a preschool day

In December Isabelle started preschool.  This was a long and well thought out decision.  For some, sending your kids to preschool is a no brainer...for us (maybe more so me)...it felt like a giant leap.  I will spare you my long drawn out thought process, in the end it was simple...Isabelle really loves to play with friends and really needs consistent interaction with friends to feel comfortable.  Her first day she was slightly reluctant but when I went to pick her up she was all smiles.  From that day on she has asked to go to preschool everyday.  She loves it.  She made a few friends, loves to talk about how silly the boys are, crafts and plays a lot.  So, here is what a preschool day for Isabelle looks like...

She picks out her outfit...ALL by herself...

while I chase Owen...to make sure he isn't trying to hurt himeslf

Isabelle loves to lay out her clothes for me before putting them on...often making her floor  person doing something funny...here she is waving

she dresser herself...and shows it off a bit

a little more hamming for the camera while owen practices using the toaster

she puts on her coat, hat, scarf, mittens and boots ALL by herself

here we are at school...we show off our cubby

she washes her hands... (she picked this photo...so she could show off her fancy braid)

Here is isabelle by some of their classroom artwork...they did some wet on wet painting and then their teacher asked them if they could wish upon a star what would they wish for....hers is the top right one (bolder colors)
Isabelle wished she could live closer to her family....
side note: isabelle and i talked about what we wished for...as she didn't answer in school (still working on verbal communication with teachers).

Other things she wished for were:
to have a play date with her Idaho buddy Maggie
to watch busytown (since the flu we have purged media again...)
to have ice cream for breakfast
(after my funny look) for ice cream to be a healthy food
to have a baby sister
to get more chicks
for grammy & grampy to come visit and bring that wooden barn
to wear her fairy wings to school

I don't have many pictures of isabelle in action at school but when we picked her up after lunchtime this is what she told us she did/learned:

They read a book about pyramids and mummies.

Some pyramids have eyes in the top that open up. (?)

Mummies are people that died.

There are cats in pyramids.

(there was a lot of talk then about death...a subject i'm not sure I'm hitting a home run on explaining)

She crafted with colored sand and glue, she first chose pink sand and then chose other colors.

She played in the snow outside.

She played with her friends Adrianna & Stella.

She was really excited because today was her day to bring in snack...all her friends liked the cinnamon popcorn and clementines she brought.

There were big kids at school today.

(it was MLK and some neighboring older kids came in for care as their parents still had to work).

Mr. Jeff (teacher/owner's husband) stood on the counter today.

She sat next to Adrianna & Stella at lunch.

She ate all her carrots.

She was really happy to see Owen and mama at lunch time.

play - eat {repeat}

Yes, that is what we do.  Play - eat - play...sure there are other things going on through out the day...but the real important stuff is eating and playing...both seriously hard (and fun!) work.  Now that we are all flu free I feel like my kids (especially Owen) are ravenous... No really...he is eating all the time.  Which is great because I suspect he lost some weight and we don't want to have to go back to monthly weighings..(yes we are not doing those anymore!!).

Over the past few months Isabelle and Owen have really started to play...well Isabelle sort of bosses brother around and he willingly and happily plays along with sissy's requests.   I often hear Isabelle yelling "Owen come find me"...."No buddy this is mine and this is yours"...."Owen put it gently on the floor (indicating his arm is in full throw position...likely with a wooden toy)..."Hey Owen c'mere"...."Owi you wanna play peek-a-boo"....and it goes on.  My favorite so far is hearing them cracking up over something that is obviously super funny - I don't dare peek in to disturb the giggles...

My best guess as to what they were playing was "hiking with kitties"...it seemed they were going on a long hike, somewhere cold...and possibly to reunite kittens with their lost mama (?not sure?)

scarves added for warmth on this cold hike

and off he goes...following sissy as she yells "OWEN C'MON!"

popcorn snacking....adele is a fan (owen slips her one every other kernel)

as is isabelle...

and most definitely owen....

avoiding the inevitable

She is growing up.  Right before my eyes.  Everyday.  And there is nothing I can do to stop it.

These are words I struggle with, everyday, my daughter....my beautiful, sassy, shy, loving and caring daughter is growing up....little by little.  And well it is scary...really scary!  You may have noticed (or maybe it is my mama guilt) that Isabelle has been slightly absent from the blog lately.  It isn't that she isn't worthy of being written about (never!)...just when I sit down to write something about my dear little lady....well...it gets me sort of emotional!  And I end up ditching the post and moving onto something else.  As a young mother I spent a whole lot of time saying..."I can't wait until she can do _____".  Now, she owns so many of those things....it is hard for me to keep up with and...well be okay with.  Isabelle started preschool well over 2 months ago and has been loving it.  I have wanted to share...but felt the need to digest all the changes in my girl internally a bit more before sharing with you all.  Because she is changing and becoming a most lovely little girl...not a toddler...not a baby...she is a little girl.  Posting things here, on this blog, sometimes makes things more real in my brain - so I will try to stop avoiding the inevitable and embrace my baby growing up (and there starts the waterworks...).

Christmas 2012 {yep still catching up}

It is hard to believe that the holidays have come and gone!  But alas...here we are mid January and I am finally posting about Christmas....For the holidays we first traveled down to D.C. to spend Christmas with Auntie Mel, Uncle Todd, Conner & Nana.  Thankfully the kids traveled pretty well and we had a blast with family.  One of the days we took the train into the city to check out the natural history museum...I managed to pull out my camera at least once...Isabelle loved the insect section (of course) and the mammal section.

exploring the dinosaurs

mama being silly

moments before Owen threw the wooden rattle square in the middle of Isabelle's head...
that was the beginning of the end of our trip to the museum

Christmas morning Isabelle was up and ready...for this four year old is totally into Christmas (cough cough...opening presents...).  Isabelle made out like a bandit...lots of beautiful wooden toys, clothes, craft supplies and more.  Thankfully Owen was happy with the reindeer's "leftover" carrot....

Owen with his carrot...Isabelle not so patiently waiting for the adults to get their orange juice (cough cough...mimosas)

opening stockings

auntie mel & uncle todd

Owen helping dad

a pile of wrapping paper...oh and a baby!

Owen looking impressed by the ornament (impressed that he couldn't break that one...)

After Christmas we headed back up to Rhode Island to spend more time with family...and well we were greeted with warm open arms of SICK PEOPLE...and well you know the rest of the story.  We came home and ended up sick for nearly 2 weeks.  SO thank you RI family for everything...especially the flu. xoxo

**just kidding we love you oh so much...next time we will just wear face masks or something...

Owen birthday {part two}

Oh dear...it is true...another photo overload...I am certainly glad I split this birthday into two posts.  Owen's birthday was full of lots of fun.  Owen seemed to be pleased with the day...starting things off with some blueberry pancakes and ending with cupcakes...not too bad!  One of the things that I cherish most about this blog is that I get to look back and read and re-read everything that has happened over the past year.  Owen has proven to be a big old handful and we love every bit of him.  If you want to take a trip down memory lane with me you can check out his birth story or one of his weekly or monthly updates...I know I sure have spent too much time looking at them.

taking a moment to remember our first moments

birthday boy got some blueberry pancakes (with syrup!)

a new owen's birthday tradition...gingerbread house making!

loves from nana

a gingerbread house close up

Owen with his birthday crown (mama made)

Owen with his new cuddle doll (mama made) and rocking horse (picked up for free from a local family!)

not so sure about his first horsie ride (now he loves it...i promise!)

sissy showing him how it is done

birthday snuggles from sis (in his new car seat or shall we say car throne)

working on puzzles

getting ready for cupcakes!

yum!

grampy feeding him the "good stuff" ...frosting...

Owen's Birthday {part one}

Yes, there will be a part one and two - mainly to not overload one post with a bazillion pictures.  Before Owen's actual birthday we celebrated with his baby pose, including his two pals Raeleigh and Nivi.  These two gals have been buddies with Owen since birth and their respective parents were are a true blessing.  Moving to an area right before having a baby is slightly stressful...but once we met these two families who also had big bulging baby bumps like my own it made baby life all the more fun.  I mean...lets be honest...part of the fun is sharing in the miseries, hopes, dreams, and excitement of having a baby.  All three babies were born mid to late december and each have a truly special place in all our hearts.  We celebrated with a room full of balloons, carrot cake and even getting a little craft on.

papas and babies (nivi, rae and owen...NRO)

mamas and babies (rae, owen and nivi...RON!)

enjoying some carrot cake

really enjoying the balloons

cough cough

I hope the new year rang you all in well this year, for us 2013 brought on the flu and what now seems to be mastitis for me...yeah...can it get any better?  While I don't have much to share with you today I just wanted you to know that we were still alive, breathing (sort of) and ready for this nasty flu virus to leave the house.  I know you are all patient and wonderful people...just a few more days and I should be back in action.  There is just so much to share....so I promise...in a few short days things will change around here.

finally starting to see smiles from isabelle this morning...
think healthy folks!

Oh and incase you get the flu too...here is how a family of four are sort of surviving:

Lots of sleep...take it when you can get it...
Ginger tea- 2" piece of ginger sliced thinly and simmered in 4 cups of water for 20 minutes (keep the cover on your pan), it also is heavenly to just breath in the steam from this

Netty pot - seriously try it if you haven't already

Gargling salt water

Humidifier laced with eucalyptus, peppermint and lemongrass oil

Top Ramen...I know...I know...msg...blablabla

Netflix...Isabelle Busytown and us Portlandia (all desire to be TV-free has gone by the wayside)

Cough/throat drops...isabelle and I like the burts bees drops and aaron is a die hard ricola fan

Frozen stoneyfield yogurt to go tubes (never bought until this past week because i had a coupon...i am so glad i did)

Dipping our re-useable wipes into warm water infused with eucalyptus to help wash and break up the caked snot on Owen...he hates this

Lots of bubble baths and hot showers

Do you have any other suggestions as to how you get through nasty viruses like these...if so I would love to hear!