Tadpoles and Chickens

I was super excited last week because our tadpole finally got his front legs and was well on his way to becoming a full frog. Unfortunately for him, those legs led to his demise - the turtle caught him by one and made his tank mate his lunch! Poor Grandma Mary was here watching the girls on Friday and had to witness the whole thing. I couldn't believe that the turtle could take down that huge tadpole, plus they lived together for a couple of weeks, so I figured they were buddies. Poor Tad.

The girls had a busy day yesterday. We stopped by to see Audrey's buddy Emma first. Her folks were having a Cinco de Mayo party and Audrey had fun playing with Emma's puzzles and picking flowers off of Amanda's porch plant (sorry Amanda!). Afterwards, we went to see Bridget's buddy Ethan. They had a blast hanging out together! ;)

His mommy and daddy have pet chickens in the backyard and they were a big hit with Audrey! I thought she might be scared of them, but she ran right out and started chasing them. Here is one hiding from her behind a bush:

She kept saying "Where did my friends go? Where are my chickens?"

Here she is trying to look in the coop for eggs (there was one in there).

I'm sure if our neighborhood covenants would allow it (and our dogs), Audrey would love to have pet chickens of her own!

Stuff (I can't think of a cute title!)

How cute are my girls? :)

I made the mistake last Friday of asking Bridget's teacher how she was doing in daycare. She told me that B cries all day, which of course broke my heart and kept me on the verge of tears all day at work. Luckily, she did much better on Monday, which was only her third time there, so I think she's adapting okay. I am trying to spoil her a little less at home, but it's hard! This is my last kid, so I am savoring every little baby moment!

I had restricted the grandma's from buying a lot of baby clothes since I had so much from Audrey, but I realized last week that all of the 0/3 and 3 month clothes I have are winter/long sleeved, so poor Bridget had about 5 plain white onesies to wear. I ran to Walmart on Sunday and picked her up a few cute onesies and unleashed the Grandmas, who were more than happy to run out immediately and buy some summer 3 month clothes! This is one of the dresses I got - I love the colors in it because they aren't typical baby clothes colors; Andy hates them.

I forgot to mention in B's appointment update post that her pediatrician thinks her eyes are pretty light for a two month old, so it's likely that she will have blue eyes or green eyes like Daddy and big sis!

There's not much new in Audrey's world. We are still half-assed working on the potty training. She went on the big potty before bed the other night, has sat on the potty a few more times, and tells me when she needs a diaper change, but no other success.

We are all loving this warmer weather. I love having a fenced in back yard because I can just sit on the Adarondack chair with Bridget and let Audrey wear herself out! I am going to see if the grandparents will chip in for a backyard swingset as a Christmas gift for both girls since their b'days are so close to Christmas and they have a ton of toys (hi Grandmas - what do you think?). I found one on walmart.com for $400 but I don't know how sturdy it is. Anyone have any experience with Walmart swingsets?

I started walking in the mornings this week and hope to keep it up. The double stroller is heavy to push uphill, so we'll see if I can do it when it starts getting hotter! Here is Bridget this morning (with a hard rubber turtle that Audrey insisted on taking). She looks a little pissed, but she enjoyed the ride!

I don't think I ever posted a picture of Bridget's nursery set, so here is a picture I took a couple of weeks ago during her first (and only) nap that she has taken in her crib. She would have taken a nice long nap, but Big Sis noticed her in there, tried to join her, and stepped on her leg.

Once I remember to buy a curtain rod and then wait forever for Andy to hang it, I will get a picture of the whole room!

Two Month Checkup

Bridget had her two month checkup today. She was 9 lbs 10.25 oz (25th %) and 22 inches (50th %). That's almost a full pound less and an inch shorter than Audrey was! She got an oral vax and 3 shots, which she was NOT happy about, although she did get over it by the time we made it back out to the lobby. When we got back to the exam room, Audrey told me "Don't leave the baby. She's too little." I had to assure her that we were not going to leave Bridget at the doctor's office!

Here are the comparison shots of Bridget at two months old:

And Audrey at two months old... Audrey definitely wins in the "more hair" department!

Poor Audrey caught a stomach bug on her first week back at daycare. On Sunday, she suddenly got very pale and whiny and spent the day throwing up. Luckily I had already called Grandma Carol to come and hang out with us (I was planning on grocery shopping and cleaning house while she was here), so she ended up on baby duty while I snuggled with this pitiful thing:

Other than that, I am managing this whole two kids and working part time thing. I don't know how people work full time and keep up with the house and kids! I spend my off days cleaning (although you can't tell by looking at the house!), running errands, going to doctors appointments, etc.

My new challenge is getting Bridget to sleep in her bassinet instead of on my chest or next to me in the bed. She goes to sleep much faster if she's held and I am usually so ready to crash by 8 pm, so I just hold her and we both fall asleep together. If I try to move her, she wakes up and cries. Last night, Andy took her and put her in her bassinet after we had both been sound asleep for a while and that worked, so hopefully she'll get used to sleeping on her own soon! I may just have to put her down the hall in her crib so I'm not temped to pick her up and cuddle her to sleep every night... we'll see!

Here are a couple of pictures of Bridget that crack me up - I was trying to get her and the duckie and she slowly fell over onto him, but she didn't care, she just turned it into a snuggle!

Tank

First of all, what do you think of my new background? The site I got it from has a lot of cute stuff, but I figured the pink animal print was appropriate for our house!



I can't believe that in my last post, I forgot to introduce you to the newest member of our house: Tank the Turtle!
He (or she) was Andy's Easter present for Audrey. She likes him, as you can see.



He was set up today in a nice pimped out tank (it wasn't done being set up when I took the picture below) in the playroom along with some pretty large tadpoles that Andy got out of a pond. A couple of them already have leg buds, so Tank should have some buddies soon.

Here is a cute shot of Bridget's big smile that Grandma Mary managed to capture:

She has her 2 month checkup on Tuesday, so I'll be back with her stats!

Easter Weekend/Back To Work

We had a fun, busy Easter weekend. We spent Saturday over and Grandma and Papa's. We quickly learned that Audrey is going to spend the summer with bruises and scrapes all over her knees. She fell twice while running on the flat driveway.

On Sunday, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house where Audrey got even more scrapes by falling on the flat street pavement. We are going to have to get her some knee and elbow pads!

Aside from the boo-boos, Audrey had a chocolate-filled fun time all weekend long. The Easter Bunny put a ballerina Barbie in her basket, which she really loved! Bridget got spoiled by the Stevens' boys on Saturday. Tyler would adjust her blanket while she was sleeping and make funny faces at her when she was awake. Ryan let her nap with his favorite puppy, and Jack offered up his pacifier when she was crying.

Although I had my camera, I did not get any pictures on Sunday because I was starting to go into freak out mode about starting work on Monday. As soon as we pulled out of the Farbotko's driveway, I started crying and cried all night about having to leave tiny Miss B.

I had Andy drop the girls off at daycare (he ended up having to go into work) because my office moved locations while I was out and I had no idea where I was going and how long it would take to get there. I was on the verge of tears all day, but managed to keep it together. I did, however, leave a major component of my pump at home and had to find a Babies R Us to purchase the part so I wouldn't explode! I was not too pleased to discover that with traffic, I have an hour drive, plus everyone ransacked my desk while I was out and I couldn't find a pen, scissors, my wireless mouse (which later resurfaced) or my printer!

The girls did fine at daycare. Andy arrived to find the girl at the front desk holding Bridget b/c she wanted to cuddle with her, and the first thing Audrey said was "Let's go see Mommy!"

The darling kitties brought me three gifts last night because they were so happy that I was home. First, they brought in a (dead) lizard and (dead) mouse. Andy stuck them in a bag and was showing Audrey. She was so proud of Daddy, saying "Look Mommy! Daddy caught a lizard and a mouse!" Way to go Daddy! She also said "They're having a party!" That isn't really a party I want to go to, but whatever!

At 1:30 in the morning, I heard some squeaking and woke Andy up only to discover a baby bunny running around our bedroom. Roscoe chased him downstairs and by the time Andy got to him.... let's just say that the bunny joined the party with the lizard and the mouse.

To end on a cuter note, here is Bridget in the sweater that Grandma Carol knit for her:

Egg Hunt

Our neighborhood didn't do an Easter egg hunt this year, so Tina invited us to go to her Mom's Club egg hunt at Poole's Mill Park. First of all, this park is only 15 minutes from the house - I don't know why we have never been there before. It has one of the state's few covered bridges and what looked to be a nice walking trail. We will definitely go back and explore another day.

I wasn't sure if Audrey would be into the egg hunt, but she was a pro! She ran right out with the other kids and filled her basket.

Ryan had a great technique - he would open the eggs to see what was in them before he'd take them! Who wants to get stuck with candy that they don't want?

Here is everyone checking out their loot:

We would have stayed and played on the playground longer, but although I had about a dozen diapers for Bridget, I only packed one for Audrey and because of that, she had two poops while we were there! I don't know where my head was when I was packing up, but she was lucky that I at least remembered a basket for her to use.

And here are the rest of the pictures:

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I have a couple more shots of Audrey doing her own dress up. She walked around for a good portion of the day on Tuesday with a baby headband on. At least it matched her purple sweatpants, plus she just looks adorable in this picture.

And this morning, she was sporting a purple tutu, purple purse, and two different shoes!

Girl's Weekend

The girls and I have been busy as I get ready to go back to work next week. On Wednesday, the twins came over while Tyler was in preschool. Ryan and Jack took turns holding Bridget and they were so sweet and gentle!

On Friday I braved my first solo trip to Target and it turned out great! I needed to buy some stuff for Audrey's Easter basket and it was tricky trying to hide it under Bridget's car seat! She saw some of it, but luckily she is 2 and won't remember. Friday evening I went over to Amanda's for some girl time and to get away in preparation for my weekend alone with the girls.

Andy went to an overnight bachelor party over the weekend (they rented a houseboat, so it wasn't anything wild!). Saturday morning I took the girls down to Grandma and Papa's. Bridget gave us lots of cute smiles while she relaxed on the porch and Audrey ran around the yard with Papa.

On Saturday evening, one of our friends from college, Jill, came over to meet Bridget and give me an extra pair of hands. She and her hubby are one of the 5 people we know who are having a baby this fall! We are very excited for them!

Sunday was sunny and warm, so we played outside all morning, then went over to play with the boys. It's hard to believe that it's only going to be in the 40's today with a chance of snow showers tonight after our lovely weekend. I think I brought the cold weather on by packing up all of Audrey's winter clothes!

I have mixed feelings about starting back to work on Monday. While the paycheck will be nice, I am going to have a hard time dropping Bridget off at daycare (actually, Andy is taking Monday off so she doesn't have to go next week). I thought it would be easier the second time around, but it's not! She is still so tiny and loves to be held, so she is in for a shock when nobody rushes over to get her whenever she wants!

I think Audrey will be very happy to be back at daycare! I've seen how bored she gets staying at home all of the time and she gets so excited when she sees other kids. My new battle with Andy is that I want her to go to daycare 3 days a week soon for the social and educational purposes. It will cost more to send her more often, but I think it will be worth it for her to make some friends and have a scheduled day. I can't get her to do anything but watch TV and play with her toys at home. She won't do art projects or anything for me, but I know she does them at daycare.

Anyways, here are a couple of pictures of Miss Audrey. Here she is trying on my glasses:

And here she is doing her own dress up - she has on purple feathered heels, a Disney princess dress half on, and a tutu around her neck!

This weekend, she was walking around in her purple heels with her Handy Manny toolbox. She's going to be the hottest handy woman ever!