Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Penguin Days

Every year the Dallas Zoo does something called Penguin Days.  You can go to the zoo in January and February (and this year, December too) for just $5 per person.  Logan is still free, so our whole family got in for $15!  We took advantage of some nice January weather and went one Saturday morning.
Our first stop was the elephants.  It's both of our kids favorite animal.  They were kind of far out at first, but eventually came closer to eat.

Our next stop was the giraffes

We paid the $5 to give them some lettuce and carrots.

We got there right at 9 when the zoo opened.  It was nice, because a lot of the animals had food laid out in strategic places so we got to see them up close.

Sweet babies

We eventually ended up in the kids area, and played for a little bit.

He's in a dinosaur egg

We petted the goats, too

We packed a lunch, so after seeing a few more animals we stopped to eat.
Then we hit up the reptiles, before calling it a day.

They had a Lego exhibit going on.  We saw a few of the creations (as seen here), but didn't spend a ton of time on it.  Maybe if we didn't have a little to get home for nap.

We left the zoo around 1, but the adventure wasn't over yet.  Right next to the zoo is a McDonald's that is all decked out in the zoo theme.  We stopped for a special ice cream treat!

A sweet success!


Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Valentine's Day 2016

This was our set up for Valentine's this year. Gifts for the kids, flowers for me, and I laid out all of the Valentine's books we've accumulated over the years (some from my teaching days).

I know what some of you all are thinking... "Since when did Valentine's Day turn into Christmas?"  But that isn't all from us!  In fact, I spent a whopping $3.50 combined!  I know you all don't really care, but finding a deal is just so much fun for me these days!

I got that fishing game for $1.48 on after Christmas clearance!  And that turtle book for ten cents!  Sometimes it just pays to work at Target! ;)  Michael's mom got both of the kids a new travel magnadoodle.  Ours was well loved and needed replaced.  Plus, we are thinking ahead to our vacation in May. These will come in handy!

My mom sent money to get the kids gifts.  Logan got that Hulk candy thing, which he loves because it talks and moves when you push the button, and new sunglasses!  (The train was a forgotten birthday gift.)

Olivia got the ($1.48!) Guess Who game and the ten cent lotions from us.  The Elsa candy is from my mom.  Also, she's been asking for a new coloring book.  We have a ton, but she really has colored nearly every page in them.  So she got a "Gigantic" Disney one.  Hopefully it will last her a few months. ;)

We heart attacked their doors as usual.


Olivia and Michael ran a few errands on Saturday, so she was with him when he bought my flowers and cards.  She picked out a card for me, so when she got home she made Michael a card. She informed him that he couldn't get it until Sunday, because that was Valentine's Day.  And that he should probably make her a card as well.  Her sweet Boppa came through.  He drew her a card, and on the inside was hearts and rainbows and giant letters that read "I love you".  She loved it!

It's really not about the gifts or how much was spent.  It's about creating fun memories and making my littles feel loved.  My holiday loving girl was in heaven!  And that makes it worth it!

Logan didn't quite understand what was going on, but he still enjoyed all of his treasures.

A friend gave me some fun photo props, so we tried to give it a try.

Ha ha!  I promised they had a good day! :)

We went to church, and then just had a usual old Sunday over here.  I shopped a consignment sale for the kids and Michael took my car in for some repairs.  Living the good life! :)

Monday, February 15, 2016

Jace's Birthday

Our (Ohio) friend's little boy Jace had a third birthday party at Chuck E Cheese.  They live about 50 minutes from us, but the location they chose was half way between us and them.  It was honestly the nicest Chuck E Cheese I have ever been to, and the kids had a BLAST!

Logan's up there with Olivia too.  They rode the giraffe a few times!

They each got a card to use for the games and rides as part of the party.  They rode this train multiple times!



We had a great Saturday morning, and will go back sometime!

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Sensory Fun

Every month the ladies from my MOPS table have a play date and a Mom's Night Out.  Each table does it a little differently, but the general idea is the same.

For January I hosted our play date at a local sensory play place.  It's newer, and still on the small side, but run by mom's and something different and fun.  So I thought we'd try it out.

We went to a "messy play", so there were  a few things out that aren't normally out.  But they also have just a regular open play, classes similar to that of Gymboree or Little Gym, and then they are also starting to offer other options like gymnastics and Tae Kwon Do.

Logan really liked the colored rice table!

He was less sure about this ball pit.


He had a lot of fun on that green bouncy thing you see in the background, but he was moving so fast that those pictures were blurry.  He was less than impressed with this guy.

There aren't a ton of pictures of Olivia, because she spent her time hiding in tunnels and tents and anywhere where she thought I might not be able to find her. ;)

It was a fun time.  The messy play is a little more expensive than the regular one, so I might go back on a day where it's just Logan and it's just open play.  It's literally two minutes from my house, so that's an added bonus!

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Wheels

Logan got a motorized car for Christmas, so one of the first weekends in January we loaded up and went to an empty school parking lot.

Pretty fun!

Olivia is pretty much at the weight limit, or over, but it's too fun not to give her a little try.

We brought her tricycle along for her

Proud of herself

Friday, February 12, 2016

Logan is TWO!

My baby is two!
Oh, this boy.  I love him so!  He is so full of life, energy, and fun!

He feels big feelings and has lots of emotions.  A lot of his little life is just an injustice ;) and that just causes all sorts of tears.  I've waited for two years for him to "turn the corner".  I've decided to embrace reality, and realize that we probably won't be turning any corners.  He's just a little sensitive soul.  He has a big heart, and it's OK to feel big.  Even if it drives me crazy daily. :)

Thankfully he is an equal mix of emotions and down right hilarity.  I mean, I don't think there has been a day that has gone by that I don't just laugh out loud at his craziness.  He knows he's hilarious too.  Oh the faces this one can make.  I would not be at all surprised if he ends up being a class clown (cough, like Michael, cough), or a stand up comedian or something.  Seriously. So funny!

He's scared of seemingly simple things like a swing or merry go round, but will climb up anything and everything.  He'll jump off of things that are way too high, and he likes the thrill of being thrown up in the air by his Boppa or riding on his motorized car.

He loves his sissy!  He hugs her, tackles her, follows her around, tries to play with her, antagonizes her, copies her every word and move.  One of my favorite things that he says is "Lilly-ya, are you?"  It's so cute.  He misses her while she's at school, and gives her a giant hug when we pick her up at the end of the day.  He goes to her for hugs and support if he has gotten in trouble, and asks her if she's alright if she is upset.  He gets annoyed when she tries to hug him when he's not in the mood, or if she tries to talk to him after he's just woken up.  They truly are best friends, and it makes my heart happy.

He loves accessories!  Necklaces, hats, sunglasses, anybody's shoes except his own, scarfs, costumes, crowns... whatever he can get his hands on. :)  He also loves any kind of vehicle, and will point out airplanes in the sky or loud trucks that go by.  He is starting to get into trains more and more.  He builds Legos with his sister, colors, plays with balls, and enjoys the play kitchen as well.

He can "figure out" most anything he comes across.  He has an engineering mind.  He likes to see how things work, build with his hands, open and close things that he shouldn't be able to open and close, and fix things.  He is awesome at following directions.  Even ones that are complex.  We can tell him to go do xyz and he just gets it done.

He is just the sweetest little thing.  
He loves his mommy like none other, but is a pretty big fan of his Boppa's as well.

His birthday was last Friday, but we decided to celebrate on Saturday instead.  We woke him up with streamers on his door and balloons in his room.  We all three went in singing Happy Birthday to him and loading his crib with balloons.  He didn't know what to do. 

We didn't do much in the way of a second birthday party for Olivia, so we kind of followed that with Logan.  I ordered a Curious George banner, table cloth, some hanging decorations, plates, and cups. The kitchen was decorated when he came out. Then he got a birthday donut where we sang to him again!

This picture makes me laugh.  We brought his gifts out to the middle of the living room. There were gifts from us, from Michael's mom and from my mom, so it looked like a lot to him.  He just kept putting his finger to his mouth and saying, "hmmm". Ha ha!

He opened his gifts, and then we just spent the morning playing with them and watching a Mickey Mouse DVD he got.  We had plans to go to a play place, but then found out it was closed permanently.  It was kind of yucky outside, so we just had a low key morning in, and then went out later in the day for some fun.

 Streamers and Superman!

I knew it was just going to be our family, so instead of paying a high price for a cake, I just made him a Curious George one myself.


We had his well check this week. Everything is going well.  The doctor did hear a little heart murmur (which was also heard at birth, but then never mentioned again?!), but didn't seem too concerned.  She said we'll just have to watch it and see.  Other than that he is right on track and checked out great.  She was asking me questions about his development and at one point asked me if he could jump.  He stood up and jumped with both feet lifting off the ground!  (The complete opposite of his sister!)

Despite the fact that we feel he has been the same size forever, he actually did grow some.  He's now in the 50th % for height--although, the nurse was a little generous with her measurements-- and the 60th percentile for weight.

He's still mostly in 18 month clothes.  He has some 24 month stuff that he fits into, but a lot of it is still too big!  He is just moving into size 6 shoes.  He still wears size 5 diapers, but will probably move up to 6's soon. 

He's a pretty picky eater.  Even more so than Olivia is.  He would drink a liquid diet if he could.  The Dr. said this is actually pretty normal, but to just keep working on it.  Michael and I had a hard time coming up with a favorite food for him when we were talking about it, but I guess I'd have to say it's yogurt.  It's the only thing he eats consistently.  He likes cheese, raspberries, cheerios, goldfish, and bananas as long as they are the right ripeness.  Oh, he could live on pouches too.  But we limit those since they are costly.  He eats more meat than Olivia did at this age, but he can be picky with that as well.  He is not a fan of pasta at all.  Not even mac and cheese!

He excels in motor skills and has no issues there.  I'm actually kind of surprised he hasn't climbed out of his crib yet. Hopefully he won't for a while.  His words aren't always the most clear, but he has a lot of them and is picking up new ones daily!  He strings two, three, and sometimes even four words together.  He's pretty polite and uses please, thank you, and bless you often.

He's starting to be able to name some colors and shapes.  He tries to sing his ABC's, but only the first few letters understandable.  He loves to sing, play music, listen to music, and dance.

He's a super fun little guy, and we just love him!