Rag Curlers

I've always wanted to try doing the girls hair in rag curlers but have never actually taken the time to read about it and try. So tonight I got online and read about how to do it, cut the rags from a pillow case, (as suggested), and did Allyson's hair. It looked fun, they're softer to sleep in than foam curlers, and if they turn out they could eliminate a little time for hair on our crazy Sunday morning schedule. Ally went in to show Emily who was in her room and Emily came running out wanting the same thing. I wasn't going to do her hair because it's so short but couldn't resist the excitment I saw in her eyes. So we rag rolled her hair too. I hope it turns out cute, it was hard to get the very end of her hair to roll into the rag so a little touch up might be

needed. They looked so cute when we were done! Emily, who normally balks at getting her hair done actually asked if I would do it on a school night!

What???

I'm hoping someone can find the true meaning of this...

When we are eating dinner, when Emily sees somthing she doesn't like, (which I swear is almost every night), she says this...

"Mommy, when you see somthing on your plate and you don't like it, then you have to greet it."

What????!!!!! I to this day have not figured it out. We are assuming it's something from preschool because they eat lunch there as a group everyday. So, I plan on asking her teacher what she's talking about. She obviously is misunderstanding. All I keep picturing is her saying hello to the peas on her plate..."Hello, peas, my name is Emily. It's nice to meet you but I don't like you so I'm not going to eat you unless forced to."

Anyway, if any of you out there have any idea what this means please let me know. It's killing me. I actually made a notation on my calendar to remind me to ask her teacher Monday morning.

Acrobatic Painting

Mike and I finally decided to bite the bullet and paint almost our entire house. The living room, dining room, stairs, upstairs hall and loft. It's been a lot of work and I for one am tired! Mom's, you might not want to look at the pics or read this part...we had to be very creative when it came to the stairs and tall ceilings. We had a 17' ladder that worked on some spots, but others, like mid stairs, we had to put bricks on one stair to bring it level to the next one and then get on the ladder so I could tape and eventually paint. We didn't want the ceiling the same color so we taped the ceiling off but even though we bought the really good tape, it wasn't perfect so I had to hand touch up the whole staircase. I got smart this time and stood on the ledge and either leaned over or put one foot onto the window ledge. Mike had to take all the blinds off and put them back up, one was 17' upbove the landing, it was a little scary. I did everything else mostly so he could hold the ladder. I was SO glad when it was over. It literally took all Sunday afternoon trying to figure it out and then actually getting the nerve up to do it.

It was well worth it, I love the new colors. It adds so much to our house. The girls were amazing while we painted. I felt really bad as they had to entertain themselves all day for 4-5 days with the only outing being Home Depot for paint or supplies.

At The Park With Friends!

This and That...

Today is our anniversary, 7 years to my great husband. I am still so glad that I married him! It has definitly never been boring and I have learned a lot. I have especially learned that in this world there are a lot of business ventures you can explore. Mike, I'm just glad you and Leslie never opened your burrito bus. I don't think the burrito bus could get us to Maui!

Some of the above pictures are of the kiddos in nursery on Sunday. We now have quite an armload...Serenity, (almost 3), Weston (2), Ally (2), Bella (2), Trenton (1.5), Rylee (8mo), Jack (almost 8mo), Wyatt, (4mo), and Zachary (2mo). That is 9 Bridge kids. God is truly growing our church.

The one with Rylee asleep is so cute. And yes, she is in a bathtub. We were at my grandma's painting her spare room and I couldn't find my playpen. So we made a bed for her in the bathtub. Funny thing is...she slept so long both days she got to used it for her nap! HMMM, maybe that should be her permanent sleeping spot?

And last but not least, Rylee supporting the Giants on opening day. Too bad they couldn't help her out and win. Ally has a really cute jersey that she borrowed from Rylee's shower but I forgot to snap a picture of her, so I'll get that to you soon. By the way, Ally is making daddy SOOO proud because she is our baseball fanatic. She loves when Mike plays, she'll sit and watch the whole time. She also gets excited when we play softball or the game is on tv. It's so cute. See, even girls can enjoy your love of sports all you guys out there!

New Camera...

Emily took this picture of Michael and I, I thought she did pretty well considering I never let her touch the camera normally. Maybe I should let her more often!

Last weekend we bought a new camera because ours was kind of big and I never carried it anywhere we went. So we got a new one that fits nicely into my diaper bag and eventually my purse. So here are just some cute pictures I took at the park last night.

In other news...Rylee is going to turn 8 months on Tuesday. That just doesn't seem like it could be right. 8 months sounds so old! She's still so sweet and cuddly. I love that. She's kind of a mix between Emily and Ally. She needs a little more stimulation than Ally did but not as much as Emily did. I think she's starting to finally gain some weight. According to my scale she is in the mid 13's. It's really helping our car situation that she's staying small, I'm not sure we could turn a bigger car seat rear facing without me hugging the dashboard in the front seat!

I Think We Need A Bigger Tub!

A conversation with Emily...

Emily: mommy can you sing at church where Daddy sings? (up front leading).
Me: No, mommy doesn't sing well enough for that.
Emily: You can sing loudly if you try.
Me: I can sing loud but not good.
Emily: Oh, and then people will laugh and point at you and that won't be good?
Me: Right.
Emily: I would like to sing up there. Daddy told me I could sing up there with him and I went up there but then Joel told me no and to go sit down. That wasn't very nice. He was rude.

Gees Joel, can't you let the girl sing! She just wants to sing!

Poor Allyson!

Poor Allyson is having allergies hit her hard...again. She's on the full dose of Zyrtec, baths every night and eye drops a few times a day. Luckily she lets me do the eye drops fairly well, she'll even ask for them. Anyway, as you can tell, this was after her bath and she woke up worse this a.m. I think this wind isn't helping. I feel bad for her but I think she's going to learn to live with it, it doesn't seem like it's going away anytime soon.

A Busy Easter Weekend

We had a very busy fun weekend. We started Saturday by going to our churches Easter egg hunt. It was unique in that we dropped 10000 eggs from a helicopter for the kids to gather. The girls had a blast. They sat with the Easter bunny, did an egg toss, got their face painted and then were pelted with eggs! Ally didn't like the helicopter egg drop so much. She sat in my moms lap on the sidelines. One egg landed right in between her neck and shoulder and stuck there. I guess she didn't bat and eyelash. There was an estimated 400+ people there. It was definilty packed.

After that, we dropped Rylee off at Nana and Papa's house and took the girls to the mall carnival. They had so much fun. Ally liked the simple rides but Emily has changed a lot in the past few years. Her favorite ride was the one where you go in and stand against the wall and the room spins really fast and it suctions you to the wall. She thought that was great. She actually wanted to ride some of the bigger rides but she wasn't tall enough. That was a huge step for her. They were very tired by bedtime!

Sunday we woke up nice and early. Mike and I both had to be to church a little extra early than we normally do. So we gave the girls a "look" at their easter baskets before we ran out the door for church. After church we had nana, papa and grammy over for a little bbq. We decided to make it low key

this year and it was really nice. They got to open their Easter baskets and grammy and nana even brought stuff over. They had a really nice day. I think it's a good thing that Emily has the week off, I think she'll need it.

On a side note, Rylee decided it was time to start sitting. She has to be put in that position but she does really well once she's there. I even let her take a bath with the other girls, I had to hang on to her most of the time but she really looked super proud to be one of the big girls. Also, I would have more pictures of the girls in their cute Easter dresses but to be honest, I've given up with expecting any super cute pictures as my girls ALL have the allergies and don't look all the well! Oh well, we'll just have to look all the cuter come Christmas!

No More Bouncer =(

Every since Rylee was first born, the bouncer has been the spot I put her when I'm getting ready in the morning. She's off the ground so Ally won't trip over her and most importantly, she stayed in there happily for the longest time. But, as the pictures show, she is getting too mobile for the bouncer. She flips herself over and often times has her knees on the ground and is leaning into it. If I buckle her up, the bouncer loses it's appeal to her. So, does anyone want a bouncer? If not, into the yard sale pile it goes!

She did find a new toy she likes though, a green necklace. She could play with that forever. Unfortunately it's also Allyson's favorite so while it keeps her happy for a long time, it's only as long as Ally will let her have it.

Ally and Bella's REAL Babies!

I thought I would post some more cute pictures. But on a side note, before I got Rylee her little table booster I didn't have a place to really feed her. So the other night we had the wilburn clan (2 adults 3 kids), the smiths, (2 adults 1 infant), and us, (2 adults 3 kids), over for pizza. There was almost no room anywhere. As I was looking for a place to plop down and feed Rylee, Jenn suggested Bella's baby stroller as a joke. I looked at it and then at Rylee and decided to give it a try. It actually was perfect! Anyway, afterward Bella and Ally were fighting over pushing their "live" baby. So we plopped Jackson in the other one and let them push them around where we were sitting. They looked SOOO proud of themselves. I told Jenn that we probably just started a new trend. Who wants to use baby dolls when you can use your sister or brother?

Earlier that night, Rylee and Jack were, Of course, getting cranky when dinner was being eaten. So we gave them each one of those baby biquits. Now, I should say that I have always had my gut tell me not to give them those, with all three of my girls. Between them I've probably only given each girl one. Anyway, I was desperate and hungry and it was noisy so I put her in her play station and gave her one. Within 10-15 seconds she had bit off a huge piece and it logged in her throat. I was trying to do the finger sweep but couldn't get it. Dr. Jed, our friend was hovering above me waiting to take over. I finally got it but it took a minutes. I just kept yelling that I couldn't get it over and over. It was probably one of the scariest things I've ever experienced. Lesson learned? Listen to instincts and don't EVER give those to your kids. I should have known better!

General Kid Update....

I thought I would post some pictures for you, especially of Rylee. I don't take nearly as many pictures of her as I should. Something about her being my third, I guess we don't need too many pictures though...we can just look at Em's old pictures and there's Rylee!

She is getting fun right now. She is a rolling machine. She never stays in one spot anymore. She is also a good eater, although you would never know it. The funny thing about her is that when you give her something new, there is no expression on her face at all. You know how most babies are, they give you looks like, gross or excited or tart, etc. But not Rylee. She's the first baby to give you a blank stare when she's eating. No matter what it is. That is why you never saw her first taste of baby food picture, it wouldn't be that exciting!

Ally, on the other hand, is starting to test the limits a little. It's only taken her 2 years and one month, but it's finally surfacing. Now, when I tell her to do something, she acts like I'm not even talking. She calmly continues on with what she's doing. She's very good at it. The other thing she'll do is say, "OK" and then completely do her own thing. It's like she's just pacifing us, making us think she's obeying but really she's not. She is so cute doing it, but alas, we have to be parents and reprimand! She's also really cute while Rylee is playing on the floor. As you can see in the picures, as soon as the blanket goes down, she gets on her tummy for "tummy time" just like Rylee. But hey, she's happy and not following me around. If she wants to act like a baby who am I to stop her?

Other than those things...there isn't much else going on. They keep me hopping that's for sure! Rylee still has no teeth, isn't sitting up, crawling ect. She truly is staying my baby for a long time. No complaints!

My Parenting Advice...Like You Really Want It

My Parenting advice is for every parent to have a timer. Yes, you read correctly, a timer. And no, I haven't lost my mind. I'll explain...

As most of you know, Emily was "formally" diagnosed with ADHD. So she's been on the mildest form of medication for about 4-5 weeks. I think she is much much better. She is doing great in school. When I picked her up today her teacher says she's been amazed at her progress lately. All of a sudden she's writing not only her two names, (Emily and Ariel), but other kids names as well. She was impressed. It's always fun to hear! So, on to the timer. After her doctors appointment we decided to get serious and get her organized as that is what ADHD kids respond well to. Anyway, I had a thought on the way home. The reason she gets so out of control during time out is because she keeps asking over and over to get up. So we bought a timer and when she has time outs, we set her timer for 5 minutes. The first time we did it, she was quiet as a mouse. When the time was up, she quietly came and we discussed it and moved on. She loved to visually see her time. It was SOOO nice, for her and us. There is now no more whining and crying. She is responsible for turning it off and coming to find us. So we now use it for other things, like we set it a half hour before bedtime, and we're discussing using it for Ally and Bella when they each want the same toy. Setting it for five mins. and then they give the toy to the other person. They all seem to respond really well to it.

So, there you have it. My parenting 101. Definitly not an expert but hey, if something works great, might as well pass it on!

Have You Ever Seen A Chuncky Tink?

This was the Tinkerbell from disney princesses on ice. She was very good, just not what we're excpecting I guess...click image for better view.

Here and there stuff....

Monday morning Mike decided to take us to breakfast so he told Emily to go get dressed. She started jumping up and down and saying, "at the rainforest cafe?" So Mike said, what the heck and we loaded up and went to San Francisco for the day. It was so much fun. The girls were amazing all day. When we ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe Rylee slept almost the entire meal. It was so enjoyable. Then we walked the pier and then took a walk across part of the Golden Gate bridge. Emily liked that as long as she was in the stroller and buckled in the whole time. She did declare that next time we went to the bridge that nana and papa would watch her. I guess she didn't like being that high!

Another funny thing about Emily right now is not only is she calling herself Ariel, but she writes her name now as Ariel. I made the mistake of spelling it for her the other day and it stuck. We were in church Sunday and Tessa needed to sit with us so she brought over her pencil but no paper. Emily had paper but no pencil. So I told them to take turns writing their names. After they had each done this, I look down and written on the top: Ariel... and on the bottom: Tessa. So I told my mom that I hoped she would write Emily on her papers at school. Lo and behold I pick her up today and out of her cubby comes her pictures with the name Ariel written on the bottom. I asked the teacher and she said she's been doing that for a while. LOL!

Her teacher played a game today where she wrote all the kids name on a white board and they were to go up there erase their name and rewrite it. She went up on her turn, erased Emily and wrote Ariel!

Valentines Day

So the guys have started this trend every Valentines where they all get together and do something fun for the ladies. It's very secretive and a lot of fun to try to figure out. This year, Mike told me to go and get a dress I had seen and admired in a dress shop window. Then he told me Thursday morning to be ready by 6:00. The guys had planned a nice wine/appetizer tasting at a really nice restaurant. It was a lot of fun and very nice, they even had some live music. Then we went out to dinner afterwards as a couple of us didn't have time to eat before.

Mike also got me those beautiful flowers. Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, they didn't arrive on time. They came about 5:45-6:00. They missed us by about 15 minutes but it was fun to come home and see them. I felt bad because Mike was very disappointed. Unlike last years order over the internet he had ordered locally so they would arrive on time. I guess it's just very difficult to get flowers on Valentines Day.

Thanks to all the guys and especially my hubby!

The Girl Loves Clean Ears!

Rylee's six months!

Rylee turns 6 months on Friday. As usual, it's so hard to believe. Its gone by so fast. She is such a sweet baby. She is a big mommies girl, (which I can't say I hate!). She does the sweetest thing when someone hands her back to me after holding her. She grabs a fistful of hair from each side of my head and brings her head to my forehead. Kind of an "I love you" hug. It's so sweet. I love them at this age. Mike says to enjoy my time because in another 6 months or so he starts the take over.

Rylee didn't have a great day today. She had her 6 month check up and had her scheduled 3 shots plus a flu shot to boot. So a total of four torturous shots. She didn't care for those! She also got weighed, (I always love this part, it's fun to see). She didn't tip the scales this time. She weighted 12 lbs. 8oz and was 26 inches long. She's gained a whole 8 ounces in two months and 3/4 of an inch. A little birdy told her mommy wanted her to stay little forever! It was funny because the doctor always charts her growth and she's always had a slight downward curve on her weight but today she didn't even make the curve, she fell off. But her doctor didn't seem concerned. She just has to come back in 3 months instead of the six month break she was supposed to get.

Overall, she's a happy healthy almost six month old!