Walking

We've been taking some wonderful walks around the neighborhood. If it's a school day then I just take Finn and Carolina in the double stroller we borrowed from my sister, Erin. If it's not a school day then all four of us go, meaning that Maggie walks the whole way with me. It's a bit too hilly for her bicycle. Anyway, there's a playground exactly one mile from our house so we've had lots of fun walking there, playing for a bit, and then walking back. I'm pretty impressed that Maggie will walk two miles with me!
Here are my sweeties, about to go on a walk.

Purple

This past Saturday Grant had a video shoot so I was on my own with the kids from about 8:30 am until 8:30 pm. I hate it when he has to work on the weekends, but being self-employed and working in a creative field, it happens sometimes.
Well the day got off to a bad start. It was cold and dreary, so I was trying to meet my friend Jill and her three kids at a church with an indoor playground. I got all the kids packed up and we got to the playground only to find out it was closed for cleaning. Right as we got there Carolina had a HUGE blowout diaper. It was crazy walking around this unfamiliar church with all the kids, trying to corral Finn and get to a place where I could clean her up. I finally got everyone clean and back in the car and headed to our Plan B: McDonald's Play Place. While we were there Finn got away from me and stole some french fries from two nice women before I could stop him. How embarrassing!
Anyway, we ended up having a great day - fun with Jill and her kids, a good nap for everyone, and a visit with my sister Erin's family including her sister-in-law, who we call my kids' honorary Aunt Amy. It was just wonderful.
At bedtime I had to figure out a way to keep the older two busy while I put Carolina to bed. I asked Maggie if she could have a competition with herself to be the kindest girl ever and take care of Finn. When I came out of Carolina's room once she was asleep, Maggie and Finn were playing happily in their room. She was bringing him little things to play with, reading him books, and helping him do the things he wanted to do. It was just adorable. They played so well together that I was able to wash dishes before I put them to bed. While I was washing dishes, however, I heard the word "purple" a lot. I didn't think much about it until I started playing closer attention and realized Maggie was calling Finn "Purple". She had put one of her nightgowns on him and declared that he had a new name. I may not win Parent of the Year after admitting this but they were both having so much fun that I didn't mind at all! I let him wear it until he got in bed.
I don't love being spouse-less on the weekends but I'll take a sweet day like that any time! Plus I'll have some great blackmail photos down the road.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

I have always been a bookworm as long as I've been able to read. I just love it. When I was little if I couldn't find anything to read at the breakfast table I would just read the side of the cereal box, over and over. I would read as my parents would drive around town, to the point that when I turned 16 and had my driver's license I didn't know how to get anywhere because I hadn't ever paid attention!
Something I am most proud of about my children is that they love books, too. Maggie is reading and we still read tons of books to her. Finn is crazy about his books and would sit still and have us read books for an hour if we could. The first words he says when waking from his nap are "Book. Read." as he points to his bookshelves.
It looks like Carolina is following in her mother's and siblings' footsteps. Hooray! (Okay, I am kidding but I do hope she loves books and reading as much as we do.)

Cousin-to-black brown

We've had a lot going on lately - Finnegan turned two, we got to have Grant's parents AND his amazing grandma come visit, and lots of other fun things.
In true Courtney fashion I plan on posting pictures from the party sometime before Finn turns three!
I overheard a conversation between Maggie and her Grandma Howard yesterday and I just had to share.
Carol/Grandma: I just wanted to let you know to be looking in the mail for a package and $10 to buy some flip flops (something they had discussed while Carol was here).
Maggie: Yay! Thank you! But maybe you should just go to the store and buy the shoes for us because my mom is REALLY busy.
Carol/Grandma: Okay, well what color shoes would you like?
Maggie: My first choice is anything with sparkles. If there are no sparkles then something pinkish-purple. If there is nothing pinkish-purple then ivory.
Carol/Grandma: What about brown?
Maggie: Only if it's a pretty brown. Like, not a cousin-to-black brown.

I was cracking up!

Iron Finn

We put this Iron Man mask on Finn when we were at Target a few weeks ago. He didn't want to take it off so he wore it for about twenty minutes as we walked around the store. I just wanted to share it with you.

Carolina at four months

Carolina had her four month appointment last week and she's still 95% for height and weight! She is such a love. She's very easygoing and loves to laugh and smile. She's starting to watch us closely when we're eating and although I plan on waiting until she's six months to start solids, I definitely think she'll be ready. She rolls from her stomach to her back (in fact, "tummy time" is almost nonexistent because she rolls over about ten seconds after I put her on her stomach) and rolls from her back to stomach. She's getting closer to sitting on her own. She is crazy strong. She's started playing in the exersaucer and johnny jump-up. We think she's pretty wonderful!

Charles Edward Sikora

I have a new nephew! My sister, Lindsay, and her husband, Jim, welcomed sweet little Charlie on February 25. He was 6 lbs, 9 oz so he is just a little peanut of a guy and SO beautiful.

Lindsay had that sweet baby with absolutely no drugs! And her wonderful husband is an anesthesiology resident, so that's somethin'! Her whole labor was about five hours from start to finish, so she probably ought to just have her next baby at home, right? Ha. She thinks I'm crazy for having home births but that's ok. Anyway, I'm happy that everything went well and I can't wait to see him next month!

Rainy Day!

This past Saturday it was a rainy mess outside. Grant wanted to work on a wonky drawer and cabinet that had been driving us crazy for months and the kids were antsy so in the spirit of my mess post I decided to take the children out to splash in the rain. I'll admit, it was chilly so we didn't last long, but Finn and Maggie had fun and got soaked. Carolina was bundled and stayed dry. I'm not sure I'd say she had fun. Anyway, it was worth it.

(As a side note, have I mentioned the crazy hand-me-down network my friends and I have? Nearly all of us pass our kids' outgrown clothes down to someone else and although we may not get back anything from the person we give to, we all get clothes from someone. We have probably saved THOUSANDS of dollars by doing this and it's so much fun to see my kids' castoffs on my friends' kids. Plus, it's fun to get the kids dressed in the morning and figure out which friend each item came from. For instance, in the photo below Finn is wearing Maggie's friend Caleb's rain boots, pants from his and Maggie's friends Liam and Callum, and a sweatshirt from his friend Ty. When he gets dressed each morning he'll pull out a shirt and say, "Ty! Ty!" or "Nima!" which is how he says Liam.)
I generally don't put my children in clothing with licensed characters (Mickey Mouse, Dora, etc.) but I make an exception for Hello Kitty. She is just so cute. Maggie loves her, too. She already had her Hello Kitty rain boots but for her fifth birthday her Uncles Steve & James sent her a Hello Kitty umbrella and rain coat. She is all Hello Kitty'd up.
She was having fun here drinking the rain that was splashing off the roof. Gross, but I figured it wouldn't kill her to have a little sip here and there.
And after that her face was soaked.
I was inspired by something else from that other blog I mentioned recently. The mom who writes it made a conscious decision to be photographed with her children. She said something that really resonated with me because for a long time (oh, the last five years) I avoided taking photos with my children unless it was some kind of dress-up occasion where I felt I looked okay. That blog's author made the point that she never saw old photos of her and her mom where she thought, "Oh, my mom looks fat there" or "Oh, I wish my mom had been wearing makeup in this photo." When I read that I realized it was true for me, too, although it's kind of an unfair comparison when we're talking about MY mom who is gorgeous, but you get the idea. I want my children to look back at photos with me and remember that I was involved and present for their childhood, whether I have makeup on, need a hair cut, look fat, or whatever other hang up I may have. So I'm going to make an effort from now on to be in photos with them whenever possible.

Maggie-isms

Here are a few funny things Maggie's said and done lately:

"What's that other heaven? Oh yeah...hell."

(Eating Fun Dip that she received in a Valentine) "This really IS fun dip."

Last week her toy microwave wasn't working because the battery had died. She asked us for a couple of days if we could change the battery for her but we hadn't gotten around to it yet. One night she said, "Well, I'm going to do it myself, then." She put the microwave on the kitchen table, got Grant's tool bag out, got the Phillips-head screwdriver out, unscrewed the battery panel from the toy, switched the battery, screwed the battery panel back on, and put the tool kit away. Wow. We need to procrastinate about more things if it leads to such independence from her!