Addicted yet?

Yes I know I've already done a post on Rock Band but it is so fun and it gets more fun with fresh players. We have our FHE lessons on Sunday now and do a family activity together on Monday night...so as you can guess, the FHE Monday night activity was--you guessed it-Rock Band. Allison and especially Cole has SUCH a good time. And here's some fun we had today with Dan's family.

About time

I had Dan cut these letters out like 5 months ago with our scroll saw because it scares me. I didn't end up liking how I traced out the "i" so all the letters were hanging up all painted on Allison's wall in her room but it has been missing the "i" in the middle for months. So finally I got Dan to do some things on my honey-do list including cutting out my "i" ...and letters for Cole's room but those aren't finished yet. So here is the finished product! I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Speaking of errands...

The other day I decided to get out of the house and take both kids with me to run some errands. They did pretty good actually although after leaving Mervyns and getting halfway loaded back in the car, Allison said she had to go potty so I got Cole back out of the carseat, got the stroller back out of the trunk and took them inside. After potty break, I was halfway to the grocery store and realized I left my bag on the hook inside the bathroom stall. I turned around, got the kids BACK out of the car, got my bag, and headed for the grocery store again. Allison was sooo good being my helper that I couldn't resist buying her animal cookies. We got to the car and she asked if she could have a few. I parked the cart with the front part touching my tire and she climbed into her booster car seat and I said, "Let me get Cole buckled in and then I can get you the cookies. But as I went around the back of the car I heard a thump, bump, scape, and as that happened, I reached Cole's carseat and I looked across to Allison's seat and she was missing. So I ran around the other side and she was on the asphalt! She was reaching for the cookies which were in a bag on top and lost her balance and scraped her nose and forehead. I think she hit the door and then the cart on her way out so it kind of broker her fall but I still didn't see it so I have no idea what really happened. I still had Cole in my arms but I just held her while she cried that sad pitiful hurt cry :( I felt soo bad! She was such a good sport though through all those errands. I decided I'd be better off getting a sitter and doing those errands in 2 hours than the 5 it took with the kids. *Sigh*

Pre-preschool

So a few girls and I are getting together with our 3 yr-olds for a taste of preschool and so we started at my house a couple weeks ago. We just do play time, then a book and craft/activity, then lunch. We read Green Eggs and Ham for our book and then we made green eggs! It was really fun seeing the kids get into it...and they actually liked them! Allison now asks for green eggs sometimes when she's hungry. James thought it was a little strange and I swear you would never know that little Rachel is such a big eater. It was really fun and I'm glad Allison will have a little bit of structured time and some friends to play with! Not to mention it will be nice to have a couple hours to get some quick errands done.

Teething sucks

It worked!

Ok--it's a moment in history everyone. Allison is taking a nap with no binky and although she asked for it, when I asked her where they were and she told me the Binky Fairy has them, that was the end of that. The best part about the whole Binky Fairy thing is that I'M NOT the bad guy! Anyway, second part of the history making is that Cole has been taking over a 2 hour nap!!!! Two kids asleep at the same time...what do I do with myself...now that I've folded all the laundry :)

Happy Birthday Allison!

Allison is 3!! Her birthday was yesterday. I can't believe it. Dan and I were talking the other day and he said, "Do you ever look at our kids and think, holy cow we have two kids?!" I totally do that. I think, I'm a mom. I'm a mom with two kids. And now....I have a 3 year old!!! Does that mean I've made it through the terrible two's ???? I know I know...--nice try Krystal.
Dan took a day off from work--much needed I might add, and we surprised Allison by taking her and Cole to Disneyland. We didn't tell her where we were going and she was so enthralled with the new movie she got for her birthday (those Pixar short films) that we finally said to her once we were driving in the parking lot, "Allison, do you know where we are?" She looked around and saw Daisy on one of the pillars and said, "There's Daisy!" We said, where are we Allison?" She got wide-eyed and said, "DISNEYLAND!" We were there not too long ago, but Allison really got into the characters this time, giving them hugs and talking with them. We saw some things she hasn't done before like the Tiki Room and Tarzan's Treehouse, and Mark Twian's Island--she LOVED searching through the caves.
The kids did soo good. The weather was overcast and lightly drizzled twice but it kept the crowds away so we went on most of the kids rides. We left around 5pm and she conked on the way to the car. When we got home, she opened her gifts and it wasn't until today that I realized she thinks all the presents were from Santa. I made the mistake of wrapping all her presents (in birthday wrap of course) and placing them on the edge of the fireplace. So when she came downstairs, she saw the streamers in the family room and the presents on the fireplace. Next year I'll bring them out to her myself when it's time to open them. So














Oh, also last night we left all of Allison's binkies for the Binky Fairy. I saw it on Supernanny. We found all the binkies from the car, the kitchen, the cupboard by her bedroom, and I gave them to her to put in a ziplock bag. I've been explaining to her for the last few days that when she turned three, it was time to give all her binkies to the Binky Fairy and the Binky Fairy was going to take them to little baby girls who needed them. So we went outside before she went to bed and I lifted her up to place the baggy of binkies in the tree. Then she went to bed and I told her the Binky Fairy would leave a present there after she picked up the binkies. She then yelled into the air (prompted by me of course, "Binky Fairy! I put my binkies in the tree! Come get them while I'm asleep and leave me a present!"

So this morning, Dan, eh hem, I mean the Binky Fairy took the binkies and placed a pink gift bag in the tree with a new baby doll inside. It's called the Little Mommy and it talks and pulls her blanket over her head and drinks a bottle, and burps, and giggles. It's really cute. After Allison got up, (and she took a bath with her swimming Ariel doll) we went downstairs to see what the Binky Fairy left her. We went outside and got the bag and as I reached for it she said, "My binkies are in there!" Doh! "No Allison, the Binky Fairy took your binkies to little babies that need them." She then said, "Cole's need them!" I told her he had his blue binkies and that he doesn't really like them anyway. Then we got inside and she started to open it and I said, "What's inside Allie?!" and before she could see, she said, "My binkies!" I was like, noooooooo, look inside! She got the doll out and really liked it but she got over it quick when I kept telling her she had to name the doll and say her name after this sound. And she wouldn't do it so I kept telling her when to say it and it kept asking her to say the name and she wouldn't and then Allison's grouchy face came out. Ugg. Oh well.

I got home late this afternoon from a doctor's apt. for Cole so by the time I picked up Allison is was too late for a nap....which was very apparent by about 4 pm. So we'll see tomorrow how naptime goes with NO BINKY :{
On a lighter note....Cole is taking naps!!!! It was amazing, the other day he took a 1 1/2 hour nap and then a 2 1/2 hour nap! I'm reeeeally hoping it's not just a fluke but the new tactic is to rub is back after we lay him down in his crib and it works AWESOME! We used to let him cry it out but when he'd finally give in, he'd only sleep like 30 minutes. I sadly decided he just didn't nap. I couldn't complain too much because he sleeps soo good at night. But I'm getting a lot more done with him napping. We'll see how the next week goes.