Poor Michael :(

Michael had his first bloody nose tonight. He was walking... yes, I said WALKING (3 or 4 steps at a time), he got VERY excited and fell forward. He didn't have enough time to get his hands out in front of him and fell right on his face! It only bled for a few minutes and was not very heavy but it was still so sad. Daddy came to the rescue and comforted him a bit before getting him right back to walking (we didn't want him to be scared to walk). He was his happy self again in no time!

The Big Slide!

We spent the morning at A Latte Fun and Lauren went on the big blow up bounce house slide for the first time! In the past she has climbed on it, bounced around a little but was always too scared to climb the ladder. Today while I was playing with Michael in the baby area I looked over and there she was going up the ladder with no problem! I was so proud of her and ofcourse pulled the camera out and started snapping pictures!

I Miss The FL Winter!

It's just too hot here! Today after story time we went over to a local park (which by the way is almost completely in the shade) and it's just too hot to be outside! The kids had fun before they were just too hot and had enough. One great thing about todays visit to the park- I brought Laurens little four wheeler with us and she actually rode on it the right way! She has been sitting on it pushing it with her feet but was scared to push the button to make it go by itself- today she had a ball riding it around the park!

I'm not a fan of bringing Michael to this park... see all that mulch he's crawling in... he kept eating it!

Hot and thirsty!

The last story time of the summer :(

Today was the last story time at the Palm Beach County library until September. We are very sad since we really like to go to story time but I am also looking forward to going in September when all the school aged kids are back at school and not taking over the little kids story time (I never thought I would be one of those parents but it really is much nicer when the older kids are at school and my kids don't get trampled everywhere we go!).

Michael keeping himself amused.

This is Lauren's favorite part of story time- The Bean Bag Rock!

Nathan and Lauren watching the movie.

A New Snack

Laurens new favorite afternoon snack is a whole piece of fruit. She can only eat the softer fruits like peaches, plums, etc. But she LOVES to eat them whole!

Why bother cleaning?

Every Monday I stay home and do a thorough cleaning of the house (the rest of the week I just try to maintain the cleaning). Today the floors had just finished drying from being mopped when Michael got up from his nap. He gets a snack right after his nap and this is what he did with it!

There were puffs EVERYWHERE!

Happy 7th Birthday Haylie!

Today we went to my friend Tammy's step-daughters 7th birthday pool party. I took Lauren and John stayed home with Michael. Michael has had a bit of a cold for about a week and although its almost gone its not fully gone and I didn't want to bring my boogery baby near Tammy's newborn. The party wasn't until 4:30pm (they had a pool party and were ending up with a movie on a big inflatable movie screen in their backyard- I knew Lauren wouldn't last long enough for that). We headed up to Tammy's house after nap time. When we got there Lauren went right in the pool- she LOVES swimming. Well, since she was still tired and didn't nap as long as I would have liked she was very indecisive- she wanted to be in the pool then 2 minutes later she wanted to be dressed and in the house. She wasn't misbehaving just really being a pain so after about an hour I packed us up and took her home. John and I did bedtime routines and I headed back up to hang out with Tammy for a bit- overall it was a nice night.

Lauren checking out Brody- she really likes him a lot!

Soon we will be working with Tammy (who is a swim instructor) to get rid of the swimmies!

Where's Their Head?

I just had to post Lauren's question at the mall tonight. We were walking through Sears, Lauren stops walking and in a very worried voice says, "OH NO!" Of course I replied asking her what was wrong. She said, "Where's their head?" referring to the manicans. I did my best to explain that they are pretend people but I have a feeling we will be hearing about the headless people every time we go to the mall for a while.

Making Wishes!

We have spent the past few days at the mall. They have a huge fountain in the middle, Lauren loves throwing pennies in the water and Michael is entertained just watching the water. It keeps them entertained and it's actually pretty relaxing for me (as relaxing as it can be with 2 kids in tow). We had planned to go to the museum today but that was cancelled when I remembered the kids had an appointment at the doctor this morning. We then planned to go to the park but when I left the house for the doctor at 10:30 it was already 93 degrees out! There was no way we were going to play outside. So, we met Amanda at the mall with her kids, the kids played by the fountain for a little while then we had lunch (I treated myself to Maoz- an AMAZING falafal place). Tonight after dinner Lauren and I headed back to the mall to pick up some clothes for Michael who is outgrowing everything we have (he's now going into 18 month clothes). We met up with Ashley and Hannah- the girls had fun playing by the fountain.

Lauren and Hannah

What an uneventful week!

We have spent almost all week home! This is so not like me but I havent really been up to doing much. Michael has a runny nose so staying in was probably a good thing. We went to lunch with my Aunt today and tomorrow we are going to spend the day at the children's museum which we love! But, I can't believe it's Thursday already and we have done nothing!

Look Who's Walking (with help)

Add Ball to the List

Michael now says ball too. If you ask him where the ball is he looks around to find one (we have a lot of balls and during the day they are usually all over the house since the kids love playing with them) he gets one, holds it up and says, "ball". So, the list of words is now: mama, ba ba, dada, bye bye, and ball.

Bye Bye!

This morning John was saying his usual goodbyes to everyone before leaving for work. When he waved to Michael and said, "bye, bye" Michael looked at him, waved back and responded with, "bye, bye". I couldn't believe it. To make sure it wasn't just fluke we said it again and he continued to say it back. So, at not even 10 months old he is saying, "mama, dada, baba, and bye bye" What a smart little guy we have!

Rest In Peace Cody!

My Mother and Marc's dog, Cody (who was once my dog in college) passed away this morning in his sleep. He has been battling cancer for a few months now and lost that battle this morning. We will miss him but know he is in a better place now. I'm glad both of my kids were able to spend time and play with him. Even when he wasn't doing too good he would always manage to get up and move around some when the kids were over.

This picture is Cody with "Nams" and Lauren when Lauren was 8 months old.

Potty training is a FAILURE (for now!)

I decided to start potty training today....WHAT A MESS! Lauren is not ready. We will try again in a few months!

Mommy and Lauren's Day at the Zoo!

Daddy got to spend some quality time with Michael today while I took Lauren to the Miami Zoo with Amanda and her son Nathan. We left early so we could beat the heat (got there at 10) but it was already VERY hot out! Despite the heat the kids had a lot of fun and Amanda and I did a lot of sweating!

Lauren and Nathan checking out the flamingos (or as Lauren calls them "pink birds")

This is the first time since Lauren was 13 months old she has ridden on the carrousel and not freaked out!

Lunch time!

This is before Lauren attempted to climb the small fence.

What a great way to cool off except there was NO shade for grown ups so this is when I started to really sweat!

Big Girl!!!!

We have started to potty train- so far Lauren has peed on the potty twice. Next week we are going to get VERY serious about it and spend the week home in underwear and no more diapers!

Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

No More Naps!

Lauren wishes she didn't have to take a nap anymore. When I told her it was nap time she looked at me, closed her eyes, pulled her blanket up and pretended to sleep on the couch. It was really cute!

A Latte Fun

Livingsocial.com had a deal for $25.00 you get 5 admissions to A Latte Fun indoor playground. Ofcourse I jumped on buying this one (it usually costs $20 for my two kids to go once). We spent the morning there today. The kids had a lot of fun- I think we might need to invest in a trampoline soon, Lauren spent most of her time jumping. Michael had fun going in the foam pit, playing in the tunnels, and trying to survive on the trampoline (he would crawl onto it and every time a big kid would run on and bounce him all over the place!). It was a great morning followed by 2 hour naps for everyone (including me!).

Chocolate Cookies!!!

Yummo!!!!

The Schoolhouse Childrens Museum

This museum is one of our favorite places. It is a hands-on museum for kids based around the history of Boynton Beach. Since my kids are under 2 they are free and it's $5.00 for my admission (not bad for a few hours of play). We haven't gone there for a while and this was the first time Michael was there and really able to move around- he had a blast!

Lauren playing with the milk buckets for the cows.

Taking Michael for a ride.

Lauren and her friends Alex and Nathan (Amanda's kids)

There is a park outside we eat lunch at. Lauren has always been scared of this dinosaur- today she was happy to climb right on- my baby girl is growing up!

Happy Birthday Nams!

For some reason I didn't take any pictures today but we still had a great day. I took the kids to lunch at Houston's with my mother for her birthday. Lauren is at the age where she is too big for a highchair and not big enough to sit well in a regular seat. We opted for a booth and it worked out pretty well. She ended up eating french fries and ice cream for lunch but every once in a while that won't hurt, my biggest concern was that she behaved and didn't make a scene. Michael was perfect. They have highchairs that attach to the table, he sat nicely and ate his lunch- I couldn't have asked for a better behaved 9 month old!
For dinner a friend of mine, Amanda came over to watch the kids and we went to dinner at my mom's friends house on the beach. It was great to get out, have a few glasses of wine and adult conversation without worrying about the kids.

Chuck E Chesse

We made our routine trip to the library and Chuck E Cheese today expect this week I decided to buy a few tokens and let Lauren ride some of the rides and play the games. She really had a great time and the best part is the whole day was only $5.00!

I never imagined Lauren would like this ride since it has a huge mouse but she really enjoyed it. She sat there and said, "nice mouse" over and over.

Lauren's favorite ride, she went on it at least 5 times!

Michael wanted to play too.

4th of July

John and I got home from the hotel around 2 on the 4th of July so the kids pretty much went right down for naps. After naps our celebration began. We headed over to Jon and Amanda's for a bbq. After the kids ate dinner and played for a while I put Michael to bed there in a pack and play and Amanda got Alex into bed. The guys stayed home with them while Amanda and I took Lauren and Nathan to South County Regional Park for the fireworks. The kids loved that they were at the park at bedtime.

John playing with Alex and Michael

Swinging in the dark

At around 8:45 we settled down in the grass to wait for the fireworks to start at 9:00. Lauren laid down on my lap and fell asleep while we were waiting. It was only a 10 minute nap but I was surprised she fell asleep at all. I guess that's because she is on such a regimented schedule, this was the latest she has ever been up.

Lauren taking a nap while waiting for the fireworks

Lauren and Nathan playing with their glow necklaces after she woke up

 

 

At 9:00 the fireworks began, the noise scared Lauren. She quickly put her head down on me, cuddled up and went back to sleep. She never even saw one firework. I have to say I would rather her get scared and go to sleep then scream and cry like some of the kids there did.