Giggling

Today as I was making lunch I heard a bunch of squealing and giggling coming from the family room.  Not wanting to miss out on a good time with the girls I went to investigate and this is what I found.  Lily is such an amazing big sister

Water beads and sitting up

The weather here has been amazing so we have been going outside as much as possible.  Lily just got a new pool because the one she had the last two years is small and better suited for Evie.  This one is really cool and you can hook the hose up to it and it will sprinkle water over her.  We haven't tried it yet because just playing in the water is so much fun.  I will save the sprinkler part for later in the summer as an extra surprise. 

 

The problem with going outside so much is using a ton of sunscreen.  The other day Evie was napping and Lily and I decided to go out and play for a little bit in the backyard.  Their sunscreen was in Evie's room so I just sprayed a little bit of mine on Lily.  I'm not sure if it is the sunscreen or the sun and heat or a combination of them, but Lily got what looked like little hives on her legs, back or her arms, and her neck.  She didn't seem to notice it so I am assuming it didn't itch.  Sean and I decided to keep her inside for a few days to see if that helped it go away and it seems to have.  When she gets hot it does come back a little bit, but not as much as before.  When I compared the two sunscreens I found out that the kid's stuff is PABA free which is evidently a big allergen for kids and people with sensitive skin.  I am not sure if we can keep her inside much longer since she keeps seeing all her friends outside so we will have to try her sunscreen again and hope that the splotches don't come back.

Since we have been inside we have had to find fun things to do to keep the begging to go outside to a minimum.  I have seen on Pinterst an idea to use water beads as a sensory activity for kids.  I had a few bags on hand that I had gotten at a craft show to put in vases instead of water.  I had never thought to let Lily play with them but decided to give it a try.  She loved them!  They start out as small beads and you soak them in water and they get bigger.  They are the size of marbles and feel kinda wet and squishy.  They were a lot of fun to feel, scoop, drop and let bounce, and try to pick up.  Since they are small they are definitely an activity that required adult supervision but we will be doing these again for sure.  They are great because you just let them sit out and they shrink back to they original size and can be stored easily for another use.

I soaked them all night so they were ready for her first thing in the morning so don't mind the pj's and messy hair :)

Feeling the water beads for the first time.

Examining them.

 

More examining

I did start out with blue, green, and purple, but I soaked them all in the same water and they all turned out blue. If I buy more I will make sure to soak them separately so there will be lots of colors.

Last weekend we did Race for the Cure.  It is a 5K walk/run to raise money for breast cancer research.  Sean's work does a team every year so we walked with them.  Since pink is the color for breast cancer awareness and  both my girls have lots of pink clothing it was easy to get them in cute outfits for the walk.  They both did great riding in the stroller the whole time.  I thought Lily was going to want out, but I guess there were enough people and dogs around us for her to watch to keep her entertained.

Evie at Race for the Cure

Lily holding Evie at Race for the Cure

The last bit of big news is that Evie can sit up all on her own.  Well, she can't get to a sitting position by herself yet, but if we set her up she can keep her balance.  She is also trying to crawl.  She can get up on her hands and knows her legs are supposed to do something, but hasn't quite figured it out yet. 

Evie setting up like a big girl

Oh the Things Toddlers Say

Everyday Lily is saying more and more.  It is very rare for her to not be speaking in sentences of at least 4 words.  While I understand most of what she is saying there are still times when she will be jabbering on about something and I am completely lost.  Unfortunately those are the times when she typically ends whatever she is saying with "Okay?" and I never know if I should say yes or no because I have no idea what I would be agreeing to.

There are times when she says things that are just absolutely hilarious.  For example the other day she was playing with her stuffed pig and bunny.  She turns to me and in a very serious voice says "Piggy sad".  I respond with "Oh no, why is Piggy sad?".  She says, "Bunny tooted and it stinky".  I really had no idea what to say to that.

She has also started to recognize some letters thanks to this amazing puzzle that I found for her.  Every time she finds all the letters for a word she asks me to spell it and points to each letter and repeats them after me.  There are a few that she gets on her own including "t", "g", "k", and sometimes "n".  She also knows "me" and "double me" aka "u" and "w"!  Every time she points to one of them and I say either "u" or "w" she repeats with "me" or "double me".  It is really cute.

Evie is growing up so quickly.  She loves being down on the floor trying to crawl.  She can't get up on her hands and knees yet, but she can turn her body around if she wants to get to something that is a different direction (she kind of pivots on her belly).  She also loves being in her excersaucer.  I think she doesn't want to miss a thing that is going on so she loves that she can be upright and looking about in that thing.  She is gaining so much more control of her movements and will purposely grab for, and hold on to, toys.  Evie also loves grabbing her toes.  Evidently feet are the most interesting and hilarious thing ever.  The other day she kept holding on to her feet and staring at them and then would start laughing.  Lily and I would then also start laughing which would make Evie laugh more. 

Evie 5 month growth picture

Evie 5 months

Such a happy baby

Lily showing off all her teeth

Lily helping find the correct number for Evie's photo

Blowing bubbles outside

Playing outside

I am making bins to organize the girls' closets.  This is the first completed one and I am quite happy with it, especially since it was originally just a diaper box!

Siblings

Lily and Evie are definitely falling into their rolls of older and younger sibling.  Lily has recently decided that there are times when she doesn't want her younger sister touching her or looking at her.  I hear "Evie no, don't ______" a lot through out the day.  The main problem with this is that Evie obviously doesn't understand "no" yet and just keeps doing whatever she feels like doing at that moment.  She also LOVES looking at her big sister. She is constantly watching Lily and smiling and laughing at her.  This definitely annoys Lily when she realizes her little sis is doing it.  Evie seems to want to be wherever Lily is and is very interested in her.  It will only be a matter of time before she is following her around the house and annoying her on purpose!  

As much as Lily gets annoyed with her sister she also seems to like the attention she gets from her at times.  If Evie happens to fall asleep out the the family room Lily will randomly yell "EVIE!".  Of course Evie jumps awake which makes Lily look very proud of herself and exclaim "Evie wake up!".

Rainbow Rice!

Today Lily and I colored rice into a bumch of different colors. She had a ton of fun scooping and pouring. When I first dumped them in all the colors were seperated and she was naming all of them.  It wasn't long before they were all mixed together though.  The best part of this activity is that I can put a lid on the tub and store it away for another day and it will be just as exciting then.

Consistently Inconsistent

I have decided that the phrase "Consistently Inconsistent" very accurately describes my life and our girls right now.  While I am loving my new job and being able to set my own schedule, it isn't always as easy as it seems.  There are many times that I want to work, but the people I need to meet or work with are not available.  I have had two pay periods with the company.  In one I worked 12.75 hours and the other only 2.5.  I can't wait until I am more independent and get a few more clients because then I can really set my own schedule and have more consistent weeks and paychecks.  

Lily is still working on potty training.  I believe that she could actually be done with diapers now if she really wanted but that there are some control issues going on and therefore there are many times when diapers are necessary.  She will go a whole day with using the potty and having a dry diaper the whole day and then the next she refuses to even go into the bathroom.  While I feel kids shouldn't be pressured into potty training when they aren't ready, I am frustrated because I know she can do it.  I keep trying to step back and not pressure but it is hard when the day before I didn't have to change any of her diapers.  Consistently Inconsistent.

We have moved Evie into her own room and that is helping someone at night.  While I still have to get up to feed her (and now have to walk across the house instead of just getting her out of the bassinet beside my bed) the time that we are sleeping is much more restful.  The monitor that we use is a sound activated one so it doesn't pick up all the times when she is just moving slightly, but will let me know if she is really moving a lot or crying.  She usually goes to bed the same time as Lily, so around 7pm.  Sometimes I will go in and feed her before I go to bed anywhere between 10pm and midnight.  Most of the time she doesn't even wake up for this feeding.  Then she will sleep till around 5am when she wants more food.  Then she will sleep (or at least lay quietly in her bed) until about 6:30am.  Then there are the nights like two nights ago when she wakes up almost every hour from midnight till 6am.  I really don't mind getting up and feeding her, in fact there are times when I like being able to just sit and rock with her in the quiet house with no distractions, but I would really like to know before bedtime if it is going to be a night where I am doing that once or twice or six plus times.  Consistently Inconsistent.

On another note, I am going to try cloth diapering with Evie.  It was something I wanted to do before Lily was born but there were many reason that we didn't.  Now that I am staying home more I feel like it is a very doable option.  I have been doing research online and there is so much info out there that it is a little overwhelming.  I found a couple different types of cloth diapers at a consignment sale the other day so we are going to start with those and then go from there.  I have also found a bunch of websites that have patterns and tutorials on making your own cloth diapers so once we pick a type that we like then I plan on doing that to save even more money.  If anyone has any tips, advice, stories, or anything about cloth diapers I would love to hear them.

Photos

Here are a few photos from Easter

Family photo

Lily loved looking for Easter Eggs.

Especially when she found out there were treats inside.