Eggtravaganza

We dyed Easter Eggs with Katie for the first time today!  David and Aunt Tori were a little disappointed that I only provided 13 eggs as they felt Katie should have had at least a couple dozen to dye, but they came to terms (kind of :) and our eldest still had a great time.  Though on their behalf and true to form, halfway through Katie asked  for "more eggs, more eggs please."

Ready to start!  Obviously I'm been reading to many craft blogs (http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/) and had to "slightly" decorate for the egg dying occasion.  Turns out that Katie's birthday paraphernalia comes in handy for a great many things.

Aunt Tori showing her how it works . .

Cleaning up the spills, very much my child!  Though in my defense, I had no problem with mess and figured it was going to end up much worse then it did.

David and Aunt Tori were distraught over some broken eggs that resulted from our dying experience.  Apparently this is a very serious matter in the Fitzgerald household, Katie was a little rough with the eggs.  Don't worry Katie there's nothing wrong with being "wide open" like your mama :).

K & C Six Month Comparison

Katie (above) and Caroline (below)



Caroline Mackenzie at Six Months

What I've noticed about you lately:

• That you like Apple Sauce much better then Banana Oatmeal Cereal!
• That you watch and follow us around constantly, contorting yourself just so you can make sure to see where we are.  You're going to be a busybody just like your mama and sister.
• You've beginning to notice strangers and are not a fan of them!
• You can now bounce in the excersaucer and very much enjoy being upright.
• You still love to be swaddled but now can wiggle your way out of it once you awake in the morning.
• You love Raleigh and squeal with delight when he jumps up next to us.
• You're in the 75% for both weight 16lbs 11 ozs and height 26.25 inches.

Our month-by-month sticker picture

You're starting to sit up on your own . .

And can quickly topple over, but at least it's with a smile!

Beautiful girl

MORE

Katie,

I often wonder why your first word wasn't "more."  It was, in actuality, your first sign . . you started using it to ask for more food.  The sign (the only one of two you'd learn) eventually started to be accompanied by umm, umm, umm . ."more" in the making.  As you've gotten older the "umm" turned into the actual word.  Today you still use the sign but ask for you what you want as well!

From the very beginning "more" seemed to be the motto you live by!  You love partaking in so many things, you always want more of whatever it is that we're doing - more outside, more ducks, more slides, more passies, more cake, more blue berries, more walking, more trains, more songs . .the list is endless, because the things you love are endless.

Thank you for being so enthusiastic, for enjoying so many things and for wanting more of what life has to offer!

Love,

Mommy



Birthday = CAKE

Tonight we celebrated our neighbors little boy's 2nd birthday.  David had picked Katie up from school (Caroline was home sick with pink eye - no fun) and upon returning home showed Katie the balloons across the street.  He explained that she was going to a birthday party, to which she responded - CAKE?  Nice to know that her apple doesn't fall far from my tree!  Like mother, like daughter to the core.

The theme was "Hog Wild" - BBQ all the way, they even had a sandbox filled with corn.   Needless to say Katie loved it.

Looking at pictures lately, I can see Katie teetering between babyhood and childhood.  In some photos she looks so young, in others I can see the child that she's becoming.  The below is a perfect example of the later, pure kid walking with her scooter . . .which she knew how to ride (how is a complete mystery to me).  She's growing up and Caroline will be quickly following behind, I finally get why parents are always talking about time going by too fast.

Easter Bonnet Parade

This morning at I joined a million other Primrose parents to watch our children participate in their annual Easter Bonnet Parade.  Each class made their own bonnets and used this time to model them.  Well I guess I should clarify, Katie had a bonnet, Caroline had a fabulous flower bib that was made by her wonderful teachers.

Caroline spotting me in the crowd!

Katie spotting me in the crowd :(, she was a little overwhelmed by all the people . . .

After the parade I stopped in to feed Caroline her bottle,  a little mother/daughter bonding time!

Sunny Sunday

By working full time and with the girls attending "school" daily, weekends are precious and sadly can be eclipsed by other things that need accomplishing during those two days.  This weekend however was a perfect blend of family, date night, house chores and unfortunately even a bit of work thrown in.  BUT predominately it was time spent with our girls which leaves me in a great mood this Sunday evening and ready to start Monday off right!  A nice reminder that family time always needs to be in the forefront.

As mentioned Saturday was 54 degrees and overcast, today was 75 and sunny . . . the weather was perfect and our family loved spending the day outdoors!   Not only was it a great weather day, it was also a wonderful day for pictures . . and I got some fabulous ones of my beautiful girls! 

Yeah for wonderful weather!

Hippity Hoppity Easter's On It's Way

Yesterday we started our Easter season with Collington's Spring Fling!  After years of volunteering on our neighborhoods Events Committee it's great that I, finally, get to take part with my children.  Well child, but Caroline will be up and running before we know it!  Katie had a virus earlier in the week, but luckily was feeling well enough to attend the Easter Egg Hunt.

Required family pic, it was 54 and overcast, so Caroline was bundled up, but I was determined that she wasn't to miss another Collington event!



Daddy had to give Katie some points on the art of egg hunting . . 

It didn't take long and she was off and running . .

Katie was very proud to show off her eggs to "Sissy." 

Caroline egg hunted in her own way!

Banana Oatmeal Cereal

What in the world is this stuff?

Well at least Mommy makes silly faces while dad forces this on me . .

Complete indifference . . .though she still did great!

Could possibly be one of my favorite candid pictures . . .EVER!

All done . . .till tomorrow that is :)

"Project Farmer"

Never say never!  The Farmer Family joined a gym today . . . .on a month-to-month basis of course,  as I couldn't truly commit to a one or three year contract.  This makes sense for two people that haven't worked out steadly since 2005 . . BUT, we could commit to working out with a trainer.  We're going to need this person to whip us into shape . . .

So on Tuesday, April 5th at 5:30 p.m. Dave and I will begin "Project Farmer," in hopes of living a healthier life for ourselves and our girls through diet and exercise!  Wish us luck, we're going to need it!  :)

K & C Five Month Comparison



Katie (above) and Caroline (below)

Caroline Mackenzie at Five Months

What I've noticed about you lately:

• You can roll over and every time you do, you look up at us like, huh?  What just happened?
• You tried Banana Oatmeal Cereal for the first time and like most babies was pretty indifferent about it.
• You've learned to recognize your bottle and get extremely excited whenever you see one, no indifference there!
• You still LOVE being swaddled, every time you go to sleep you get a huge smile whenever we wrap you up.
• You've started saying ma, ma, ma ma ma :)
• You love when we sing to you, make silly faces and just smile at you in general.
• You're just plain easy - good tempered, happy and make having you in our lives a complete joy!

Our month-by-month sticker picture

Trying out our wings and tutu from Katie's party

Never would I have guessed that I'd be the mother of not only one, but TWO blue eyed daughters!

Type B Personality?

Is there a book I can read?  Class to take? 10 step program to enroll in?  Seriously, I already have a ridiculous amount on my plate and honestly some days can barely keep it together.  A demanding job with two kids under two, can be at times draining.  I'm learning to be more patient and have a long list of additional things that I need to work on as well.  In a word of a good friend - I need to learn to SIMPLIFY! 

But I digressed, with this all going on . . I'm now attempting to start a blog?  Well we've all know for some time that I'm just plain crazy . . .I wonder at least five times a day what it would be like to have a Type B personality?  Does having one make life easier by not expecting so much?  Does it allow you to "go with the flow" better and lower your standards of what you hope to achieve daily . . . .as I said things that I ponder constantly.

So the blog, I thought this would be a good way for Katie and Caroline to look back and see what was going on during their childhood, to create a book of our family, their mama's thoughts and our everyday lives.  We'll see how it goes . . . . .

Katheryn Claire at Two Years

What I've noticed about you lately:

• You love your "sissy," it was like your life became complete the day we brought her home!
• You LOVE your passies or papus as you call them . .the more the merrier in your world.  You absolutely need at least four in your big girl bed nightly, if there's less you'll persistently ask for more - "papus please, papus please, papus please."
• You love going outside and could play there all day if we let you.  With learning new words daily you point out airplanes, the sun, ducks, mama's car and daddins truck.
• You have a mind of your own and can be stubborn just like your parents.
• You like things in their place and know exactly where they should be.
• You're starting to make correlations - if you see a mom, you know exactly who she is and which child is hers (Robbie/Hailey at your birthday party).
• You've learned about presents - "open box" was your favorite phrase this past weekend!
• You love necklaces, shoes, and clothes.
• You love to be a help or elp as you say, with the dishwasher, dryer, sissy . . .
• You love to dance, sing and to be sung too.
• You love Elmo (your first character of interest).
• You've learned to share with others and that makes your parents very proud!
• You're 36.5 inches tall and you weigh 33 pounds (95/95 percentile).

God Bless Caroline Mackenzie

As mentioned below, we celebrated Caroline's Baptism this past weekend to the tune of 19 family and friends.  A wonderful day, that was echoed by her cries throughout the entire ceremony.  It was, in a word comical . .especially as Caroline (almost as a rule) never cries.   Well there's always a first time :)

Hard not to laugh when you're holding a screaming baby in front of a congregation . .

After an 8 oz bottle for Caroline (who never cried again the rest of the day) and Katie carrying her fish purse a great family shot is made.

Caroline with her Godmother Heather who came all the way from Arizona on her teaching Spring Break.

We miss you Grandpa Palmer . .



The Boathouse for lunch afterward . . I liked how this picture turned out, hence why I posted it, in all my randomness.



Thanks to "The Cake Lady" for going well beyond the call of duty this past weekend.  Three cakes, 2 dozen cookies and another 2 dozen cake pops is just plain crazy . . .even crazier that I could consume so much!