Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium

Since the weather has been so nice, Laura and I decided to take the kids to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.

The nice thing about Point Defiance is that you can get through the whole thing in a short amount of time. It's perfect for crazy toddlers.

I think this tiger mouth is scary.

Kaylin watching the most BORING penguins ever.

While Carter was feeding the goats, Kaylin enjoyed playing with this fake lizzard. She wanted nothing to do with the goats.

Kaylin loved this slide. The last time we went she would go to the top and then get too nervous to go down. Not this time.


And here's what Lauren did the entire time:

We had a fun day at the zoo. Thanks, Laura!

Sunny in Seattle

We have had some GREAT weather lately. Much better than last year when we seriously had to dig ourselves out of our driveway because of all of the snow and ice.

We met up with some play group friends on Thursday afternoon for lunch and playing.

Kaylin attached herself to Bryant and insisted on pitching the baseball to him. Amazingly, he actually connected on a couple. I'm not sure how. Check out Kaylin's form:



Notice that the ball is way above Kaylin's head.

This time the ball is almost on the ground.

But she loved it. We might have a future pitcher on our hands ;-).

Later Kaylin decided to race the older boys.

Apparently 4 year old boys are MUCH faster than 3 year old girls. Who knew?

And to show you what a good big sister Kaylin is, here is a shot of how she likes to share with Lauren.

These are some of Kaylin's favorite things: the Cabbage Patch (thanks again, Ellie!!)--named Frances after Lauren's middle name, little Cinderella, her Princess wallet, her Princess notebook, and her planner. Yes, Kaylin has her own planner. She's a busy girl.

Could Kaylin REALLY be the next Supermodelquin?

Remember this post? Kaylin was hanging out with the Supermodelquins at Old Navy while I was shopping for maternity clothes and I took her picture.

I was at Old Navy yesterday and they are having a contest where you take your picture with a Supermodelquin and post it online. You can win $100,000. Of course I don't think I'll win, but it's worth a shot, right? I posted the picture I took of Kaylin.

You can vote ONCE PER DAY!!!!!

So go here to vote for Kaylin!!!!!!!!! You do have to create an account, but if she wins, there might be something in it for you :-).

And keep voting every day!

THANK YOU!

2 months: Kaylin vs. Lauren

I've been wanting to compare some pictures of Kaylin and Lauren to see how alike or different they look now. Lauren had her two month check-up this week and she weighed 11 pounds and 14 ounces. I looked up Kaylin's stats and she weighed 9 pounds and 5 ounces at her 2 month check-up. Lauren weighs 2 1/2 pounds more than Kaylin did at this point! 2 1/2 pounds is a lot in the baby world. The difference in weight was the motivation I needed to find some pictures to compare.

Here they are in their blessing dress. Both girls were blessed when they were almost exactly 2 months old. They were both 9 weeks.

Kaylin

Lauren

These are their 2 month pictures. Notice I was smarter this time and Lauren is holding a sign with her age. I was getting confused looking through Kaylin's pictures trying to figure out which picture was the "real" ___ month picture, not that it matters all that much since all of my pictures are in folders by month.

Kaylin


Lauren

So, what do you think? I think they look NOTHING alike, which I'm happy about. I am hoping that my kids won't all look the same (not to offend anyone whose kids do look alike... it's just the luck of the genetic draw and some people prefer it that way anyway). I also think the 2 1/2 pounds make a huge difference. Lauren's face is so much chubbier, and you can't tell from the picture, but her legs are a lot bigger than Kaylin's too. We'll see what happens as they get older.

Valentine Topiaries

I saw a heart wreath on The Idea Room and fell in love with it. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out a place to hang it. It wouldn't be a good idea to put it on the front door since it's made of felt pinned into a foam wreath form. But then later she posted a topiary using the same method. I knew I had to make two.

Love them.

Little Birdie Secrets has now posted a tutorial for the love garland here.

For the topiaries I used 1/2 yard of dark red felt. I used 3" foam spheres and 3" circles of felt, just like the tutorial. I have no idea how many circles I cut out, but I used the entire 1/2 yard. The pails are from the dollar section at Target.

2 Months

Lauren is 2 months old!

Lauren had her 2 month check-up today. She weighs 11 pounds 14 ounces (75th percentile) and is 23.5 inches long (86.6th percentile).

Lauren is such a sweet girl. She is smiling and "talking" and hardly ever cries. She sleeps from 9:00 pm until between 4 and 6 am and then goes back to sleep until 8 or 9 am. I can put her down in her crib awake and she will fall asleep on her own. She is a good eater, as you can see from the picture. We are so blessed to have her in our family. We love her so much.

Lauren's Blessing

We blessed Lauren at church on Sunday. We were fortunate to have a lot of family and friends there with us.

Two families are missing in this picture because we weren't quick enough to tell them we were taking a picture and they had already left. Sorry Hiblers and Jacksons!

Kaylin and Carter

Me, Eric, and Lauren.

Lauren sleeping in Grandma B's lap (my grandma).

Lauren and Nana (my mom).

My grandpas, Grandpa B and Papa, with Lauren


The dress.
My mom made the dress and me, my sister Kelsey, Kaylin, my niece Macey, and Lauren have all worn it.

Thank you to all of our family and friends who were able to join us for this special day.

Little Birdie Secrets Blog Party

Tonight I went to Little Birdie Secrets' blog party. It was lots of fun. It was cool to see the faces behind the blog and their fabulous crafts.

Here is their amazing food table:

They had chocolate dipped licorice. I hadn't had it before, it was yummy. The cupcakes in the front had some sort of toasted marshmallow topping. Messy, but good.

Of course there was a craft. What kind of crafty blog party would it be without a craft?

Kim, Jessica, and Laura getting started.

Me, Laura, and Kim with our finished garlands.

I think the garland is a little small for my mantle. But oh well, I want it somewhere where I can see it all the time :-).

Thanks Birdies for a fun night! I hope you'll have another party soon!

I will post about those adorable topiaries later.

Leopard print flower headband

My niece is turning 3 this week. I bought her something (I'm not saying what it is because she hasn't gotten it yet, but I did already tell Kelsey about this head band), but I wanted to make her something too. Here's what I came up with:

A leopard print flower head band!

Hopefully she likes it, because Kaylin didn't.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B--this picture took bribery

I used the same tutorial that I used when I made the Buttercup Bag.

Valentine Countdown

I made a Valentine calendar for Eric. It's on the wall in our bedroom and there is a card in each numbered envelope. Eric has been really busy with work and church lately, so I'm excited to have some fun things to do together every day until Valentine's Day.

I got the idea from here. I altered it slightly, as usual.

Here is a sample of what the cards say:

-Today write a short but thoughtful love letter to each other and mail it (for real).

-Before going to bed tonight take 10 minutes to look through old scrapbooks or pictures and reminisce about your fun times together.

-Each of you tell a memory that stands out from your dating days.