Activitties GALORE

Keeping idle minds busy is a lot of work and quite hectic. We've been keeping the boys pretty busy and active as of late. It's exhausting and I would say the house is suffering the most, but who needs vacuumed floors or clean laundry? (I do, I do!)

Thatcher is taking swim lessons. He's not the strongest swimmer but he's having a lot of fun and that's what is important. I believe his favorite part is the swim goggles and his new Spiderman trunks. The problem with the pool is that the lighting makes for difficult picture taking and everything is blurry because it is so far away...but still, I snapped a few photos for you.

I love when he smiles, his whole face lights up.

He loves his swim noodle. Most of the time he uses it as a light saber..

The real trick with swim lessons is keeping Coop occupied. He climbs up and down the bleachers which scares the bejeezus out of me. I'm sure he'll roll down them one day when I'm not looking.

Cooper seemed to be having the most difficult time adjusting to Harper's arrival so I have been making an effort to spend more time with him alone and to make activities for him. I've signed him up for the library program in town and a parents and toddler gymnastics class. He LOVES library time but sitting still is proving to be a little difficult. Gymnastics is a good outlet for a case of the wiggles but his independent streak tends to come out and he does what he wants to do most of the time. Two year olds are exhausting.

This book is apparently awesome because he had to stand right in front to make sure he took it all in.

Nope, she didn't call him up to sit there. He just decided to sit there and get the best seat in the house.

We had a "coffee" (a vanilla steamer for him, a lot of caffine for me) before we headed to gymnastics and I forgot the sippy cup. Clearly we aren't ready for straws on their own yet.

Here is some of the gym equipment. I'm pretty sure he was a monkey in another life.

Here's a link of a little video of him at gymnastics too.  http://youtu.be/ur--ax2IjdA

Soccer has ended for Thatch until summer starts, we'll start that again soon, and he has said that he wants to do gymnastics too so as soon as I can convince Jonathan that it's not girly he'll probably start the next session soon. I think I'm looking forward to school starting in the fall already.

Enjoy!
S

Decoupage...Leave it to the professionals.

I was trying to be awesome (yes, it's an effort, not a natural side effect : D ) so I thought we'd decoupage some Easter eggs thingys. Two things:

1. Decoupage is hard.
2. Decoupage is messy.

From now on I'm going to leave it to the professionals (i.e. Martha Stewart, school teachers, ect.). In the mean time, enjoy this!

Love,
S

P.S. When the eggs finally dry I'll add a picture of them. I hate to admit it but they're kind of cute.

Cinderfellas

It's about time some little men start pulling their weight around this joint. Around the New Year Thatcher started doing chores, we pay him $1 a week and what ever spare change we have laying around. The one chore I gladly passed over to my little guy was wiping the toilet, hoping this would aid in aim improvement. I am sad to report that it has not but it doesn't bother me because it's not my chore anymore (ha, jokes on him now). Cooper likes to chime in occasionally and help pick up the messes that he so craftily creates. More often then not, it just creates more messes but I give him kudos for trying!

Here's some photographic and video evidence:
http://youtu.be/eXqLbL2dBZk

It would be a much easier chore if he would just aim rather than peeing like he's Captain Morgan with his hands on his hips.

Smiles and Smirks :)

I finally caught it! I feel victorious, like I just caught Nessie or Sasquatch. The enigma that is Harper's smile has been captured. Kind of. It was the tail end of one, it really is more of a smirk but I'll take it. Enjoy :D

Ahhhh, this is what keeps me going some days.

Tummy Tub!!

When I was prego with Cooper we received a Tummy Tub as a present for him. It seemed a little "hippy-ish", the idea is that the tub is warm and cozy and should remind the baby of the uterine environment. Cooper, however, LOVED IT (see photographic evidence #1). I can't even explain how much he loved it. Jonathan loved it because it used less water than the tub so it saved our water pump (which is like his 4th child, he takes such good care of it). I loved it because it was cute. The big question, is would Harper love it? Too bad, I still think it's cute so tough luck, Love. Here are a few pictures from our first venture in the tub again.

Coopie June 2010 getting some hot tub action

Harps getting some hot tub action too :) Luckily her chubby belly covers her lady parts!

Much smaller than Cooper was!

The first time I used the Tummy Tub with Cooper he almost drowned. Okay, I almost drowned him. He was just so floopy at 3 weeks old! That's why I waited so long to use it with Harps. Worry not though, she has been bathing between now and her birth, just in the big tub!

Over all, I would call the tub excursion a success. Harps is clean and smells like a lady and the pump had a relaxing time filling up the tub. It's an all around win!

Happy 2 Months Harper Evelyn!

Our girl is 2 months old now, there's a huge difference between two weeks and two months.  Loves her :)

 Check out those rolls! I'm pretty sure she's drinking

 heavy whipping cream. 

M.I.A.

It's official. Reality has hit. I'm outnumbered- 3 against 1. Even on days Jonathan is off we're still outnumbered.

Anywho, here's a few tidbits of what's gone on since my last post:

1. A couple of weeks ago Grammy Yarsley came up for a visit to meet her newest little girl. Wouldn't you know, I lost the camera the entire week. I, however, have photographic evidence of who had it last. Bwahahah, it wasn't my fault!

Boys always love their Mommy.

She's got legs and she knows how to move them :)

2. On Tuesdays of Jonathan's night shift it's "his" turn to cook dinner for his crew. It works out really good for me because I don't have to make him lunch for his 7 nights or his 3 day weekend. This past week we happened to have the fixings for Grammy's Lasagna (which is delicious) so I made that for the guys. 13 ravenous men. I didn't have it in my to make another meal for us so we rocked McDonald's playground for a bit. That is where I captured these gems.

Chocolate milk is serious business.

So cute, even if he is basically licking a petrie dish of bacteria.

3. I tried taking pictures of Harper for her baby announcement. I captured half of a smile so I'll share that :) Don't expect announcements anytime soon, I'm barely staying afloat here people.

She was going for a Jackie-O look here, cardigan and some black pants. Classic style for my little lady.

Mona Lisa smiles.

Move over Dorthy, ruby slippers are so last season.

4. Harper's eyes are a very pretty gray right now but the consencus from most people is that her eyes are getting lighter and have a bit of a blue tint to them. I'm not holding my breath for a blue eyed baby but boy would we need to fashion a big stick to beat the boys away if she does have blue eyes! I tried to capture them and of course Coop needed his picture taken too. I love that kid, he cracks me up.

Although chubby cheeks are the main focus of this photo you can kind of see how they look gray.

Blue Eyes?

Goofy Coopie.

5. Speaking of Coopie, he's shown some interest in potty training. More than just throwing full rolls of toilet paper in the toilet too. We've yet to have a success but he loves say "I poo" or "I pee pee". I'm sure he'll hate me for this later but he'll need something to tell his therapist : D

Poopie Coopie. Bwahahaha.

5. My Dad came up for work this past week. He hasn't seen Harps since the week she was born and he was quite astounded by how hefty our girl has become! She's quite the chubby baby now and I love it!! Her 2 month appointment is coming up so we'll know how big she is soon enough : D

"Look into my eyes, you are now under my control."-Harper