March 28, 2012 PICS

These kids are so stinkin' adorable! :)

OK, so I know this picture makes it look like Sammy was attacking Flora, but really...he was giving her a wonderful little back scratch. Poor photography... :)


Drew will definitely appreciate this series of pictures. Here is Flora peering into her snack trap, looking for something specific... (and no, I did not mention it to her. She saw it on her own.) :)


And looking even harder...


Found it! The prized Reeses!


The kids were enjoying their snack on the porch today.


Enjoying life... :)


OK, ok...so this one was prompted, but I couldn't help myself!! hehe They do it on their own throughout the day (and it's so cute!), but I'm never quick enough with the camera, of course.

March 28, 2012

I have a few pics...will try to post later...

Name: Flora
Date: 3-28-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:15am, most of oatmeal
Snack 1: 10:10am, mix
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:30pm, most crackers and hummus, rest of oatmeal, some veggies
Nap 2: 1:20-2:40ish (may have been sooner because I thought maybe I heard her a bit earlier banging her foot in the crib)
Snack 2: 3:00, mix, then a cookie around 3:30
BM: 8am
Special notes: It’s funny to watch Flora when we are around people we don’t know very well. She always just stares so intently at them, and usually the person will end up making a comment about how adorable she is. :) I don’t know how she can be so quiet and shy like that and then come home and run around like a crazy woman. :) It’s interesting, though, because when we were in the store today, the checkout lady said she had seen Flora with her grandma the other day and Flora was all bubbly and everything. Maybe it’s just me, then…? Ha

Flora has a lot of leftovers because I think she was testing out the word “no.” :)

Name: Samuel
Date: 3-28-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: ate before
Snack: 10:10am, pretzels
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:30pm, yogurt, PB and carrots, PB and apples, the rest of potato with cheese
Nap 2: 1:15-3:15ish
Snack 2: 3:30, 2 cookies
BM: not yet
Special notes:

A few things we did today: Went for a walk, went to the grocery store, went to the park

General notes: It was a lovely morning! We went for a 40 minute walk, but then Flora and Sammy wanted to keep walking, so we went around for another 20 minutes or so. Then we packed up and went to the store (the people there know us pretty well now. Sherry especially gets really excited to see us.), and then we headed out to the Community Park. We were playing on the smaller playground when Milo showed up! He was with Don (his babysitter) and his other little friend, whose name is escaping me right now…starts with an “N”…anyway… It was fun having a little bit of time with them, and the weather was just amazing. The kids had a great time. They were also funny on the way in to the park (we have to walk a little ways); they found grass clippings and were tossing them in the air. Sammy especially thought this was just hilarious.

March 27, 2012

Took one pic today of Samuel giving Flora a back scratch, but I'll probably wait to post it until I have other pics.

Name: Flora
Date: 3-27-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:20am, over half of English muffin with PB
Snack 1: 10:00, crackers
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:20, a few veggies and edamame, some sweet potato, the rest of muffin, a little hummus
Nap 2: 1:30-3:10
Snack 2: 3:20, bar
BM: 11:20am
Special notes:

Name: Samuel
Date: 3-27-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: already ate
Snack 1: 10am, cookies
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:25pm, most sweet potato (with PB), all of cauliflower (with PB), some apples (with PB)…PB is the only way I can get him to eat a lot of this stuff!
Nap 2: 1:20-2:55
Snack 2: 3:20, cheese
BM: not yet
Special notes:

A few things we did today: Our outings consisted of the Tri, a grocery store visit, and a walk

General notes:

March 26, 2012

Sorry for the late post!!!! :/

No Pics Today.

Name: Flora
Date: 3-26-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:15am, less than half of muffin (toasted with honey)
Snack 1: 10:10, crackers and a little cereal
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:15, most yogurt and granola, all broccoli (with PB), rest of muffin (with PB added), and I think that was it…she didn’t eat a ton, but enough I think.
Nap 2: 1:20-3:25 (Drew woke her up)
Snack 2: 3:30, snack bar
BM: not yet
Special notes: OK, so I hate admitting this to the entire world wide web (which probably equals about 6 total readers), but Flora fell over while she was in the backpack today and got a bloody lip (which didn’t bleed much or long at all). When I set the backpack down, I don’t think the back metal support was out all the way. She is fine, but I felt I needed to let you know in case she has a little bump on her lip or something. Sorry! :/

Name: Samuel
Date: 3-26-12
Arrived: 7:30
Breakfast: already ate
Snack 1: 10:10, pretzels
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:15, all carrots (with PB), all apples (with PB), all cheese, all cauliflower (with PB)…I think I see a theme here… :)
Nap 2: 1:15-3:45
Snack 2: 4pm, cookie
BM: not yet
Special notes:

A few things we did today: A walk this morning, then Millet.

General notes: We took a little different walking route this morning, and I think the kids enjoyed the change of scenery. Our Millet trip turned out a bit differently ,too. We were only inside of a couple minutes when the kids decided they wanted to go out, so we went outside and walked around for a bit. The kids really enjoyed watching the Miami buses pull in and out. The drivers seemed to enjoy it, too, as several of them smiled, waved, and honked! :) One driver even got out and came over to say hi to us…he seemed very, very sweet. His name was Tim.

March 22, 2012

No Pics Today.

Name: Flora
Date: 3-22-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:15am, some oatmeal
Snack 1: 10am, mix and Triscuits
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:05pm, most edamame, all grapes, a little hummus, some of Sammy’s sweet potato, and I just realized I forgot to give her the mixed veggies! Oops…
Nap 2: 1:10-2:55
Snack 2: 3:05, banana
BM: 12:45pm
Special notes:

Name: Samuel
Date: 3-22-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: ate beforehand
Snack 1: 10am, mix
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:05, PB and bread, banana, a little sweet potato (I thought the pasta smelled a bit sour, so I decided better safe than sorry and gave him the PB and bread instead).
Nap 2: 1:00-3:05pm
Snack 2: 3:30pm, little bit of orange
BM: 3:50pm
Special notes:

A few things we did today: Our biggest adventure today was visiting the Miami airport.

General notes: The kids were very well-behaved today. As we were out for a walk, the kids were once again picking out the noises of the airplanes overhead, and so I thought they might enjoy a trip to the airport. I called, and the manager said it was fine, so after a stop at Wal-Mart on the way, we went out to the airport. It was kind of funny because the man kept staring at us like we were aliens (I don’t think he gets a lot of visitors out there), but he was very kind, and the kids seemed to semi-enjoy the trip. It was a bit humorous, though; here we were with several cool airplanes surrounding us, and all Sammy could say was “Tractor! Tractor!” and kept going over to the large John Deere mower. Go figure…:) Flora seemed mildly intrigued. Too bad we couldn’t see one take off or land!

March 21, 2012

Name: Flora
Date: 3-21-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:15am, most of oatmeal
Snack 1: 10am, mix
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:15pm, most edamame, most grapes, all veggies, 1/2 banana, something else but I can’t remember…?
Nap 2: 1:10-2:45
Snack 2: 3pm, crackers and mix
BM: 12:45pm
Special notes: Flora really loved the water today! I think she would have enjoyed it more, though, if I had her water shoes. I thought I left them at home, but then when I came back to the van after we were all done, there they were in my bag! Oops. She still had a great time, though.

Name: Samuel
Date: 3-21-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: finished beforehand
Snack 1: 10am, Cheerio’s
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:15, some pasta, a little sweet potato, all banana, all yogurt
Nap 2: 1:00-3:55
Snack 2: 4:00, mix
BM: not yet
Special notes: So, I think the fan worked today! Dang. He slept almost 3 hours. I know he was tired, though, but I definitely think the fan helped. I’ll keep trying it and see how he does the rest of the week.

A few things we did today: Went for a walk, went Krogering (we didn’t do the usual trip yesterday, so we went today), and went “creeking.”

General notes: The kids both enjoyed the creek. Both were a little apprehensive at first, I think mostly because they were shoeless. They both loved sitting on a rock and dangling their feet in, and they enjoyed throwing rocks into the creek and watching them splash. Flora was a bit more adventurous and wandered out into the creek with me a little bit.

March 21, 2012 PICS

"Creeking"

The kids mostly kept to our little rock spot, but they seemed to really enjoy themselves today at the creek! We hit up the little park off of 732 south of Oxford. Good times! :)

March 20, 2012

No Pics Today. (sorry, I haven't posted many lately. I'll try to work on that this week!)

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!! :)

Name: Flora
Date: 3-20-12
Arrived: 7:05am
Breakfast: 7:10am, about half of French toast
Snack 1: 10am, mix
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:10pm, all veggies, some sweet potato, most applesauce, the rest of French toast
Nap 2: 1:15-2:50
Snack 2: left with Grandma
BM: 8am
Special notes: Flora doesn’t have much fear on the playground equipment. I love how she just dives right in to new things! She went down a big twisty slide today without much hesitation.

Name: Samuel
Date: 3-20-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: A little bit of banana, all eggs, all bread
Snack 1: 10am, Cheerio’s
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:10pm, most of sweet potato, all pineapple, all chicken, little pasta, some broccoli
Nap 2: 1:05-2:25
Snack 2: 3:25, cookies
BM: not yet
Special notes: OK Andrea, I think that “bicep” must mean more than one thing. Today, it was definitely “bicycle.” Also to note, I used the big fan in Sam’s room. Experiment proved our theory false, as he woke up significantly BEFORE Flora today. Haha So much for that. I’ll try once or twice more just so we don’t base our conclusive findings on one outcome. I like experiments anyway. :)

A few things we did today: We went for a walk all the way to the Tri Center, where we decided not to go inside to the gym but instead played out on the playground. Then, of course, we walked home. Other than that, pretty normal day.

General notes: I used to be worried about walking that far away with the kids in fear that they would be fussy on the trip home and I would be stuck walking over a mile with two screaming babies. However, I don’t worry about that much anymore, and today was a great walk to and from the Tri. We saw some of our little friends at the playground, too.

Playing music, Flora often requests “Apples and Bananas,” but it may just be that it is the only song the kids really know how to say the title. :) Anyway, they liked that one today, and they really enjoyed “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” Both of them were giggling and dancing around. Some days they get into the music, and others they don’t. Today they really seemed to enjoy it.

If I muster up enough energy, we may go “creeking” tomorrow, or something involving water, so if you want to send extra clothes or swim suits or whatever, that would be fine.

March 19, 2012

No Pics Today.

It was a great day...I forgot how much the weather changes things with little kids! It's SOOOOOOOO much nicer to not be stuck inside all day. The possibilities are almost endless! :)

So today, we went for a walk this morning (ran into a couple friends who stopped to chat, which is always nice). As soon as we got back, we jumped in the car and got some groceries from Kroger for my big bake this weekend, then we headed out to Hueston Woods, which was awesome. We played on the playground there, and then played along the beach. The beach was not necessarily part of the original plan, so the kids got a little sloppier than I had anticipated (sorry, parents!), but it was great. I hope to spend more time out there with them. By the time we were finished, it was time to take Flora home (who went home early today), and Sammy and I had lunch.

Both had snacks around 10, and Sam ate at 12:30.

Sam slept for over 2 hours today, so he should be well-rested. I played music for him this morning before Flora came and some this afternoon, too. The was most of the day!

Both kids were great today. Not sure if he's been doing this lately, but I noticed Sam is saying his "K's" now sometimes. I still haven't figured out what "bicep" is, though he says it several times a day. Flora's mobility and agility is awesome. She gets around so well on the playground equipment and things. Both kids are just exploding with words. :)

March 15, 2012

Name: Flora
Date: 3-15-12
Arrived: 7:15am
Breakfast: 7:15am, most of egg and cheese, most of muffin with honey
Snack 1: 10:10am, mix
Nap 1:----
Lunch: 12:25pm, all blueberries, all yogurt, some pizza, all veggies
Nap 2: 1:35ish-3:10pm (I woke her up)
Snack 2: 3:20pm, a little cheese, a little orange, maybe one pecan
BM: 12:45pm
Special notes: Just as a note (though you have probably figured this out by now), Flora often cries about not wanting to eat food, but if you let her cry for just a few seconds, leave the food on her tray and turn around and do your own thing, she usually ends up eating it. I had to do that with the blueberries and with the eggs this morning. Whatever works, right? :)

Let me know if you still want me to keep waking her…

Name: Samuel
Date: 3-15-12
Arrived: 7:30am
Breakfast: 7:30am, most of oatmeal
Snack 1: 10:10, one cookie and mini wheats
Nap 1: ----
Lunch: 12:25, most of chicken and noodles, all of watermelon, a little rice, and I know there was something else…
Nap 2: 1:20ish-3:15
Snack 2: 3:20, cheese and a banana
BM: 1pm
Special notes: Sammy loves to throw things away in the trash can. It just brings him great joy! :) Sammy had a couple boo boo problems today. He hit is mouth once and got a little blood on his blanket (I put it in the laundry) and then while he was sleeping he must have rubbed his already-injured head which also bled a little bit then on his sheets. Poor guy! I did put a little ointment on his head, which seemed to help a little bit. I took him in the bathroom to show him his boo boo in the mirror…I should have known that was a bad idea! He was doing pretty well until he saw it in the mirror, then instant tears…oops.

A few things we did today: We took a nice long walk this morning before the rain…all the way to the Co-Op and Kroger, and then booked it home before it started raining. We also went to the library and to Kofenya.

General notes: Kids were awesome today. Hope we get to see Milo tomorrow!

March 13, 2012 PICS

Poor Flora! :) I was using some lemon in my tea, and she wanted some lemon, and...well...I gave her some! So funny. She actually seemed to like it, though you wouldn't know it from the pictures... :)

March 14, 2012

No Pics Today.

Name: Flora

Date: 3-14-12

Arrived: 7:15am

Breakfast: 7:15am, half of an English muffin with honey

Snack 1: 10am, crackers

Nap 1:----

Lunch: 12:15pm, a few grapes, all broccoli, a few potatoes, all veggies, most hummus

Nap 2: 1:25-2:45

Snack 2: 3:10, cereal and crackers

BM: 1pm

Special notes: Flora didn’t take as long falling asleep today, so hopefully she will be on a more regular schedule now.

Name: Samuel

Date: 3-14-12

Arrived: 7:30am

Breakfast: most eggs, banana, oatmeal and yogurt

Snack 1: 10am, a little cheese and about half a cookie

Nap 1: ----

Lunch: 12:15, a little rice, banana, rest of eggs, all sweet potato

Nap 2: 1:15-2:30

Snack 2: 3:10, 2 cookies

BM: 1pm

Special notes: Sammy seems back to normal!

A few things we did today: We spent most of the morning outside (a long walk and then played at the small playground at the Community Park)

General notes: Kids were great today! I think they enjoy being outside as much as I do! :)

Just realized I did not post yet, and now I have to leave for Cinci. Sorry! Flora was fine today, though, and we spent most of the morning outside, whether it was swinging, playing on a playground, or backpacking. She ate fairly well. She took a long time going to sleep and finally went down at 2:10. I have a pic of her I need to post from yesterday...she wanted to eat my lemon, so I let her and got a pic of her face! :) She

still wanted more, too! She seems to like strong things. She even liked a wild onion from the woods today!!

March 12, 2012

No Pics Today.

The kids and I made a quick trip to the Co-op today and a brief swing through the bank drive-thru, then we went to Millet. However, we didn't stay too long because the kids seemed a bit disinterested today, and so we came back home and went for a walk (which they loved of course!). Sammy kept falling asleep toward the end, so we cut it just a little short and came home for an early lunch (since the kids didn't eat a whole lot of snacks today).

However, we got home and Sammy just seemed SO tired and didn't want to eat anything. I decided to just go ahead and put him to bed (12pm). Flora ate her dinner, and then I put her down shortly after, but it took her a little while to fall asleep (12:45). Sammy woke up at 2pm very sad and hot, so I took his temp and he had a fever. Flora then woke up as well, and so it was interesting trying to take care of poor Sammy but then also keep Flora occupied. Sammy did end up eating a little bit (bread and banana) and then wanted to play a little bit, so he seemed to get better. Flora ate a snack and played until Drew got here. Since then, Sammy has been sleeping on Jason upstairs.

I think the time change threw all of us for a loop today! I am TIRED! :)

March 8, 2012 PICS

For the Flora fans out there, I do apologize. Some of these pictures are from time here at the house "after hours", and so there are quite a few of Sammy (to my defense, he does live in the same house as me. :)) Anyway, I don't have another blog for posting non-babysitting pictures, so you'll just have to suffer through the extras of Sammy. :)

Daddy working on numbers and counting with Sammy, and Sammy smelling the beautiful flowers out front.


Jason was teaching Sammy a "double rock fist."


Sammy and bearded Daddy.


This was yesterday, at the library. Samuel loves brooms, but little did I know he would love ANY SIZED broom! He saw this at the library, immediately latched on, and started "sweeping" all over the place! This cracked me up.


Flora and Sammy playing with play-doh today with some cookie cutters, compliments of Grandma Mimi. :)


Here are a couple of pictures of Flora today at Kofenya. She decided to take a spot on the floor to read, and she loves to look out the window there!

March 8, 2012

Name: Flora

Date: 3-8-12

Arrived: 7:15am

Breakfast: 7:15am, most of muffin (with PB), cereal, a couple bites of kiwi

Snack 1: 10:15am, rest of muffin, cereal, pretzels, and peanuts

Nap 1:----

Lunch: 12:05pm, all carrots (but not before crying first about it), some applesauce, some pizza

Nap 2: 1:15-2:30

Snack 2: 3pm, mix

BM: 12:30 (barely)

Special notes: OK, so you’ll notice Flora has a scrape on her chin…she was playing hard in the tunnel today (lots of screaming and giggling and running) and she decided to dive/fall in the middle of the tunnel, which took her off to the side with chin into the plastic car. Eeeeee…sorry… Otherwise, she’s been great today! I love how she will just walk up to people and invade their space so she can stare at them. Hehe She did that a couple times at the coffee shop (don’t worry, people usually think it’s cute) and she does that all the time to Spencer. She’ll just walk right up next to him and stare at him. Ha

Name: Samuel

Date: 3-8-12

Arrived: 7:30am

Breakfast: 7:30am, oatmeal, banana

Snack 1: 10:15, mini wheats

Nap 1: ----

Lunch: 12:05, all rice, all sweet potato, all pineapple, all carrots (with pb)

Nap 2: 1:05-2:40

Snack 2: 3pm, cheese, pretzels

BM: 11:30am

Special notes: Whenever I had trash to throw away at the coffee shop, Sammy would gladly take it and throw it away for me.

A few things we did today: Today we ventured uptown for a while and hung out at Kofenya. Did other random things such as play with play-doh and music.

General notes: The kids were GREAT at Kofenya! After being there for about an hour, the lady sitting nearest to us even made a comment about how good the kids were. So, you all must be doing something right! :) We colored, looked out the window, and tried to read, though that didn’t last very long. When we go up there, they are mostly content to just look out the window and people watch. Oh, we also made paper airplanes and flew them.

March 7, 2012

No Pics Today. (I need to get crackin' on the pics!)

Name: Flora

Date: 3-7-12

Arrived: 7:15am

Breakfast: 7:15am, some pizza, most yogurt (she never seems very interested in eggs…)

Snack 1: 10:10, cereal and crackers (she loves the crackers!)

Nap 1:----

Lunch: 12:20pm, rest of pizza, all applesauce, all grapes, some cheese, and she had some of my cucumber (seemed to like it but didn’t eat much of it)

Nap 2: 1:20-3:15

Snack 2: 3:20, mix

BM: 11:30am

Special notes: There is a lady at the library that causes Flora to cry when we see her there. She works for the library, and whenever we see her, Flora runs to me and clings to me and cries. The woman wears blue rubber gloves to put the books away…I am thinking that must be it, because later she came out of the restroom and wasn’t wearing them and Flora didn’t seem to mind.

Name: Samuel

Date: 3-7-12

Arrived: 7:30am

Breakfast: already ate

Snack 1: 10:10, mini wheats

Nap 1: ----

Lunch: 12:20pm, all carrots, some rice, all banana, all grapes, all cheese, didn’t want cauliflower

Nap 2: 1:20-3:15

Snack 2: 3:30, pecans

BM: not yet

Special notes: Sammy found a tiny plastic broom at the library with the doll house, and so he went around sweeping everything with this little tiny broom! It was so funny.

A few things we did today: We went to the library, then we went on a long hike around campus since we don’t get the opportunity to do that often without getting overwhelmed with students.

General notes: The kids really seemed to enjoy getting out today. There was a lot of construction on campus, so they enjoyed seeing all the dump trucks and hearing all the beeping noises. One site even had back-hoe loaders, so they enjoyed seeing those scoop the dirt. Overall, the kids were both great today minus a few of the normal tiffs.

March 6, 2012

No Pics Today.

Name: Flora

Date: 3-6-12

Arrived: 7:15am

Breakfast: 7:15am, some oranges, a little cereal and milk

Snack 1: 10:25am, crackers and cereal mix

Nap 1:----

Lunch: 12:15, some cheese, all yogurt, all applesauce

Nap 2: 1:15-2:35

Snack 2: left with Grandma

BM: 8:30am

Special notes: Flora loves to run and scream at the Tri! Ha When she is given the right environment, she is pretty wild! So great. I hope you guys are able to enjoy the weather this afternoon! I bet you are on a hike right around the time I am typing this. :)

Name: Samuel

Date: 3-6-12

Arrived: 7:30

Breakfast: 7:20, 2 pancakes, banana

Snack 1: 10:25, mini wheats

Nap 1: ----

Lunch: 12:15, most of pasta, most of cantaloupe, all of sweet potato

Nap 2: 1:10-2:35

Snack 2: 2:30, cookie and a couple mini wheats

BM: 11:30am

Special notes: Andrea, you’ll be pleased to know that Sammy went over by my guitar today, looked back at me, and said “please” before he even touched it! :)

A few things we did today: Our usual Tuesday Tri and grocery store rounds!

General notes: We were the only ones at the Tri for the first 45 minutes! In some ways, I like this time with the kids, but in other ways, it is a little sad because they don’t get as much socialization as I’d like them to during this time. Either way, they were both wonderful (I can’t remember either of them crying once during the entire time there!), and a few showed up at 9:45 so we were able to play with them until we left about 10:20 to head to the grocery store.