

Dorothy

The Cowardly Lion

We had so much fun Trick or Treating this year! Charle was finaly old enoug to go up to thr doors and trick or treat with her sister. She would go up and say "trick or treat!" in the cutest voice you would ever hear!! All teh neighbors just loved her. Its times like this that I love living in military housing. We didnt have to leave the housing at all and got a whole lot of candy! ive had to hide it from the girls....and Daddy :P Charle wasnt ready to be done trick or treating when Rachel was. But we went ahead and went home anyways :P Next year should be even more fun!

Our family celebration

2008-11-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

On the 29th we celebrated Charle's birthday just us that are in the house. We had ice cream cake! Charle loved it :) Its hard to believe that my little baby is already 2 year old.

Carseats

2008-10-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

Ok so those of you who know me know that there are a few things that I am very passionate about. Breastfeeding being one but I will do a blog on that another time. This one is on carseats. Im sure all of us know WHY a child needs to be in a carseat. But is your child in the Right carseat? Yes there is a right and wrong carseat for your child. First off I am NO expert in carseat and carseat saftey but I have done my research. This board has many men and women who are much more educated then I am on carseat safety and if you have ANY questions I highy recomend going to them and they will be more then happy to help you. http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a7645/car_seat_questions

As a general rule a child MUST be in a rear facing car seat / infant car seat until 1 year old and 20 lbs. Front facing car seat until 4 years old and 40 lbs. Booster seat until 8 years old and 80 lbs. They keywords there are AND it does not say or. You can check for yourself what YOUR state says about carseats by going to: http://www.elitecarseats.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?pageName=car_seat_laws.

HOWEVER those are just the laws for your state. What about the maximum SAFTEY of your child?? Sure it might be easier to put your 1 year old who weighs 25 lbs in a forward facing seat. Sure it might be easier to put your 4 year old who weighs 40 lbs in a booster seat with just the carseat holding them in.

BUT research has shown that a child is SAFER to be rearward facing until the maximum of the carseat. WHICH most convertables do until 30 or 35 lbs. A child should be rearfacing until the limits of their car seat hieght or weight whichever comes first. The general rule is if your childs head is 1 inch above the top of the carseat she is to big for it. I do not have a video YET on the importance of extended rearfacing besides this one...its a little old and I am currently working on making a new one. But for those first time parents or even parents with more then 1 child who think its okay to make the switch before 1 AND 20 I suggest watching this. It is what helped me make my decision. My oldest went forward facing at 9 months...thank god nothing ever happened.

Now for the bennifit of extend harnassing....all i will do for this is post a video. Because of this video my oldest is now harnassed...again. And will continue to do so until she is to big height wise which at that point I will buy a new carseat. The video is a tear jerker so please have a tissue handy if your like me and cry easily.

In end PLEASE do your research when purchising a carseat for your child. When making a transition from one car seat to the next. It is very important! AND especially remember to go and get your carseat imspected by professionals! To find YOUR local place go to this website and type in your zip code! http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/CPS/CPSFitting/index.cfm

My "baby" turned 2 today

2008-10-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

waiting for to doctor (yes shes in a sposie we wear them sometimes now as we've grown out of cloth)

she decided to lay down and wait

getting her hieght and weight checked

playing in the waiting room before going into the docs office

my 2 year old!!

Man its so hard to believe that Charle is 2 years old already! This time 2 years ago we were in the hospital...getting ready to check out and go home with our 6 lb 9oz baby girl. She was so small her carseat swallowed her! Now she's "huge". LOL well shes huge compared to what she was then but she is still very small. Today she had aher 2 year well baby check up and she is doing great! She is weighing in at 18lbs 14 ozs and she is 31 inchs long! So she is still VERY small for her age but she is gaining weight! We LOVE our doctor. He is a family practice doctor with Western Washington Medical Group by the name of Dr. Grossman. He really listens to me and hears my requests. He is just so awesome! ANYONE looking for a family practice doctor I totally recomend him. He is supportive of me still breastfeeding hasnt said ANYTHING about me needing to stop! Charle really likes him to which is a major plus! We had no shots today because my old pediatrician office didnt send her full immunization record over. He said usually at 2 he doesnt give shots anyways. Im going to have to find out how to get her records...allthough I have been debating still the whole imunization thing...but thats a whole different blog :P

Rachel is in her last year of preschool

2008-10-29T12:25:00.001-07:00

This is Rachel's last official year of preschool. She has grown so much since starting. She has had so much fun! Above are the pictures we took before she got on the school bus on picture day. Shes a little ham and loves having her picture taken. Most of the poses she said "Mommy take it like this!" She is pretty funny :D And she is a total girly girl. She is all about wearing dresses and skirts. If I let her wear makeup she would in a heartbeat!

This is her official school picture from this year. Itll be neat to see how much she will change by the end of the school year!

Charle's 2nd birthday party

2008-10-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

We had Charle's birthday at Alfy's Pizza this year. It was a lot of fun and we are so greatful to those who were able to atend! Here is a video of her party. She got a lot of really great gifts! Thanks again to all who came :D

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Halloween

2008-10-24T10:23:00.001-07:00

This year for Halloween we are going with a Wizard of Oz theme. Little Miss Charle is gunna be the Cowardly Lion. She isnt so sure about her costume but I was able to get her to wear it for 5 minutes last night for pictures...I think when trick or treating she will be much more excited and she will wear it longer. Here she is in her costume:

And what Wizard of Oz wouldnt be complete with out Dorothy and Toto! Rachel's hair is a little short but thats okay! She still looks really cute as Dorothy! And she loves carrying Toto in his basket :D We even have the ruby red sparkly shoes, from Target! Here is Rachel as Dorothy:

Then here is Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion together. We are deffiitly excited for trick or treating.

My girls OFFICIALLY have the coolest trick or treat bags though! They were made just for them by their Granny! i dont have any pictures of them right now but they are SUPER cool. We are very lucky to have such a talented Granny!

Family Fun at the pumpkin patch!

2008-10-12T16:36:00.000-07:00

We went on a trip to the local Pumpkin Patch! It was a lot of fun and the girls had a great tiem playing and getting pumpkins :D Here's a little slideshow I took so many pictures there is NO WAY i can download them all :D We are very excited for halloween this year :) And even more excited to carve our pumpkins I think. Karlene says its her first time ever carving a pumpkin :) I think we'll just let Charle draw on hers I duno I might carve it for her... I havent decided yet :P

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My baby is turning 2

2008-10-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

My little Charle is turning 2 years old. I cant believe how quickly time has flown by. Its really amazing. She has grown so much in the past 2 years. Granted shes still very small for her age but she is deffintly a character. I am so proud of her! She amazes me more and more every day.

Making a sticker chart

2008-10-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

So I have been given a challenge. I need to make a sticker chart for my girls. Now its not a chores chart necessarily but a chart to get them to do behaviors I want. The behavior I have decided to do:

Rachel is: Doing what told when told. So what will happen is everytime she does something as soon as she is told to she will get a sticker. Once she gets 5 stickers she will get a special prize.

Charle is: Sharing her toys. So everytime I see her share a toy with a friend or her sister she will get a sticker.With her once she gets 3 stickers she will get a special prize.

If they dont do what I want they simply wont get a sticker but I also wont be taking one away. We are starting it in the morning so we will see how it goes! Im really excited to see how they do with it :D

new pictures of the girls!

2008-09-28T19:30:00.001-07:00

My girls :)

Rachel making kissy faces for Christopher (a boy in her school she has a crush on)

she was laughing :)

with her new pony

eating carmel corn

Please Help Salt Cay!

2008-09-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm sure those of you who read my blog heard my plea about signing the petition for the Humpback Whales of Salt Cay. Well Salt Cay REALLY needs your help this time! Because of Hurricane Hanna and Hurricane Ike there has been a lot of damage done to the island. Homes were destroyed there is a good chance there will be no power for up to 6 months! The people on this small island are WONDERFUL and since it is so small the British Government often times forgets about it sadly. There has been something set up so people like you and me can help them though. http://www.saltcay.org/ if you go to this link you will see a link to a pay pal account that has been set up to help. Thank the lord no one was killed or hurt physically, to my knowledge, but the tolls of this on the families I'm sure are extensive. And since Salt Cay is so small anyways everyone becomes sort of family to each other. They could really use your help no donation is to small! If you are able to give please do so. I have been to Salt Cay, my parents live there part of the year, and it is one of the most beautiful and friendly places you will ever see. There is also a link there to see all the damage the Hurricanes caused...please help in anyway you can!

School Started!

2008-09-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

Well school officially began on the 8th of September. I couldnt be happier then to have Rach go for a few hours everyday. It really helps me a lot in the asspect that I am able to get things done that normally I am unable to do. Unfourtintly Im still camera less so no pictures of her first day. But she made new friends and all in all she seems to really enjoy it. There are a few old friends and a bunch of new friends this year and I think she will be very happy. At this point she misses her old friends but in time Im sure she will get over it lol.

We wenrt to the fair

2008-08-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we all went to the Evergreen State Fair. It is way out there and it took awhile to get there. First thing that we saw was horseback rides and both the Princesses LOVE to ride horses already. So we took them on them they loved it and once again Charle didnt want to get off :) We could have bought the pictures but it would have cost us at least 24 dollars to get a picture of both girls and that is just WAY to much! Then we walked around went on rides ate the way to expensive food...then we went to the petting zoo!! So you would think that at a petting zoo you are safe to touch the animals right?? well thats a big negative. The first animal was a donkey and we went in there for Charle to pet this dinkey and he started trying to eat her finger!!! I pulled her finger out and its bruised and also a little cut on her finger. She was screaming and nothing I could do would calm her down. The person in charge of the petting zoo took us into their building and put antiseptic and a baindaid on it. We then also went to the first aide building they checked her out and said to just watch it and give a call to her pedi so thats what Im going to be doing today. But it looks fine and she is acting fine.

La Connor, WA

2008-08-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we went up to a cute little town I use to go to as a child called La Connor. I use to love going there I have a lot of memories from there :). We walked around and a store caught our eye so we went in they had so many cool things there too. Rachel REALLY wanted a Henna tattoo....but they were kinda expenxive. She had $5 to buy whatever she wanted...and they said she could pick one. So she looked through the book for about 20 minutes before she found one she liked.
She did really good at sitting still for it and it looks really cute. It will last for 2-6 weeks and she loves it. She has been asking me for a tattoo for 2 years now LOL.

Tita Karlene comes to visit

2008-08-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

Dom's little sister Karlene has come to town to visit us for the month. She just got in today but the girls are already having a balst. Today we went to Alderwood mall and shopped for WAY to long. LOL. Then we came home did the whole dinner thing then went walking. The girls love having their Tita here and we are looking forward to spending the month with her...although the brother/sister "love" might get annoying :P Dom picks on Karlene constintly...and of course she picks on him right back...this should be fun lol.

The girls have a NEW room!

2008-08-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

So my neighbor Jessica pointed out that the spare room was actually bigger then the girls room...so today, with her help, moved the girls room...it was sooo much harder then I thought it would be. Now we will be decorating it!! She is like super creative so between the two of us, mainly her, we have had some cool ideas and will start doing them. B y Rachel's request we are going to take a few tips from Fancy Nancy who is a very posh (that's a fancy word for fancy) girl, http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/harperchildrens/kids/gamesandcontests/features/fancynancy/default.aspx,
Fancy Nancy has become a favorite in our house thanks to Granny :P It is going to be VERY cute when its done and of course VERY fancy. We have decided the theme of the room is fairy tales it use to be princess and butterfly but well having it all will be, as Fancy Nancy would say, stupendous! Well when it is done I will take pictures....maybe I should get a before I made it fancy picture :P. The girls and I are both VERY excited for the new room...and Miss Rachel is debating if she wants her own room or not!! Im not sure how I feel about that though LOL.

(lots of Fancy Nancy pokes here so you will have to read the books to get it and I recommend her to ANY and all little girls who have a tendency for the fancier things or even the tomboys because deep down there is a little fancy Nancy in all of us)

World Breastfeeding Week!!!

2008-08-04T23:50:00.000-07:00

For those who dont already know this it is World Breastfeeding Week! Thats right WORLD not national but the whole world! It is celebrated from August 1st to the 7th and it celebrates when the Innocenti Declaration, http://www.unicef.org/programme/breastfeeding/innocenti.htm, was signed.

Here is an excerpt from the declaration:

"As a global goal for optimal maternal and child health and nutrition, all women should be enabled to practise exclusive breastfeeding and all infants should be fed exclusively on breastmilk from birth to 4-6 months of age. Thereafter, children should continue to be breastfed, while receiving appropriate and adequate complementary foods, for up to two years of age or beyond. This child-feeding ideal is to be achieved by creating an appropriate environment of awareness and support so that women can breastfeed in this manner."

How AWESOME is that?? Little Miss Charle is 21 months old and still breastfeeds. She will continue to do so until she SELF weans. I will not wean her myself. Yes there are times when I tell her "no Charle not right now" but now that she is gaining the weight she needs to I will continue to nurse her. My Pedi is supportive of my choice as is my husband and now I have friends that are as well. I LOVE LLL, Le Leche League, they are a GREAT group and I have learned so much from the women there.

On Saturday the 2nd the family and our new good friend Jessica went to a Breastfeeding Celebration in Everett at Forest Park, which is an awesome place but thats another blog :P, at the Celebration they had all sorts of booths you could go to for information on so many different things. They also had a silent auction that had AWESOME things! All the proceeds went straight to benefiting LLL, which once again is an awesome group. It was so much fun they had a lot of kid activities and Charle got a super cute shirt that says "I eat at Moms" :P LOL I cant wait to get a picture of her in it to post on here, but my camera is like super busted so it'll have to wait until I can buy a new one. All and all we had a great time. After the celebration we went out to eat then toy shopping, Dom and Rach at Toys R US and Jessica, her baby Sophie (who is adorable!), Charle and me at Micheals (which is just like a toy store for me lol) the girls didnt get any toys, besides the one they dont know about thats being hidden :P. The girls slept LONG and hard that night....it was really fun, lol have I said that enough lol.

If you would like to donate to LLL you can do so here, http://www.llli.org/donate.html?m=3, it is just such a great support group for nursing moms. And I am so happy I get to be a part of it.

No more training wheels!

2008-08-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

Rachel was scared to learn to ride her bike. But I told her that there was such thing as the training wheel fairy and that if she learned to ride her bike with no training wheels she woulds bring her a goldfish...or money to go and pick out her own goldfish.

After much thought, Thursday July 31st at around 1:30 PM, Rachel decided to take her training wheels off! She had told Ms. Jenn outside that she wanted to take them off so Jenn came to my door and told me. So I took the tool out went and took her training wheels off. Well in reality I just had to take one off cause we had been using 1 training wheel for a few weeks.

After only one steadying push she took off down the street. And she didnt even fall down at all! I excpected her to fall at least once but she didnt! It seems thats the neighborhood trend cause all the kids do it that way LOL. Yes she wasnt wearing shoes or any protective gear for that matter but I also hadnt expected her to actually do it LOL.

She did such good job and we are so proud of her for having the guts to just get on and go :) She is growing up so quickly and I am just so happy that I was there to witness this! Even Daddy got to come out and watch casue he was home from work at the time :)

and a HUGE thank you to Jenn for taking the pictures since my camera decided to break on me

Best thing about being a Mom...

2008-07-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

I was once asked what's the best thing about being pregnnat....and of course I think the best thing is when you feel that life you created kicking and moving inside of you. Gosh that is the best feeling in the world. But of course what tops even that is when that same baby is placed in your arms and the baby looks up into your eyes and you know right then that you never truly knew love. Yet even better then that is when that same sweet baby says "Mama" for the first time. Wow that is just the sweetest word int he world. But today I was reminded of something that is even better. Today at breakfast Rachel and I were doing our "I love you" thing...wher we point to out eye then our heart then the person we are saying it to. And little Charle decided she was going to join then she said in the sweetest voice "I U" and both Rach and I knew that she was say "I love you" in her way. And THAT is the best thing about being a mom...hearing those little words :) Im sure as the girls grow there will be other things that are the best....but at this point hearing "I U" is the best most wonderful thing I have experinced in being a mom.

Vacation Bible School with Fellowship Baptist church

2008-07-28T11:39:00.001-07:00

We got a flyer on our door about a VBS that was going to be held at a local Baptist church. Dominick is baptist so we decided to send Rachel to it, she wanted to go very badly. They would pick her up and drop her off so it was really great. She had a lot of fun and made some new friends and did some great artwork. I took pictures of the ones that she did. we did miss one day of VBS because we all slept in to late the night before and didnt wake up on time. The theme of VBS was Smiling. The girls "won" VBS meaning they brought in the most pennys for offering. She really enjoyed it and now wants to start going there on Sundays. Im going to check it out next week. Seeing as we havent found our home church here yet...I miss San Diego and the church we had there.

Rachel made a placemat the first day

The second day she drew this picture

It was about whats written here. It says:

My God is so great,so strong and so mighty, There is nothing my God cannot do

The Mountains are his, the rivers are his, the stars are his handiwork too. My God is so great, so strong and so might there is nothing my God cannot do 4 U
The third day she made thishere is what this is about The fourth day Rachel made this

Dodge ball is a dangerous game!

2008-07-11T18:07:00.000-07:00

Well Im sure we all rememebr as kids playing doge ball in school...it was fun, it hurt but most of all it was fun. Well the neighbor kids in the back have started to play doge ball EVERY day behind my house. Balls hit our half fence and windows A LOT. I have gone back there a few times telling them they need to be more aware and also to pick up their trash...the kids that know me, and know I know where they live :P are respectful...the other ones not so much maybe its casue Im the size of most of them if not smaller LOL.

Anyways, the other night Rachel decided she wanted to hang out with the big kids. I told her that they are throwing balls, she will PROBABLY get hit and it WILL hurt. Of course she said ok and she still wanted to play...well she went out there and there and the kids werent throwing at her becasue she is so young, which I am VERY greatful for. But then when one of the boys was trying to hit one of the girls and she moved it smacked Rachel dead in the face. He came running over to make sure she was okay...and she didnt cry until everyone asked if she was okay LOL. She was fine there was no marks on her at all...her nose did hurt for the rest of the night but the next day she was fine....you would think after this she wouldnt want to play with the big kids anymore right??? Well thats a big negative she still asks me everythime she sees tehm playing if she can go out too....Im just a little scared now to let her LOL I dont want to her to get hurt again!

Rachel and ECEAP

2008-07-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

We were very lucky to get Rachel into ECEAP last school year and it dawned on me I never really wrote about it. We almost made to much money, whoch to me makes NO sense how can we an E-4 family make to much money??? Anyways soo not the point! The first day she went to school she jumped on the bus no problem smiled at me and waved...I cried (but not until after I got into my house) She LOVED school and of course ended up not wanting to get up and go to school all the time. She did GREAT in school and the teachers loved having her. She made great friends there and it was a nice break for me :p My favorite thing though is when the teacher asked Rachel what she wants to be when she grows up she answered "Ummmm. Just a mom." It was soooo sweet! Gosh I love my daughter!

Fun with Common's church

2008-07-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor's church had a night of fun at our housing complex. There was free jump houses, cotton candy, popcorn and snow cones. It was so much fun. Rachel and Charle both had a blast! Rachel especially cause she could do much more then Charel could. I didnt get to many pictures of her becasue I didnt know where she was have the time, it was in an enclosed place though so she WAS safe and I had neighbors that I knwo very well helping me keep an eye on her.

Charle and her cotton candy

Rachel getting ready to jump

Charle waiting for the little kids turn (she was laughing) Charle having fun in the jump house (she couldn't stand though lol)

Rachel climbing the obstical course

You can help save Humpback Whales for FREE!

2008-06-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Please sign our petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/36/help-save-the-whales-and-reefs-of-salt-cay and pass this message along to as many people as you can!

Salt Cay is a small island, located in the Turks and Caicos Islands . It is on the migratory path of the Atlantic Humpback Whales. These whales can be seen breeching and playing with their young just off the island. The humpback is an endangered species, as are the turtles and different varieties of coral on the surrounding reef. A development company has recently announced its plans to CONTROL up to 80% of the land mass on this tiny (2.5 square miles) island. These plans include among other things: a golf course and resort, large private estates, new residential areas, condominiums, shops, hotels, and a new MARINA with a proposed 100 foot wide channel to be cut into the middle of the island. This marina is to be situated in the Historical Salinas, where men and women toiled to supply salt to Britain , Canada and the United States . The proposed entrance to this marina, will cut through the off shore reef, damaging and killing the corals, and fish habitat. The proposed channel will create initial, and on going, silting over the surrounding reefs, damaging even more coral and fish habitat. The proposed increase of boat traffic, pollution and noise CANNOT and WILL NOT be helpful or safe for the Atlantic Humpback Whales and their habitat! As stewards of this earth, we must give voice to the whales and the ocean. The knowing degradation of the marine animals and reefs, must be stopped. Please sign the petition below and give voice to your concern regarding the proposed development on the migratory path of the Humpback whales. Perhaps with our signatures we may be able to affect the futures of the whales and the oceans for generations to come.
For more information on of Salt Cay, visit..... http://www.saltcay.org/ and http://www.friendsof.saltcay.org/
Thank you,
Friends of Salt Cay

Dear Granny

2008-06-28T19:27:00.001-07:00

Hi, Granny I hope you read this we wanted to tell you that we love you so much and really miss having you here! We had so much fun!! Thank you for coming and spending a whole month with us but it went by so fast! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Beautiful days and even more Beautiful girls

2008-06-28T19:18:00.000-07:00

The last 2 days in Washington have been BEAUTIFUL. We have played in the pool and sprinkler a lot...I played to so thats why there isnt any pictures really :) We have been having a lot of fun and are enjoying the weather. WE have made some new friends so we are playing with them as much as we can. Well I need to get the girls some dinner. We are looking forward to a nice warm summer full of fun!

cloth diapers ROCK!

2008-06-27T20:08:00.001-07:00

Okay so many of you know that I cloth diaper....they have come SOOOO far from the pins and flat diapers that OUR parents had to use! I dont know why EVERYONE doesnt use cloth diapers with as easy as they are :p No more work then disposables and so much better for your babys bum AND for our environment!

http://blog.thenatureschild.com/2008/06/beat-heat-summer-con-test.html

babywearing!!

2008-06-27T19:55:00.001-07:00

So I have been "wearing" lil miss Charle since the day she was born really and it is soooo awesome! It has helped me when I am trying to get housework done and Charle just wants to be held. And also when I am in a public place and have had to hold on to Rachel as well. Even now with Charle comin on to 20 months I still wear her sometimes! I just wish that I had known about all this when Rachel was a baby :P I HIGHLY recomend wearing your baby for 9 months AT LEAST. It helps strengthin the bound between you and your ba by. And the best thing yet if you are a breastfeeding mom it helps you do the discreatly! I have done it MANY times!! Including KNott's Beery Farm when Charle was only a few weeks old :p Ill have to see if I can find the pictures from when Charle was a baby in her wrap and take a few of her now in her sling :D

This website is having an awesome contest for those Mommy's (or Daddy's!) who are either already babywearing or are wanting to!! check it out :D

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

"Hot" Day

2008-06-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day! So we went to the park to play. Rachel has been learning to do the monkey bars and today she decided to try by herself!! She didnt get very far but she did a great job anyways and I am very proud of her. Granny taught Charle how to go down slides and now I cant keep her off of them! It doesnt matter how big it is either she does a great job! We played for a while at the park but it got to hot and we decided to go home and play in the pool. They had otter pops and then their most favorite snack Veggie Booty....personally i think its nasty, but they love it! Now we are baking animal cookies :)

Rachel doing the monkey bars

Charle going down the slide
Rachel and Charle going down the slide
Charle and her otter pop
Rachek being goofy in the pool

Rachel and "shadow" Charle

2008-06-24T12:36:00.000-07:00

div>Lately Charle has been doing anything and everything she sees Rachel do. Its really funny to watch. Rachel taught her how to say "Me" and so she repeats it over and over now. its pretty darn cute. We also started a new thing. In the mornings when we wake up the girls have a yogurt while I cook them breakfast and unload the dishwasher. Charle now feeds herself the yogurt and does a great job!! They even want to dress alike...I put Charle in a skirt so Rachel has to wear one too. We also have to get toys that are the same. It gets frustrating at times but it is cute they love each other so much. At night any given night you can hear them up giggling with each other. I love the fact that they are so close and love each other as much as they do. They are great girls and great sisters :)

Rachel doing her "chore" of loading the dishwasher

Rachel and Charle eating their early morning yogurt

Solstice Day Parade and Festival

2008-06-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

Today was the Solstice Day Festival in the Freemont area of Seattle. We, Granny, Rachel, Charle and Mommy, went up to it. The Solstice Day Parade is really cool thing to be able to watch. This year there was about 200 or more naked people going by, they were all totally painted so you couldnt see any "private parts" at all. Then the floats come and they are all pretty cool too. Charle loved the music the most and Rachel's favorite part was the "No More Monkeys" float. it was a bunch of kids dressed up as monkey and a big bed float. When the float stopped the kids got up and jumped. Then mama would call the doctor and the doctor would come. It was really cool. I didnt get a good picture of it but I did try. Once the parade was over we went down to the festival...it was really crowded so we didnt stay very long. On the walk back to our car Charle fell asleep then Rachel did when she sat down in the car. We had a whole lot of fun and you would think that the girls would be tierd after all that but no we got home and they were ready to play outside lol.

The lady sitting next to us had glitter glue face pant and did the girls

Rachel going down the slide
Charle fast asleep
Rachel fast asleep

More Adventures with the potty chair!

2008-06-17T21:19:00.000-07:00

So I think I need to buy another potty chair...that way we have one upstairs and one down stairs. Charle LOVES to "go potty" in it. What will happen is she makes the "potty sign" she has come up with then runs to the bathroom to go potty. we sit down and nothing comes out but the siaper is freshly peed on. So I think she pees in her diaper THEN tells me she needs to go. So at least that is a step forward. Last night we got in the tub an had a poo accident so we got the potty upstairs...and nothing came of it but at least we have it. She keeps trying and really wants to learn it so hopefully it will happen soon! It would be real nice if we can get at least daytime trained :)

haircuts

2008-06-12T22:12:00.000-07:00

Today Charle got her first haircut!! We went to JCPenny and got it done there. The other places were "to busy" to do it. I think they really jsut didnt want to deal with a small child though :p Anyways she did great! She didnt cry until the very very end when the lady cutting her hair stepped in front of charle's view to the mirror lol. I was alsdo able to convince Rachel to get a summer cut so I dont have to battle the putting the hair up thing anymore. Here are some pictures that I took :D They

BEFORE FRONTBEFORE BACK

BEFORE SIDE

ALMOST DONE

ALL DONE RACHEL'S NEW SUMMER LOOK
SISTERS NEW HAIRCUTS

After hair cuts granny treated the girls out to ice cream!! We went to Coldstone and Rachel chose strawberry with marshmellows and Charle got blue cotton candy. But Charle really liked Mommy's lemon sorbet!!

Feild Trip to Kayak Point

2008-05-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

On Thursday Rachel had an all day feild trip to a place here called Kayak Point. It is a beautiful place up here. We walked along the beach and found seashells it was so much fun! Then these divers brought up some sea life for the kids to touch and see up close it was soooo cool! They brought up these HUGE pink prickly starfish, giant crabs and then somethin I forgot the name of. It was so neat to touch them and see them I think I thought it was cooler then Rachel thought it was lol. Here are some col pictures that I took while there.

Rachel climbing

collecting shells

"Mr Crabs"

"patrick" the pink prickly starfish

looking out on the water

the sock monster!

2008-05-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

So growing up the sock monster use to steal all my socks...now Im 24 and have 2 kids and still this damn sock monster is around. I have bought socks not only for myself but also for my girls probably 20 times this year alone and already they are gone!!! WHERE THE HELL DO THEY GO??!! I mean my house isnt THAT big sure kids socks are small but come on!! Im glad its summer and you dont need them as bad in the summer :p lol But still blah I need to figure out someway to get rid of that damn sock monster!!

Charle and the adventure of the potty chair

2008-05-21T12:37:00.000-07:00

So we have been doing this potty thing for a whole day now lol. And she will go and sit on the potty then get up walk off and go pee on the floor....hmmm dont think she gets the concept. Ive had to clean pee off the floor ooo about 20 times today...not really that much but its seemed like it :p She had another weight check today and shes still at 16 lbs 3 ozs but the nurse isnt worried cause at least shes not losing and we have had a very active week. Rachel is helping "hatch" butterflys at school. She came home telling me they were in there cacoons now and that in 2 weeks they will come out and be butterflys. She is super excited about it. She also made a timeline of the life of a butterfly. She was very proud of it. Well its time for me to start lunch then Rachel is going to go play with the neighbor while Charle takes her nap. Maybe Ill get to clean house while that is going on!! Wouldnt that be nice :p Im also guna try and get some cute pictures of the girls today